Kentucky Genealogy. This state page of our website provides direct links to free major genealogy databases and historical titles and information found on Kentucky Genealogy, whether they exist on our site, or across the web.
Black Kentucky Genealogy
- Kentucky African American Genealogy
- WPA Slave Narratives
Slave narratives are stories of surviving slaves told in their own words and ways. Unique, colorful, and authentic, these slave narratives provide a look at the culture of the South during slavery which heretofore had not been told. - Kentucky African American Census Records
- Kentucky African American Cemeteries
Kentucky Bible Records
Kentucky Biographies
Kentucky Cemeteries
- Kentucky Cemetery Records
- Anderson County
- Boyd County
- Fayette County
- Franklin County
Kentucky Census Records
- Kentucky Census Records
- Kentucky 1910 Census Edition Map
- Hart County Kentucky Tax List, 1819
Often, the potential of tax records as a tool for genealogy research is not fully recognized. While their immediate details might seem sparse, they could be a gateway to acquiring land documents that are rich in valuable information for tracing our ancestry. This compilation represents individuals who were paying taxes in Hart County, Kentucky, in the year 1819. When applicable, it also includes details of the land parcel owned, specifying the size, geographical location, and any adjacent bodies of water.
Kentucky Church Records
- Kentucky Church Records
- The Frontier Brethen
A study of the early migration of the Brethen to Kentucky and the Ohio River Frontier and the resulting Conflict between the Pictist and Anabaptist traditions. c1770-c1830
Kentucky Court Records
Kentucky Wills
This database includes scanned images of wills that have been located in patent files during the Land Office’s ongoing scanning project. Because wills include names of family members, disposition of slaves (many of whom are named in the will) and other estate components, they can be valuable for historical and genealogical research.
Adair County Court Records
Adair County Probate Index: 1801-1817
The Adair County Probate Index is an index of all probate records for Adair County, Kentucky during the years of 1801-1817, as found in Volumes A+B of Adair County court records, Kentucky State Archives microfilm #3601.
Adair County Probate Index: 1818-1836
The Adair County Probate Index is an index of all probate records for Adair County, Kentucky during the years of 1818-1836, as found in Volume C of Adair County court records, Kentucky State Archives microfilm #3601.
Barron County Court Records
Barren County Probate Records Index: 1817-1829
The Barron County Probate Records Index is an index of probate records for Barron County, Kentucky for the years of 1799-1815 as found in Volume 1, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #209740.
Barren County Probate Records Index: 1817-1829
The Barron County Probate Records Index is an index of probate records for Barron County, Kentucky for the years of 1817-1829 as found in Volume 2, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #209740.
Bourbon County Court Records
Bourbon County Probate Records Index: 1786-1795
The Bourbon County Probate Records Index is an index of probate records for Bourbon County, Kentucky for the years of 1795-1805 as found in Volume B, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #183132.
Bourbon County Probate Records Index: 1795-1805
The Bourbon County Probate Records Index is an index of probate records for Bourbon County, Kentucky for the years of 1795-1805 as found in Volume B, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #183132.
Bracken County Court Records
Bracken County Probate Records Index: 1798-1815
The Bracken County Probate Records Index is an index of probate records for Bracken County, Kentucky for the years of 1798-1815 as found in Volume A, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #344088.
Bracken County Probate Records Index: 1815-1823
The Bracken County Probate Records Index is an index of probate records for Bracken County, Kentucky for the years of 1815-1823 as found in Volume B, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #344088.
Breckenridge County Court Records
Breckenridge County Will Index: 1800-1893
The Breckenridge County Will Index is an index of will records for Breckenridge County, Kentucky for the years of 1800-1893 as found in book 1 of the Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #7005267.
Breckenridge County Will Index: 1894-1935
The Breckenridge County Will Index is an index of will records for Breckenridge County, Kentucky for the years of 1894-1935 as found in book 2 of the Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #7005267.
Breckenridge County Will Index: 1934-1968
The Breckenridge County Will Index is an index of will records for Breckenridge County, Kentucky for the years of 1934-1968 as found in book 3 of the Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #7005267.
