Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy
Guide to Breckinridge County, Kentucky ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
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Contents
- 1 County Information
- 2 Resources
- 2.1 Bible Records
- 2.2 Biographies
- 2.3 Business, Commerce, and Occupations
- 2.4 Cemeteries
- 2.5 Census Records
- 2.6 Church Records
- 2.7 Court Records
- 2.8 Directories
- 2.9 Emigration and Immigration
- 2.10 Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
- 2.11 Funeral Homes
- 2.12 Genealogies
- 2.13 Guardianship
- 2.14 Land and Property Records
- 2.15 Local Histories
- 2.16 Maps and Gazetteers
- 2.17 Migration
- 2.18 Military Records
- 2.19 Naturalization and Citizenship
- 2.20 Newspapers
- 2.21 Obituaries
- 2.22 Other Records
- 2.23 Periodicals
- 2.24 Probate Records
- 2.25 School Records
- 2.26 Tax Records
- 2.27 Vital Records
- 3 Research Facilities
- 4 Societies
- 5 Websites
- 6 Research Guides
- 7 References
County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The County was named for John Breckinridge. The County is located in the central area of the state.[2]
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
Breckenridge County Courthouse
Courthouse Square
PO Box 538
Hardinsburg, KY 40143
Phone: 270-756-2246[3]
Breckenridge County Website
Breckinridge County, Kentucky Record Dates[edit | edit source]
Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1853 | 1800 | 1853 | 1803 | 1800 | 1800 | 1810 |
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
|
1958 A courthouse disaster resulted in the loss of some records.
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Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
For animated maps illustrating Kentucky county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Kentucky County Boundary Maps" (1776-1939) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website. |
Populated Places[edit | edit source]
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[6]
| Cities | ||
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| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
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History Timeline[edit | edit source]
Resources[edit | edit source]
Bible Records[edit | edit source]
Biographies[edit | edit source]
- KY Biographies, Jeff Murphy's Kentucky Biographies Project
Business, Commerce, and Occupations[edit | edit source]
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
The following web sites have additional information on Breckinridge county cemeteries.
- Interment.net, Kentucky cemetery records by county.
- Cemetery Junction, Links to cemetery transcriptions
- Naming the Forgotten, The Eastern State Hospital Project
Census Records[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1810 | 3,430 | ||
| 1820 | 7,485 | 118.2% | |
| 1830 | 7,345 | −1.9% | |
| 1840 | 8,944 | 21.8% | |
| 1850 | 10,593 | 18.4% | |
| 1860 | 13,236 | 25.0% | |
| 1870 | 13,440 | 1.5% | |
| 1880 | 17,486 | 30.1% | |
| 1890 | 21,034 | 20.3% | |
| 1900 | 20,534 | −2.4% | |
| 1910 | 21,034 | 2.4% | |
| 1920 | 19,652 | −6.6% | |
| 1930 | 17,368 | −11.6% | |
| 1940 | 17,744 | 2.2% | |
| 1950 | 15,528 | −12.5% | |
| 1960 | 14,734 | −5.1% | |
| 1970 | 14,789 | 0.4% | |
| 1980 | 16,861 | 14.0% | |
| 1990 | 16,312 | −3.3% | |
| 2000 | 18,648 | 14.3% | |
| 2010 | 20,059 | 7.6% | |
| http://ukcc.uky.edu/~census/21027.txt | |||
For tips on accessing Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy census records online, see: Kentucky Census.
- Kentucky Census Transcriptions 1850-1930, USGenWeb
- Census Images, USGenWeb
- KY Census Online, Links to online census records
Church Records[edit | edit source]
Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Kentucky denominations, view the Kentucky Church Records wiki page.
- Kentucky Christian Church Directory, ChurchAngel
- Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of Lexington
- Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville
Baptist[edit | edit source]
- Goshen. Constituted 1808.[7]
- Wendell Holmes Rone, A 190 Year History 1808-1998: The Goshen Story (1998) includes membership rolls.
- New Hope. Constituted 1813.[8]
List of Churches and Church Parishes
Court Records[edit | edit source]
Directories[edit | edit source]
Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]
Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups[edit | edit source]
African Americans[edit | edit source]
More information about African American resources in Kentucky can be found on the Kentucky African Americans and the United States African Americans Wiki pages.
