Pulaski County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States   Kentucky    Pulaski County

Quick Dates
Pulaski County's civil records start the following years:

*Many years between 1852 and 1911 are missing

County Courthouse


Dispite the new courthouse located across the street, the county clerks office is still found in this the "old" courthouse built in 1975..

For historic images of the Pulaski county courthouses seecourthousehistory.com.

Parent County
1798--Pulaski County was created 10 December 1798 from Lincoln and Green Counties. County seat: Somerset

Formation of Pulaski county

Boundary Changes
John H Long, editor, Kentucky Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

Kentucky County Formation Maps (click on 1799 to see Pulaski when it was created)

Record Loss
1871--A disaster destroyed some records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Casey
 * Laurel
 * Lincoln
 * McCreary
 * Rockcastle
 * Russell
 * Wayne

Resources
For help in determining which resource type (or record type) will help you solve your problem see the wiki article Selecting Record Types

African American
The following have information concerning African American research. Both should be used:


 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records


 * Kentucky Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.

Pulaski county specific resources:


 * African Am./Marriages, 1919-20 (sel.). See Pulaski County Historical Society Newsletter May 1998.
 * There is a picture of the Somerset Negro School in the Goodman-Paxton Photographic Collection, 1934-1942. See Kentuckiana Digital Library.
 * In 2008, Wanda Harper, a Pulaski County Historical Society staff member, was collecting material on the black families of Pulaski county.
 * Taxpayers, 1866 The First Segregated Tax List. Note that free blacks do show up in the tax lists prior to 1866.
 * Dale Cordner, "Slaves in Court Records: Emancipations/Transfers Found in Deeds," Pulaski couunty, Kentucky USGenWeb. The is a marvelous resource, however it should be noted that it is a collection of abstracts, rather a compilation of all the emancipations to be found in the Pulaski county deed books.
 * "Slaves in Wills and Estates" This Pulaski county, Kentucky USGenWebsite lists all slaves mentioned in Will Book I, 1801-1818. And has selected listing after 1818.
 * At the end of the 1852 Pulaski county, Kentucky Tax List is a list of all free blacks and their ages. This list includes the childrens name and their ages.

Bible Records

 * Kentucky Bible Archives - Pulaski USGenWeb
 * [Beatty] "The Beaty Bible of Pulaski co., KY," Kentucky Ancestors Vol 4, No. 4 (April 1969).
 * [Hubble] David Hubble Bible Record.
 * [Gastineau] Bible Record for the Sowder, Sutton and Gastineau Famlies, 1802-1914. Available at New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Business Records

 * Girdler Brothers. Girdler Brother Ledger, 1898-1900. See WorldCat.
 * Pulaski County (Ky) County Clerk. Account Ledger Books of Mercantile Establishments, 1849-1897. Available at Kentucky State Archives.
 * Pulaski County (Ky), County Clerk. General Ledger No 1. (Somerset Deposit Bank), 1866-1869. Available at Kentucky State Archives.
 * Wilson, John Truesdell. History of Banking in Pulaski County, 1818-1970. Somerset, Ky. : First and Farmers National Bank, 1970. Available at Filson Club Library in Louisville, Ky. Call No. 332.1 W749.

Cemeteries
Kentucky cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.

The following is a list of sources that have information on more than one cemetery in Pulaski county, Kentucky:


 * Kentucky Historical Society Cemetery Search can be searched by name, place and/or date. This database has hundreds of thousands of names transcribed from gravestones across Kentucky.
 * Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried. Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone.  May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.
 * Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Pulaski County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.
 * The United States Geological Survey (USGS) will give you a list of the Pulaski county cemeteries and their GPS cordinates that are found on their maps. Fill in the search boxes with: cemetery, Kentucky and Pulaski.
 * Kentucky Cemeteries lists the national cemeteries in Kentucky with links to their web sites. The first link under Online Kentucky Cemeteries goes to the Kentucky section of Interment.net
 * Pulaski Co. KY USGenWeb Tombstone Project usually gives the names of the deceased in alphabetical order by last name with birth and death dates plus any remarks.
 * The Family History Library Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * ePodunk list of Pulaski County cemeteries gives the names of the cemeteries in the county with a link to more information such as address, phone number, and web site.
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky: A Part of KYGenWeb has list of Pulaski County cemeteries with some linked to data.
 * Young, Asher Leon. Relocated Cemeteries of Russell, Clinton, Wayne and Pulaski Counties, Kentucky. [s.l.] : A. L. Young, 1989. Available at Filson Club Library in Louisville, Ky. Call No. 929.3 Y68r.
 * The Pulaski County Historical Societyhas several published volumes on the cemeteries in Pulaski county, Kentucky. These can be purchased through the society.
 * "Cemeteries Not in Our Books," Pulaski County Historical Society newletter, ca 2008, no vol number given.

For an alphabetical listing of individual cemeteries, both existing and demolished, see the Alphabetical Individual Cemetery Reference Page for Pulaski county, Kentucky. It is anticipated that that page will grow to be comprehensive list that provides GPS cordinates and references to sources of information specific to each cemetery.

Census
1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Pulaski County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see Kentucky Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in online indexes, try checking printed indexes. Created by local experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than online nationwide indexes.

See Kentucky Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book for more information about statewide printed indexes.

For a 1890 census substitute see 1890 Pulaski Co, Kentucky Taxpayers and Surviving Soldiers, Sailors and Marines and Widow, etc.

Church
The most comprehensive collection of Pulaski County Church Records is found at the Pulaski County Historical Society. Upon arriving at the Pulaski County Historical Society, request a current "Church" list which will contain a listing of church records and histories and their call numbers. Not all their listings have dates of coverage or location within Pulaski county stated so the reader will do well to be prepared with the known specific locality and dates of the ancestor being researched--and then approach the staff as to which church records on the list might be more likely to serve the ancestors area. Some, but not all of the Pulaski County Historical Society's collection is referenced on the wiki.

The Pulaski County Historical Society is not the only repository of church records. Many additional and/or original records still exist in the respective churches located in Pulaski county and in other repositories including denominational regional libraries, the Kentucky Historical Society, etc. For more information see the one of the following wiki pages:


 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Baptist Church Records
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Catholic Church Records
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Christian Church Records
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Church of Christ Church Records
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Methodist Church Records
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Presbyterian Church Records

Directories

 * [1903] "Somerset telephone directory, 1903," Pulaski County Historical Society Newsletter May 2005.
 * [1934] "Southern Continental Telephone Company new subscribers list, Oct 11, 1934," Pulaski County Historical Society Newsletter Nov 2006.
 * [1958, 1965, 1972-1977] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). Available at the University of Kentucky Library in Lexington.
 * [1979-1997] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). Available at the University of Kentucky Library in Lexington.
 * [1995-1998] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). See Pulaski County Public Library catalog.
 * [1999-2001] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). Available at the University of Kentucky Library in Lexington.
 * [2001-2005] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). See Pulaski County Public Library catalog.
 * [2010] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). See Pulaski County Public Library catalog.

Collections: Manuscripts/Papers/Misc

 * Mitchell, Bernice. Bernice Mitchell Papers, 1941-1988. See Filson Library.
 * Jillson, Willard Rouse. Willard Rouse Jillson Papers, 1918-1963.See University of Kentucky Library.
 * John Brazillia Lewis Papers, 1927-1978. Farm life in 1880s. See University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
 * Owens, Joseph M. Papers : Letters and documents, 1849-1914. Available at Filson Club Library Special Collections.
 * Tibbals, Alma Owens. Alma Owens Tibbals papers, 1806-1940. See University of Kentucky. Alma Owens Tibbals served as regent for the Somerset, Ky. chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the 1930s.