Breckenridge County Will Index: 1966-1975
The Breckenridge County Will Index is an index of will records for Breckenridge County, Kentucky for the years of 1966-1975 as found in book 4 of the Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #7005267.
Hart County Kentucky Court Records
Hart County Kentucky Wills 1819-1850
The Hart County, Kentucky Court House burned in 1928. This has caused a severe hardship on anyone researching their families in Hart Co, KY. The following index is all that exists of Will Book A. This index apparently escaped the fire. It was compiled by Colonel Ben LeBree and was originally published by the Hart County Historical Society in their quarterly publication. What this index tells us is the people listed here died before 1850 and estate papers or wills were filed in Hart County, Kentucky. It is a terrible shame the actual documents were lost.
Logan County Kentucky Court Records
Logan County, Kentucky Wills – Book A, with index
The wills in this book come from Book A of the Wills found at the Logan County Court house in Russellville, Kentucky. The information was extracted in 1957 by Mrs. Vick on behalf of the DAR located in Russellville. The text in this book was done with an old manual typewriter and has the usual faint and filled-in type often found with such papers. On top of the difficulty in interpreting the print from the typewriter, the scanning process was also deficient, and led to the creation of a faint digital copy exacerbating the difficult to read text.
Logan County, Kentucky Wills – Book B, with index
The wills in this book come from Book B of the Wills found at the Logan County Court house in Russellville, Kentucky. The information was extracted in 1957 by Mrs. Vick on behalf of the DAR located in Russellville. The text in this book was done with an old manual typewriter and has the usual faint and filled-in type often found with such papers. On top of the difficulty in interpreting the print from the typewriter, the scanning process was also deficient, and led to the creation of a faint digital copy exacerbating the difficult to read text.
Kentucky Directories
Kentucky Genealogy
United States Genealogy
- Access Meade County Kentucky Genealogy
Access Meade County Kentucky genealogy using this page. This guide provides you with information on available online ancestry records including birth, court, death, land, and marriage, etc., as well as the history of the Meade County KY and the biography and genealogy of her people. This is the most complete and accurate listing of online records for Meade County Kentucky.
Adair, Allen, Anderson, Ballard, Barren, Bath, Bell, Boone, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle, Bracken, Breathitt, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Campbell, Carlisle, Carroll, Carter, Casey, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Daviess, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Floyd, Franklin, Fulton, Gallatin, Garrard, Grant, Graves, Grayson, Green, Greenup, Hancock, Hardin, Harlan, Harrison, Hart, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Hopkins, Jackson, Jefferson, Jessamine, Johnson, Kenton, Knott, Knox, LaRue, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Madison, Magoffin, Marion, Marshall, Martin, Mason, McCracken, McCreary, McLean, Meade, Menifee, Mercer, Metcalfe, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Nicholas, Ohio, Oldham, Owen, Owsley, Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Scott, Shelby, Simpson, Spencer, Taylor, Todd, Trigg, Trimble, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Whitley, Wolfe, Woodford, Unknown County
Kentucky History
- Kentucky Historical Societies
- Kentucky Historical Marker Database
- Historical Sketches of Kentucky vol 1
- Historical Sketches of Kentucky vol 2
Kentucky Land Records
Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants
Under the Virginia land law of 1779, any bona fide settler in Kentucky County (also known as the Kentucky District) prior to January 1, 1778, who had made an improvement and planted a crop of corn was eligible for a 400-acre certificate of settlement for the land he or she had improved. The settler could purchase an additional adjoining 1,000 acres under a preemption warrant. All those who had “marked out” or chosen unappropriated lands and built any house or hut or made improvements prior to January 1, 1778, but who could not prove actual settlement were entitled to a preemption of no more than 1,000 acres. The Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants Database is indexed by warrant number, individual acquiring the certificate and warrant, immediate assignees and tract location; it includes scanned images of commissioners’ certificates.
