About Family History Research in Kentucky
Daniel Boone escorting settlers through the Cumberland Gap
Kentucky is a great place to do research because of the wealth of historical material that can be found at the state's many archives, libraries, and other repositories. Some of Kentucky's best resources for historical research can be found at the state capital in Frankfort. In addition to state level archives, records can also be located at the local level at county courthouses, public libraries, churches, cemeteries, and historical societies. Many records are also now available online at a number of great websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, both of which have searchable databases consisting of billions of records relating to the history of Kentucky.
Records for the entire state of Kentucky can be found at the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives
in Frankfort. These records include property deeds, court records, newspapers, local histories, immigration records, estate files, tax lists, vital records, biographies, and other types of records for all of the state's 120 counties. The Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives holds billions of records relating to Kentucky history and genealogy and is definitely worth a visit to help expand your family history research in the state.
Records for the entire state of Kentucky can be found at the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives
in Frankfort. These records include property deeds, court records, newspapers, local histories, immigration records, estate files, tax lists, vital records, biographies, and other types of records for all of the state's 120 counties. The Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives holds billions of records relating to Kentucky history and genealogy and is definitely worth a visit to help expand your family history research in the state.
Map of Kentucky in 1818
There are a number of ways to get copies of vital records (birth, marriage, and death certificates) in Kentucky. Kentucky began statewide registration of vital records in 1852, and the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives has vital records available on microfilm from 1852 through 1910. Records from 1911 to the present day can be ordered from the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Access to certified copies of vital records is restricted to immediate family members.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah also holds a large collection of historical records relating to the state of Kentucky. This is the largest and most important genealogy collection in the world and is worth a visit to explore the many billions of records that can be found there. Published material consists of books, microfilm, microfiche, and other records for the 120 counties of Kentucky. The Family History Library also has smaller family history centers located throughout the world where you can order microfilm and have these records shipped from Utah to the local area where you live. The library has also transcribed and indexed millions of Kentucky vital, immigration, census, military, and other records which are available to view or download online at FamilySearch.org. If you are currently doing research on your immigrant ancestors in hopes of getting a second passport through the process of jure sanguinis, please click here for more information.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah also holds a large collection of historical records relating to the state of Kentucky. This is the largest and most important genealogy collection in the world and is worth a visit to explore the many billions of records that can be found there. Published material consists of books, microfilm, microfiche, and other records for the 120 counties of Kentucky. The Family History Library also has smaller family history centers located throughout the world where you can order microfilm and have these records shipped from Utah to the local area where you live. The library has also transcribed and indexed millions of Kentucky vital, immigration, census, military, and other records which are available to view or download online at FamilySearch.org. If you are currently doing research on your immigrant ancestors in hopes of getting a second passport through the process of jure sanguinis, please click here for more information.
Native American Tribes and Kentucky Pioneers
Many ethnic groups and nationalities settled or lived in Kentucky in the past including Native American tribes like the Chickasaw, Shawnee, and Cherokee; African-Americans; and also many early settlers of European descent who migrated to the state from places like North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and South Carolina during the late 1700's and early 1800's.
If your ultimate goal is to trace your ancestry beyond Kentucky to your family's place of origin overseas, it is important to first locate the many different types of records that your ancestors left behind in Kentucky. Records like ships' passenger lists, declarations of intention, naturalization petitions, census records, military records, vital records, obituaries, and cemetery records can often provide you with information about your ancestor's birthplace, names of relatives, and other important information. This will help you narrow down your search parameters when your ancestry search continues overseas. It is generally not possible to locate family records in places like England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, or Ireland without first conducting extensive research in the USA.
If your ultimate goal is to trace your ancestry beyond Kentucky to your family's place of origin overseas, it is important to first locate the many different types of records that your ancestors left behind in Kentucky. Records like ships' passenger lists, declarations of intention, naturalization petitions, census records, military records, vital records, obituaries, and cemetery records can often provide you with information about your ancestor's birthplace, names of relatives, and other important information. This will help you narrow down your search parameters when your ancestry search continues overseas. It is generally not possible to locate family records in places like England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, or Ireland without first conducting extensive research in the USA.
Getting Started with Your Research
Bird's eye view of Frankfort, Kentucky, 1871
Many people wonder where they should begin with their family history research in Kentucky. If you are new to genealogical research, the first thing you'll need to do is to start building a family tree with the information you already have at your disposal. There are some great genealogy software programs available that will help you get started with this process. Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, Family Historian, and RootsMagic all make great programs that can help you organize your research.
Get started by first creating a pedigree chart for yourself and family group sheets for your parents, grandparents, and other close family members. You can download free copies of these forms at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. You can also create these records using a genealogy software program. Family group sheets allow you to record information like family members' birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, burial places, spouses' names, and other information that will be helpful to you as your research progresses. Interview living relatives and take notes about the major events of their lives. Add this information to your family files so that you will have a strong foundation of information as you move forward with your project.