Court
A variety of courts serve Pulaski county, Kentucky. Court types include: Chauncery Court, Circuit Court, County Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Quarterly Court. Each of these courts have some common record types such as Order Books and Judgements; but some have records unique to their court such as the deeds and wills found in the County Court. Information regarding deeds is found in the Land Recordssection of this page. Information regarding wills is found in the Probate Records section of this page. For Circuit Court records (including divorce records) see the wiki’s Pulaski County, Kentucky Circuit Court Records page and for County Court records (minus deeds and probate) see the wiki’s Pulaski County, Kentucky County Court Records page.

Some of the microfilms may be available at the state archives and also at the state and county historical societies. Most are referenced among the wiki pages discussing Pulaski county, Kentucky, but some new and/or additional ones may be found there.

Genealogy
It is anticipated that this bibliography will eventually identify all known family histories published about residents of this county. Use this list to:


 * Locate publications about direct ancestors
 * Find the most updated accounts of an ancestor's family
 * Identify publications, to quote Elizabeth Shown Mills, about an ancestor's "FAN Club" [Friends, Associates, and Neighbors]

Land
There are several types of land records available for Pulaski county, Kentucky. Some have been abstracted, indexed, and/or microfilmed and are available at various repositories or on-line. Still others are in their original form at the courthouse in Somerset. See the the wiki page for Land Record Resources for Pulaski county, Kentucky.

Local History

 * Ramey, Clarice Payne. History of Pulaski County. (Lexington, Ky. : s.n., 1935). This thesis is available at University of Kentucky Library.
 * Tibbals, Alma. A History of Pulaski County Kentucky. Bagdad, Ky. : G. O. Moore, 1952. FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 H2t. Also at Filson Club Library.
 * Jillson, Willard Rouse, A Bibliography of Pulaski County, Kentucky: Citations of Printed and Manuscript Sources Touching upon its History. Frankfort, Ky. : Roberts Print. Co., 1954. Available at Filson Historical Society in Louiseville, Ky.
 * Davenport, Lawrence C. Local Historical Research by a Class in Local Historical Research. Somerset, Ky. : Somerset Community College, 1966. Available at Filson Historical Society in Louiseville, Ky. Call No. 976.973 D247.

Maps
See http://kdl.kyvl.org for Sanborn Maps of Burnside and Somerset.

Kentucky Atlas &amp; Gazetteer - Pulaski co.

Historical State of Kentucky Maps

William Taylor papers : land transactions, 1787-1835. This collection is available at the Kentucky Historical Society and contains maps of Pulaski county, Kentucky.

Military

 * Triller, Gayle, coordinator. "Pulaski County Military Heritage", "Pulaski County, Kentucky: A Part of KyGenWeb," USGenWeb, 2009.



The FamilySearch wiki has the following Pulaski county, Kentucky military record pages:


 * [1776-1781] Pulaski County, Kentucky Revolutionary War Records
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Indian War Records
 * [1812] Pulaski County, Kentucky War of 1812 Records
 * [1861-1865] Pulaski County, Kentucky Civil War Records
 * [1898] Pulaski County, Kentucky Spanish American War Records
 * [1899-1902] Pulaski County, Kentucky Philippine Insurrection Records
 * [1914-1918] Pulaski County, Kentucky WWI Records
 * [1939-1945] Pulaski County, Kentucky WWII Records
 * [1950-1953] Pulaski County, Kentucky Korean War Records
 * [1961-1975] Pulaski County, Kentucky Vietnam War Records
 * [1991] Pulaski County, Kentucky Persian Gulf War Records

In deciding if your ancestor might have served in a war, keep in mind his age and place of residence at the date of a given war. And also his place of residence when war pensions were filed.

Native American

 * "Resource list, Cherokee research," Pulaski County HIstorical Society Newsletter May 2002.
 * Cherokee Research

Newspapers
Newspapers are used in geneology to find obituaries of ancestors, community news items/events mentioning ancestors, and historical context information pertaining to the lives of ancestors.

There are several sources available for Pulaski county, Kentucky Newspapers. Some have been microfilmed and/or digitalized and are available at various repositories or on-line. Still others are in their original form at various repositories. See the the FamilySearch wiki page Pulaski county, Kentucky Newspaper Resources.