Jackson Purchase Land Locator
The southern half of the Jackson Purchase region in western Kentucky was acquired under the October 19, 1818, land treaty between the United States and the Chickasaw Indian Nation. On February 14, 1820, the Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation stated the entire Jackson Purchase region would be mapped in compliance with the system used by the federal government for surveying public lands. There are 9,308 patents in the West of Tennessee River Non-Military Series. The online database includes scanned images of patent files. By entering Ranges, Townships, and Principal Meridian Direction (East or West), researchers using this database will find the scanned image of the exact township location for 9,308 West of Tennessee River Non-Military Patents indexed by Willard R. Jillson in “The Kentucky Land Grants” change to The Kentucky Land Grants. Researchers may also find references to ranges and townships in deeds for the Jackson Purchase area.
Kentucky Doomsday Book
The original “Domesday Book” was completed in 1086 for William the Conqueror. It identified England’s landowners and land locations for tax purposes. Kentucky’s “Doomsday Book” is a journal created by land commissioners appointed to hear settlers’ claims in the Kentucky District under Virginia Land Law A.
Lincoln County Entries
In 1780 Kentucky County, Virginia, was divided into three counties: Fayette, Jefferson and Lincoln. The Virginia General Assembly instructed the Kentucky County Surveyor to copy land entries into separate volumes for each of the new counties. This database contains 4,763 entries reserving land for patenting in the Lincoln County area from November 3, 1779, through April 19, 1792.
Revolutionary War Warrants Database
This database indicates includes 4,748 bounty land warrants issued by Virginia to veterans of the Revolutionary War. Warrants, the first step in land patenting, were given as payment for military services; the allotment was determined by the soldier’s rank and time of service, and the land was located in the Revolutionary War Military District. Patents issued for service in the Revolutionary War are filed with the Virginia Patent Series (VA), Old Kentucky Patent Series (OK) and the West of the Tennessee River Military Patent Series (WTRM).
Virginia Treasury Warrants
The May 1779 Land Laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly authorized the sale of treasury warrants to patent “waste and unappropriated land.” After proof of payment was established, the Virginia Land Office provided a printed warrant specifying the quantity of land and the rights upon which it was due. No proof of prior military service or residency was required for purchasing a treasury warrant. This database includes all entries in the Virginia Treasury Warrants Register, Volumes I and II. It includes the names of persons purchasing the warrants, immediate assignees, acreage, cost of warrant (in pounds, shillings and pence) and the date the warrant was purchased. Treasury warrant numbers range from 1 to 23,082. Some warrant numbers were skipped, and some were used more than once.
West of Tennessee River Military Patents
The Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky was acquired under the October 19, 1818, land treaty between the United States and the Chickasaw Indian Nation. A number of Revolutionary War soldiers occupied the Jackson Purchase prior to the treaty. On December 26, 1820, the Kentucky General Assembly approved legislation for the “surveying of military claims west of the Tennessee River” and for the establishment of a town at Iron Banks. The 242 patents under this series were authorized by entries filed with the Military Surveyor prior to May 1, 1792.
Adair County Land Records
Adair County Land Records Index: 1802-1807
The Adair County Land Records Index is an index of land records for Adair County, Kentucky for the years of 1807-1811 as found in Book B, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #828890.
Adair County Land Records Index: 1807-1811
The Adair County Land Records Index is an index of land records for Adair County, Kentucky for the years of 1807-1811 as found in Book B, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #828890.
Adair County Land Records Index: 1811-1815
The Adair County Land Records Index is an index of land records for Adair County, Kentucky for the years of 1811-1815 as found in Book C, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #828890.
Adair County Land Records Index: 1815-1818
The Adair County Land Records Index is an index of land records for Adair County, Kentucky for the years of 1815-1818 as found in Book D, Kentucky State Archives microfilm roll #828890.