During the initial stages of your research, you can accomplish a great deal using online resources. It is highly recommended that you get subscriptions to websites like Ancestry.com and Fold3.com to help with your ongoing research. Information can also be found online at FamilySearch.org. Many types of records including censuses, World War I draft registration cards, naturalization records, and Social Security Death Index are available online and will help you put in place the building blocks for the first part of your family tree. Using a combination of online resources along with more traditional archival research at places like the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives and NARA will allow you to create a thoroughly documented family history.
A professional genealogist could also be helpful to your research in Kentucky. With the expertise and knowledge of a skilled researcher, you can have someone visit local archives and libraries on your behalf throughout the state of Kentucky. This is especially helpful if you don't live in the area and don't have ready access to court, land, and many other types of records that can often only be found after a visit to a local county courthouse, public library, historical society, or county clerk's office. If you would like a professional genealogist to assist you with your ongoing research in Kentucky and elsewhere, please click here.
It is important when carrying out your research that you are thorough in documenting your family tree. Don't overlook the importance of finding your ancestor's siblings, cousins, and other close relatives. Brick walls are often encountered in genealogical research. To get beyond an apparent impasse it is often worthwhile to approach your research holistically. Many researchers who are new to genealogy often just want to get back as far as possible along a direct paternal or maternal family line. However, it is often the death certificates, obituaries, or other records of your direct ancestor's siblings or other close relatives that will provide you with the breakthroughs you are looking for.
Get started by first creating a pedigree chart for yourself and family group sheets for your parents, grandparents, and other close family members. You can download free copies of these forms at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. You can also create these records using a genealogy software program. Family group sheets allow you to record information like family members' birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, burial places, spouses' names, and other information that will be helpful to you as your research progresses. Interview living relatives and take notes about the major events of their lives. Add this information to your family files so that you will have a strong foundation of information as you move forward with your project.
During the initial stages of your research, you can accomplish a great deal using online resources. It is highly recommended that you get subscriptions to websites like Ancestry.com and Fold3.com to help with your ongoing research. Information can also be found online at FamilySearch.org. Many types of records including censuses, World War I draft registration cards, naturalization records, and Social Security Death Index are available online and will help you put in place the building blocks for the first part of your family tree. Using a combination of online resources along with more traditional archival research at places like the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives and NARA will allow you to create a thoroughly documented family history.
A professional genealogist could also be helpful to your research in Kentucky. With the expertise and knowledge of a skilled researcher, you can have someone visit local archives and libraries on your behalf throughout the state of Kentucky. This is especially helpful if you don't live in the area and don't have ready access to court, land, and many other types of records that can often only be found after a visit to a local county courthouse, public library, historical society, or county clerk's office. If you would like a professional genealogist to assist you with your ongoing research in Kentucky and elsewhere, please click here.
It is important when carrying out your research that you are thorough in documenting your family tree. Don't overlook the importance of finding your ancestor's siblings, cousins, and other close relatives. Brick walls are often encountered in genealogical research. To get beyond an apparent impasse it is often worthwhile to approach your research holistically. Many researchers who are new to genealogy often just want to get back as far as possible along a direct paternal or maternal family line. However, it is often the death certificates, obituaries, or other records of your direct ancestor's siblings or other close relatives that will provide you with the breakthroughs you are looking for.
Kentucky County Records
Many Kentucky family records can be found online and at various archives and libraries located throughout the state of Kentucky. Many millions of records aren't yet available online, though, and many of these are awaiting your discovery at the local level at county courthouses, historical societies, churches, county clerks' offices, cemeteries, and elsewhere in Kentucky. To find these and other records, click on the links below to find more information about the specific counties where your ancestors lived in Kentucky. You'll find information on these pages that will lead you to the specific documentation you're searching for.
It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain counties in Kentucky have changed over the past two hundred years. Your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one county and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family history might have been located in another area entirely. When searching for land, court, tax, and other records it is also a good idea to search for these records in adjacent counties. Following is a complete list of Kentucky's 120 counties along with their formation dates, county seats, and names of parent counties.
It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain counties in Kentucky have changed over the past two hundred years. Your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one county and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family history might have been located in another area entirely. When searching for land, court, tax, and other records it is also a good idea to search for these records in adjacent counties. Following is a complete list of Kentucky's 120 counties along with their formation dates, county seats, and names of parent counties.