- The KY African American Griots Project
- Kentucky Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.
- [Sandi Gorin's Tips, Hangings in Kentucky 1792-1900
Funeral Homes[edit | edit source]
Genealogies[edit | edit source]
- [Kasey] Schorn, Catherine Scott. "Kaseys in Bedford County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1987):243-248; Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1988):24-32. Digital version at American Ancestors ($). FHL Book 975.5 B2vg v. 31 (1987)-v. 32 (1988).
- [May] Coke, Ben H. John May, Jr. of Virginia: His Descendants and Their Land, with an Account of Some Early Descendant Families, Including Cocke, Coke, Joplin, Love, Percefull, Perrin, Tompkins. Baltimore, Md., 1975.
- [Seaton] Katheder, Thomas. "Seaton of Fauquier County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 2000):83-102. Digital version at American Ancestors ($). FHL Book 975.5 B2vg.
Guardianship[edit | edit source]
Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]
Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.
See Kentucky Land and Property for additional information about early Kentucky land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.
Local Histories[edit | edit source]
Local histories are available for Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories see the wiki page section Kentucky Local Histories.
Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]
for more resources
Migration[edit | edit source]
Military Records[edit | edit source]
- Military Resources, Revolutionary War through Civil War
Civil War[edit | edit source]
Online Records
- 1861-1865 - Kentucky Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
- 1861-1865 - Kentucky Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
- 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
- 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry— index (free)
- 1912-1950 - Kentucky Confederate Pension Applications 1912-1950 at FamilySearch — index and images
World War I[edit | edit source]
Korean War[edit | edit source]
- Korean War Memorial, Korean War Memorial for Soldiers from KY, KYGenWeb
Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
- USNPL, Kentucky, Kentucky newspaper index with links
- World-Newspapers, Kentucky, Kentucky newspaper index with links
- Kentucky Newspapers on Microfilm
Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:
- WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
- Do a Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
Obituaries[edit | edit source]
- Kentucky Footsteps Archives, KYGenWeb
- Kentucky Obituary Sources, KYGenWeb
- Links to research and locate obituaries
- Browning Genealogy Database, Compiled by Charles Browning.
- Kentucky Obituaries, USGenWeb
- Afrigeneas, African American death notices, obituaries and funeral programs compiled by users from current newspapers and historical sources
- Obituary Depot, Kentucky Newspaper Citations
- [Obituary Daily Times, Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries (Ancestry)
- Nashville Christian Advocate Death Abstracts
Other Records[edit | edit source]
- Kentucky Postcards, USGenWeb
Periodicals[edit | edit source]
Probate Records[edit | edit source]
Probate records are held by the Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy Clerk of Court and are housed at the Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy Courthouse. Microfilmed records can be found online at Kentucky, Probate Records, 1792-1977 for Caldwell, Henry, Hickman, Russell and Trimble counties. See the wiki page Kentucky Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.
Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.
Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, and adoptions.
Online Probate Records
- 1774 - 1999 Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
- 1800 - 1893 Images of Wills, Inventories, Appraisements, Guardianships, Book No. 1 Kentucky Pioneers ($)
- 1894 - 1935 Images of Wills, Inventories, Appraisements, Guardianships, Book No. 2 Kentucky Pioneers ($)
- 1936 - 1966 Images of Wills, Inventories, Appraisements, Guardianships, Book No. 3 Kentucky Pioneers ($)
- 1966 - 1975 Images of Wills, Inventories, Appraisements, Guardianships, Book No. 4 Kentucky Pioneers ($)
The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Breckinridge County probate records. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee.
School Records[edit | edit source]
Tax Records[edit | edit source]
Taxes were levied on free white males over 21 and slaves aged 21 to 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records for each county are divided by militia district. For more background information and state-wide resources see the wiki page Kentucky Taxation.
- 1800 - 1800 Tax List of Breckinridge County, Kentucky Genealogy is included in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky 1800,[9] digitized by Ancestry ($).
- Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Although Kentucky enacted a statute in 1852-1862 requiring registration of births and deaths,many counties did not comply. A second law was written in 1874-1879, and 1892-1910 but, again, was not always followed. By 1911, the law was more clearly defined and kept by 1920. Any existing births 1852-1960 and death records 1852-1953 can be accessed online. See How to Find Kentucky Birth Records and How to Find Kentucky Death Records for links to indexes and images.
Original marriage records are held at the office of the Breckinridge County Clerk, with divorce records 1849-1958 located with the Breckinridge County Circuit Court. For more information see How to Find Kentucky Marriage Records. For Kentucky divorce records see the wiki page Kentucky Vital Records.
Birth[edit | edit source]
- 1839-1960 - Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 at FamilySearch
- 1852-1861 - Breckinridge County Birth Index 1852-1861. Batch C517131 at FamilySearch - free.[10]
- 1875 - Breckinridge County Birth Index 1875. Batch C394971 at FamilySearch - free.
- 1911-1912 - Searchable KY Birth Index
Marriage[edit | edit source]
- 1609-2016 - Kentucky, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
- 1785-1979 - Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979 at FamilySearch
- 1797-1954 - Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1852-1862 - Breckinridge County Marriage Index 1852-1862. Batch M517131 at FamilySearch - free.
- 1874-1876 - Breckinridge County Marriage Index 1874-1876. Batch M517132 at FamilySearch - free.
- 1875-1878 - Breckinridge County Marriage Index 1875-1878. Batch M517133 at FamilySearch - free.
- 1973-2000 - Searchable KY Marriage Records
- 1973-2000 - Kentucky Marriage Records 1973-2000
Death[edit | edit source]
- 1843-1970 - Kentucky Deaths and Burials, 1843-1970 at FamilySearch
- 1911-1965 - Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965 at FamilySearch — index
- 1911-2000 - Searchable KY Death Index
- The Social Security Death Index - Searchable
- The Kentucky Vital Records Project, Transcriptions and Images of Kentucky Death Certificates
Divorce[edit | edit source]
- 1973-2000 - Kentucky Divorces 1973-1993, University of Kentucky Vital Records Databases
Research Facilities[edit | edit source]
Archives[edit | edit source]
- Breckinridge County Archives
Courthouse
P.O. Box 538
Hardinsburg, KY 40143
Phone: 270-756-6112
Family History Centers[edit | edit source]
Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.
- For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map
Libraries[edit | edit source]
Museums[edit | edit source]
Societies[edit | edit source]
- Breckinridge County Historical Society
PO Box 498
Hardinsburg, KY 40143-0498
Telephone: 270-756-2876
Website - Ancestral Trails Historic Society, Inc
PO Box 573
Vine Grove, KY 40175
Telephone: 270-982-0881
Email: info@aths.com
Website - Ancestral Trails Historical Society
PO Box 1796
Elizabethtown, KY 42702-1796
Telephone: 270-982-0881
Website - Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Breckinridge County, KY History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Genealogy Inc)
- KYGenWeb project. Has maps, name indexes, history or other information for each county. Select the county.
- State of Kentucky Website
- USGenWeb Kentucky Archives
- USGenweb USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
- Boone County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
- Breckinridge County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
- FamilySearch Catalog . Free - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection. Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records
Research Guides[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Kentucky. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Breckinridge County, Kentucky" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breckinridge_County,_Kentucky."
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Breckinridge County, Kentucky page 268, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Page 268-276 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 251-254.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Kentucky. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Breckinridge County, Kentucky," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breckinridge_County,_Kentucky, accessed 5 August 2018.
- ↑ Masters, Frank M. "The Early Baptist Churches that Remain in Kentucky 1801-1841," Baptist History Homepage.
- ↑ Spencer, J.H. A History of Kentucky Baptists (1886; reprint, 1984), 2:307-330; digital image, Baptist History Homepage.
- ↑ G. Glenn Clift, Second Census of Kentucky 1800: A Privately Compiled and Published Enumeration of Tax Payers Appearing in the 79 Manuscript Volumes Extant of Tax Lists of the 42 Counties of Kentucky in Existence in 1800 (1954; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2005).
- ↑ Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/images/f/f1/Igikentuckyaf.pdf.