Kentucky Maps
Kentucky Military Records
- Kentucky Forts
List of colonial forts, trading posts, named camps, redoubts, reservations, general hospitals, national cemeteries, etc., established or erected in the United States from its earliest settlement to 1902. - Dunmore’s War Rosters
The only rosters preserved of the companies which were in the battle of Point Pleasant, or arrived with Colonel Christian in the evening after it had been fought and won. Also included, a list of defenders of the frontier in 1774, that did NOT participate in the Battle of Point Pleasant. - Revolutionary War
- Christian County, Kentucky Revolutionary War Soldiers
- Revolutionary War Pension Records
- 1840 Pensioners Database
- Revolutionary War Veterans and Patriots, Caldwell County, Kentucky
Kentucky Pension Roll of 1835 and Caldwell County DAR Records.
- Civil War Records
- Kentucky Civil War Battlefield Map
- Kentucky Civil War Pensions
- Kentucky Civil War Regiments, Rosters and Muster Rolls
- Civil War Pensions Index Cards
Each card gives the soldier’s name, unit, the application number, the certificate number and the state from which the soldier served. In some cases, the soldier’s rank, terms of service, date of death and place of death are given. The index cards refer to pension applications of veterans who served in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917. The majority of the records pertain to Civil War veterans, but they also include veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, Indian wars, and World War I. - Civil War Union Veterans Burial List
- 52nd Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Civil War
- 52nd Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Company A, Pensioners
- Anderson County
- Christian County
- Hart County
- Hart County Kentucky Civil War Soldiers
This information was abstracted from The Judge Ray Cann Records. It is a list of all soldiers from Hart County, Kentucky who participated in the Civil War.
- Hart County Kentucky Civil War Soldiers
- Kentucky Mexican War
- Kentucky World War 1
- Kentucky World War 2
- Korean War Casualty List
- Vietnam War Casualty List
Kentucky Native American Records
Kentucky Newspapers
Kentucky Vital Records
Kentucky Vital Records, 1884-1928
This microfilm is a copy of the original records located at the Kentucky State Historical Society in Frankfort and microfilmed in 1975. It is an incomplete copy of the set of records for each county but can provide the information for the specific counties and years as denoted in the list.
Kenton County Birth Records 1852-1859 & 1876-1877
Kenton County Death Records 1852-1880 (Incomplete)
1825-1854 Marriage Bonds of McCracken County Kentucky
This is a list of 870 marriage bonds from McCracken County, Kentucky, covering the years of 1825 to 1854 and extracted from the McCracken County Marriage Bonds Book No. 1. In 1957, Mrs. Briles extracted information about these bonds and compiled them into this self-published book. The text in this book was done with an old manual typewriter and has the usual faint and filled-in type often found with such papers.
New Kentucky Genealogy
Lewis Family of Norwich Vermont
William Lewis and family, consisting of his wife, Naomi, five sons and three daughters, (Joseph, his eldest son, having been a citizen of the town for some years) came to Norwich in 1781 or 1782 from Windsor, Hartford county, Connecticut, and settled on a farm now owned by Benjamin Clifford, where he resided for a number of years. In 1787 he purchased the farm now occupied by John W. Hutchinson. From time to time he added to it by purchase until at his death it contained 250 acres of good land, mostly covered with a large growth of timber. This…
Natchez Trace
In 1792, in a council held at Chickasaw Bluffs, where Memphis, Tennessee, is now located, a treaty was made with the Chickasaws, in which they granted the United States the right of way through their territory for a public road to be opened from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi. This road was long known, and no doubt, remembered by many at the present time by the name “Natchez Trace.” It crossed the Tennessee River at a point then known as “Colberts Ferry,” and passed through the present counties of Tishomingo, Ittiwamba, Lee, Pantotoc, Chickasaw, Choctaw, thence on to Natchez, and…
Gen. Anthony Wayne’s Campaign