County
|
Formation Date
1802
1815
1827
1842 1798
1811
1867
1798
1785
1860
1842 1796
1839
1799
1796
1810
1809
1822
1794
1886
1838
1838 1806
1796
1792
1807
1835
1842
1798
1815
1825
1869
1808 1780
1798
1800
1794 1845 1798
1796
1820 1824
1810
1792
1803
1829
1792 1819
1793
1819
1798
1798
1821
1806
1858
1780 1798
1843
1840 1884
1799 1843
1825
1821 1870
1878 1842
1806
1780
1799
1792
1854
1825
1912
1854
1785 1860
1834
1842
1870
1788 1823
1869
1785 1860
1820 1796
1822
1798
1784
1799
1798
1823
1819
1843
1798
1820
1821
1852
1798 1867
1810 1856 1825
1792 1792
1819
1824
1848
1819
1820
1837
1811
1796
1792
1800
1860
1818 1860
1788 |
County Seat
Columbia
Scottsville
Lawrenceburg
Wickliffe Glasgow
Owingsville
Pineville
Burlington
Paris
Catlettsburg
Danville Brooksville
Jackson
Hardinsburg
Shepherdsville
Morgantown
Princeton
Murray
Alexandria & Newport
Bardwell
Carrollton
Grayson Liberty
Hopkinsville
Winchester
Manchester
Albany
Marion
Burkesville
Owensboro
Brownsville
Sandy Hook
Irvine Lexington
Flemingsburg
Prestonsburg
Frankfort Hickman Warsaw
Lancaster
Williamstown Mayfield
Leitchfield
Greensburg
Greenup
Hawesville
Elizabethtown Harlan
Cynthiana
Munfordville
Henderson
New Castle
Clinton
Madisonville
McKee
Louisville Nicholasville
Paintsville
Covington and Independence Hindman
Barbourville Hodgenville
London
Louisa Beattyville
Hyden Whitesburg
Vanceburg
Stanford
Smithland
Russellville
Eddyville
Paducah
Whitley City
Calhoun
Richmond Salyersville
Lebanon
Benton
Inez
Maysville Brandenburg
Frenchburg
Harrodsburg Edmonton
Tompkinsville Mount Sterling
West Liberty
Greenville
Bardstown
Carlisle
Hartford
La Grange
Owenton
Booneville
Falmouth
Hazard
Pikeville
Stanton
Somerset Mount Olivet
Mount Vernon Morehead Jamestown
Georgetown Shelbyville
Franklin
Taylorsville
Campbellsville
Elkton
Cadiz
Bedford
Morganfield
Bowling Green
Springfield
Monticello
Dixon
Williamsburg Campton
Versailles |
Parent County
Green County
Barren & Warren
Franklin, Washington & Mercer
Hickman & McCracken
Green & Warren
Montgomery County
Harlan & Knox
Campbell County
Fayette County
Greenup, Carter & Lawrence
Lincoln & Mercer
Mason & Campbell
Clay, Perry & Estill
Hardin County
Jefferson & Nelson
Logan & Ohio
Livingston County
Hickman County
Harrison, Mason & Scott
Hickman County
Gallatin, Trimble & Henry
Greenup & Lawrence
Lincoln County
Logan County
Bourbon & Fayette
Madison, Floyd & Knox
Cumberland & Wayne
Livingston County
Green County
Ohio County
Hart, Grayson & Warren
Morgan, Lawrence & Carter
Clark & Madison
Kentucky County
Mason County
Fleming, Montgomery & Mason
Mercer, Shelby & Woodford
Hickman County
Franklin & Shelby
Madison, Lincoln & Mercer
Pendleton County
Hickman County
Hardin & Ohio
Lincoln & Nelson
Mason County
Ohio, Breckinridge, & Daviess
Nelson County
Knox County
Bourbon & Scott
Hardin & Barren
Christian County
Shelby County
Christian County
Henderson County
Madison, Estill, Owsley, Clay, Laurel, Rockcastle
Kentucky County
Fayette County
Floyd, Lawrence & Morgan
Campbell County
Perry, Letcher, Floyd & Breathitt
Lincoln County
Hardin County
Rockcastle, Clay, Knox & Whitley
Greenup & Floyd
Breathitt, Estill, Owsley, & Wolfe
Clay, Harlan & Perry
Perry & Harlan
Mason County
Kentucky County
Christian County
Lincoln County
Caldwell County
Hickman County
Pulaski, Wayne, Whitley
Daviess, Muhlenberg & Ohio
Lincoln County
Floyd, Johnson, Morgan
Washington County
Calloway County
Floyd, Johnson, Pike, & Lawrence
Bourbon County
Breckinridge & Hardin
Bath, Montgomery, Morgan, Powell & Wolfe
Lincoln County
Barren, Hart, Green, Adair, Cumberland & Monroe
Barren & Cumberland
Clark County
Bath & Floyd
Christian & Logan
Jefferson County
Mason & Bourbon
Hardin County
Henry, Jefferson, Shelby
Franklin, Gallatin, Scott
Breathitt, Clay, Estill
Campbell & Bracken
Floyd & Clay
Floyd County
Clark, Estill & Montgomery
Green & Lincoln
Bracken, Harrison, Mason & Nicholas
Lincoln, Madison, Knox & Pulaski
Fleming & Morgan
Adair, Wayne & Cumberland
Woodford County
Jefferson County
Allen, Logan, Warren
Nelson, Shelby, Bullitt
Green County
Logan & Christian
Christian & Caldwell
Gallatin, Henry, Oldham
Henderson County
Logan County
Jefferson County
Pulaski & Cumberland
Henderson, Hopkins & Union
Knox County
Breathitt, Owsley & Powell
Fayette County
|
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