For strictly obituary information see the obituary section of the FamilySearch wiki page "Pulaski county, Kentucky".

Obituaries
The Pulaski County Historical Society has several excellent collections of obituaries in various binders from the earlier Pulaski County newspapers, and is the most comprehensive place to start for obituaries in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

''Pulaski County Historical Society Newsletter. ca 2008. ''Death records 1887+.

For obituaries from Feb 2001 to present see Somerset Ky Obits.

The Commonwealth-Journal (8/5/2008-current) is available through GenealogyBank.

Probate
As there is variation among counties in how probate records are organized, the reader will find it helpful to know that in Pulaski county the early will books include wills, administrations, inventories, bills of sale, and settlements; but by 1864 these things started being kept in separate books.

Index and Abstract Resources

There are several sources available to make your search of Pulaski County probate records easier. No single source is all inclusive. Each offers it own help that the others don't.

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Pulaski County probate records. They offer a record retrieval service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:


 * Will Book 1: 1801-1816
 * Will Book 2: 1817-1829
 * Will Book 3: 1829-1838

Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills 1800 to 1950 (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 P22p) was published by the Pulaski County Historical Society in 1991 and replaces it 1977 edition (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 P22pu). In creating the index, the compilers searched the original will books at the Somerset Courthouse, the courthouse's 1935 typed index and microfilms. The powerful index found in the 1991 edition contains two sections. The first is an index to the wills, inventories and appraisements, settlements, sale of land, dower allotment, etc. The second is an index to "original copies of all the early Pulaski County wills" (see title page). Page 79 states, "the Pulaski County Historical Society has zerox [sic] copied all early original documents from the will files at the Pulaski County Courthouse. These documents are in the actual hand writing of the person who prepared the document. This list also includes some wills that were rejected by the court and were not recorded in the will books."

Abstracts of wills in Pulaski County, Kentucky, vol. 1 (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 P2b) compiled by Annie Walker Burns doesn't give the will book volume and page number of the wills abstacted, but it's index does include executors and witnesses, which is something Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills 1800 to 1950 does not. Abstracts of wills in Pulaski County, Kentucky, vol. 1 only covers 1803-1850.

Abstract of will book one of Pulaski County, Kentucky prepared by Margaret Dunn Frye is available at the Martin F Schmidt Research Library in Frankfort. (976.902 P981f) This work created a devisee index to Will Book 1 in addition to the abstracts, thus making it one of the most powerful resources to be found for early Pulaski county research.

Pulaski County, Kentucky Will Book Number Two (1817-1829) compiled by Margaret Dunn Frye includes an index to "deceased persons and their heirs". So she has created a devisee index for us, which again is something "Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills" didn't do. Additionally, in her typescript abstracts she includes the names of buyers, executors, commr, etc. Although these buyers are not indexed, her book (FHL US/CAN Film 855,033 item 4) is only 37 pages of typescript and so it is a relatively easy read if you want to know if your ancestor was a buyer in an estate sale during this time period.

 

The General Index made by the county court is also available. (FHL US/CAN FILM 1,912,828)

Some of the microfilms may be available at the state archives and also at the state and county historical societies. Most have already been discussed in this wiki section, however, new and/or additional resources may be found there.

Will Books

The original will books have been microfilmed. See FHL catalog.

Bonds, Inventories, Appraisements, Settlement


 * [1864-1902] Administrators bonds. See FHL catalog.
 * [1864-1871] Inventory, Appraisement and Settlement Book at Kentucky State Archives.
 * [1870-1909] Inventories, Appraisements and Sale Bills on microform at Kentucky State Archives.
 * [1871-1909] Inventories, appraisements. See FHL catalog.
 * [1870-1907] Settlements, v 8-12. See FHL catalog.
 * [1865-1901] Guardian Bonds. Available at KDLA on microfilm.
 * [1865-1901] See FHL catalog.