In April 1792, General Anthony Wayne was appointed by the general government to take command of the Northwestern Army. On the 5th of the following November a hundred men from Kentucky, under Adair as captain, made a raid across the Ohio River into the Indians country, but the indefatigable Little Turtle and his band of heroes met him and, in a severe fight: defeated him, with heavy loss, and drove him back to his own. In the spring of 1793, during the arrangements that were being made for Wayne’s campaign, Congress sent commissioners to the Northwest Indians to negotiate a…
Moravian Massacre at Gnadenbrutten
In the early part of the year 1763 two Moravian missionaries, Post and Heckewelder, established a mission among the Tuscarawa Indians, and in a few years they had three nourishing missionary stations, viz: Shoenbrun, Gnadenbrutten and Salem, which were about five miles apart and fifty miles west of the present town of Steubenville, Ohio. During our Revolutionary War their position being midway between the hostile Indians (allies of the British) on the Sandusky River, and our frontier settlements, and therefore on the direct route of the war parties of both the British Indian allies and the frontier settlers, they were…
The Discovery Of This Continent, it’s Results To The Natives
In the year 1470, there lived in Lisbon, a town in Portugal, a man by the name of Christopher Columbus, who there married Dona Felipa, the daughter of Bartolome Monis De Palestrello, an Italian (then deceased), who had arisen to great celebrity as a navigator. Dona Felipa was the idol of her doting father, and often accompanied him in his many voyages, in which she soon equally shared with him his love of adventure, and thus became to him a treasure indeed not only as a companion but as a helper; for she drew his maps and geographical charts, and also…
The Meeting in 1811 of Tecumseh and Apushamatahah
The meeting in 1811, of Tecumseh, the mighty Shawnee, with Apushamatahah, the intrepid Choctaw. I will here give a true narrative of an incident in the life of the great and noble Choctaw chief, Apushamatahah, as related by Colonel John Pitchlynn, a white man of sterling integrity, and who acted for many years as interpreter to the Choctaws for the United States Government, and who was an eye-witness to the thrilling scene, a similar one, never before nor afterwards befell the lot of a white man to witness, except that of Sam Dale, the great scout of General Andrew Jackson,…
Narrative of the Captivity of of Mrs. Francis Scott – Indian Captivities
A True and Wonderful Narrative of the Surprising Captivity and remarkable deliverance of Mrs. Francis Scott, an inhabitant of Washington County, Virginia, who was taken by the Indians on the evening of the 29th of June, 1785. On Wednesday, the 29th day of June, 1785, late in the evening, a large company of armed men passed the house on their way to Kentucky, some part of whom encamped within two miles. Mr. Scott’s living on a frontier part generally made the family watchful; but on this calamitous day, after so large a body of men had passed; he lay down…
Narrative of the Captivity of Capt. William Hubbell – Indian Captivities
A Narrative of the desperate encounter and escape of Capt. William Hubbell from the Indians while descending the Ohio River in a boat with others, in the year 1791. Originally set forth in the Western Review, and afterwards republished by Dr. Metcalf, in his “Narratives of Indian Warfare in the West.” In the year 1791, while the Indians were yet troublesome, especially on the banks of the Ohio, Capt. William Hubbell, who had previously emigrated to Kentucky from the state of Vermont, and who, after having fixed his family in the neighborhood of Frankfort, then a frontier settlement, had been…
Life and travels of Colonel James Smith – Indian Captivities
Kit Carson, His Life and Adventures – Indian Wars
Northwest Territorial War of 1812 – Indian Wars
The Tippecanoe War of 1812 – Indian Wars
The War with the Indians of the West during Washington’s Administration
Native Americans in the Revolutionary War
At the commencement of the American struggle for independence, the Native Americans in the Revolutionary War stood in a peculiar position. Their friendship became a matter of importance to both parties. To secure this, the English took particular care, and had many advantages, of which the colonists were deprived. The expulsion of the French from Canada had given the Indians a high opinion of the valor and power of British forces. They also had the means of supplying the wants of the Indians by presents of articles, which could only be obtained from Europe, and which the American Congress had…
Campbell County, Kentucky Church Records
Alexandria United Methodist Church History Apostolic Temple-Newport Asbury Methodist Church Old Asbury Chapel Historical Sketch Baptist Churches in Campbell County Baptist Church of Dry Creek Deeds of 1819 and 1828 Baptist Church of Jesus Christ at Decorsey’s Creek Deed of 1845 Beech Grove Sunday School Union History Bellevue Christian Church-Bellevue Bridge Community Church-Wilder Brush Creek Baptist Church-Persimmon Grove History Members 1820-1870 California Methodist Church History Central Christian Church-Newport Subscription List for 1896 Deaths 1897-1907 1900 Directory 1901 Directory 1902 Directory 1904 Directory 1905 Directory Christ Church United Church of Christ-Ft. Thomas (originally known as Christ Evangelical & Reform Church) History…
Trigg County Kentucky Family Bible Records
Trigg County, Kentucky Family Bible Records (Hosted at Trigg County USGenWeb Archives Project ) Blake and Christiana Baker Family Bible John W. Caldwell and Lucinda Young Family Bible Minnie Elizabeth Crider Family Bible Levi Dunning and Jennet Carney Family Bible Betty Jane Freeman Family Bible Robert Garnett Family Bible Brinkley House and Ann Allen Family Bible Miles Hollowell Family Bible John Morgan Harrell and Mary Gurlean Crump Family Bible George W. Kirk and Alice Armstrong Family Bible Leonard Lewis and Polly Simms Family Bible Trimble Thomas Lancaster and Julice Jackson Flood Family Bible William Strode Lander and Mary Jane Blakely…
Campbell County Kentucky Family Bible Records
Campbell County, Kentucky Family Bible Records (Hosted at Campbell County, Kentucky KYGenWeb ) Baker, Samuel Bennett Family Bible Baker, Thomas Moore Family Bible Ball Family Bible Bonar Family Bible Bryan Family Bible Carll Family Bible Carroll Family Bible Chambers, Robert Family Bible Clore Family Bible Colliver Family Bible Crouch Family Bible Ellis Family Bible Epply, John P Family Bible Floyd Family Bible French Family Bible Gaines Family Bible Graham, Allen David Family Bible Green, John Ford Family Bible Grubbs, John H Family Bible Hawkins Family Bible Herndon, Elijah Family Bible Long Family Bible Metcalfe, George W Family Bible Miller Family…
Barren County Kentucky Family Bible Records
Barren County, Kentucky Family Bible Records (Hosted at Barren County USGenWeb Archives Project ) Andrews Family Bible Berry Family Bible Berry-Harrison Family Bible Bewley-Bailey Family Bible Bybee Family Bible Cockrill-Payne Family Bible Cox Family Bible Curd-Snoddy Family Bible Crenshaw Family Bible Davis Family Bible Denton Family Bible Denham Family Bible Depp-Grinstead Family Bible Dossey Family Bible Ellis-Curd Family Bible Glover – Dickerson Family Bible Gott 1 Family Bible Gott 2 Family Bible Hanes Family Bible Harrison-Franklin Family Bible Holman Family Bible Kerley Family Bible Kinslow 1 Family Bible Kinslow 2 Family Bible Kinslow 3 Family Bible Kinslow 4 Family Bible…
Allen County, Kentucky Family Bible Records
Allen County, Kentucky Family Bible Records (Hosted at Allen County USGenWeb Archives Project ) Family Bible Records Marcum and Hinton Family Bible Records Logan-Lamb Bible, Allen & Warren Counties Allen County, Kentucky Family Bible Records (Hosted at Allen County Kentucky USGenWeb ) Anderson Family Bible Jesse Lee Atwood Family Bible Broughton, Woodard C. Family Bible Brown, Henry Family Bible Brunson Family Family Bible Buchanon/Goodrum Family Bible Buchanon Family Family Bible #1 Buchanon Family Family Bible #2 Downing, Benjamin Family Bible Downing Family Family Bible #1 Downing Family Family Bible #2 Francis Family Family Bible Gatewood Family Bible Guy Family Family…
Kentucky Directories
While a directory can often in itself be a source of interesting genealogical and biographical information, its chief value lies in its use as an aid to locating a person in place and time. One type of directory groups people by a common residence. The second groups them by a common association or attribute. In addition, many directories cover organizations rather than individuals and are sometimes called registers, catalogs, annuals, yearbooks, or guides. Whatever its title, contents, or method, a directory will always list and locate members of a group. Source: Szucs and Luebking, The Source: A Guidebook of American…