Probate Files [aka Estate Packets]


 * [1800-1850] Are not extant according to the Pulaski County Historical Society. County Clerk says these records would be found in the Circuit Clerks Office. Clerk of the Circuit Court does not think they exist. Loose original wills do exist. See content under wills.
 * [1993-present] Contact Pulaski County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 100 N Main St #302, PO Box 664, Somerset, KY 42502
 * Misc
 * [1922-1925] Pulaski County, County Clerk. Probate Order Stub Book. Available at Kentucky State Archive.

Additional Probate Record Thoughts

Some of the microfilms may be available at the state archives and also at the state and county historical societies. Most, if not all, have already been discussed in this wiki section, but some new sources may be there.

Taxation
Tax records for Pulaski exist for most years from 1799-1966. See FHL catalog or Kentucky Historical Society. FHL films can be rented from FHL for local Family History Center viewing. Tax List films can be purchased from the Kentucky Department for Libraries &amp; Archives. Go to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, click KDLA catalog, type in pulaski and tax. The 1799-1875 Pulaski county Tax Lists are also available for purchase as digital images in PDF format on CD from Genealogical Resources. When the PDF files are viewed in a program such as Acrobat Pro you can bookmark pages/images with year changes, ancestors names, etc. You can also drag an image/page out of Acrobat Pro and throw it into Photoshop to enhance viewing or you can just save that extracted page/image to be used as an attachment to your ancestor in whatever Record Manager (ie: Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Reunion, RootsMagic, etc) program you use.

Kandie Adkinson's "Researching Early Kentucky Tax Lists: 1792-1840" is a must read. The beginning tax list researcher will find the second half of her article especially helpful and for the serious researcher she covers the legislation envolved in the tax process in the first part of her article. She continues her work to 1880 in the 2011 editions of the periodical Kentucky Ancestors.

Pulaski County Historical Society. ''Pulaski County, Kentucky Tax List Index 1799-1829. ''(Somerset, Ky. : Pulaski County Historical Society, 1982). See WorldCat.

1800-1803 Line Creek Tax Lists

Pulaski County, County Clerk. List of Non-Residents' Land, 1888-1916. See Kentucky State Archives.

Pulaski County, County Clerk. Record of Land Sold for Taxes, 1888-1934. See Kentucky State Archives.

Kentucky Treasury Dept. Withdrawl Reports: Tax Bills, 1882-1884. Description of this archival material located at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort can be found on WorldCat. Taxation for whiskey.

1900-1934. Pulaski County, County Clerk. Supervisors' Revised Tax Assessment Lists. See Kentucky State Archives.

Some of the microfilms may be available at the state archives and also at the state and county historical societies. Most, if not all, have already been discussed in this wiki section, but some new sources may be there.

Vital Records
Start your vital record search with the following free FamilySearch on-line collections:


 * Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960
 * Kentucky Deaths and Burials, 1843-1970
 * Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979
 * Kentucky, Death Records, 1911-1955

Then consider other sources for images not available or unclear. Likewise, if you can't find your ancestor in the FamilySearch collection, consider locating, from the list below, abstracted sources created prior to the microfilming or digitalizing dates of the FamilySearch collection. Sometimes original records were lost between the time of an early abstractor's compilaton and the date of the first microfilming of the original records. Other times there is just a wide variation in indexing.

Some of the microfilms may be available at the state archives and also at the state and county historical societies. Most, if not all, have already been discussed in this wiki section, but some new sources may be there.

BIRTHS


 * Gayle Triller, coordinator, KYGenWeb Team, "Birth Index in Pulaski County", Pulaski County, Kentucky: A part of KYGenWeb.
 * [1852-1859, 1861,1874-1878] Pulaski County Historical Society. Pulaski County, Kentucky Vital Statistics: Births 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878; Deaths 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1875-1876-1878 (Somerset, Ky. : Pulaski County Historical Society, 1983). See WorldCat.
 * [1852-1859] Birth, marriages, deaths, 1852-1859 (FHL US/CAN Film 216838 item 5)

MARRIAGES


 * Gayle Triller, coordinator, KYGenWeb Team, "Pulaski County Marriages," Pulaski County, Kentucky: A part of KYGenWeb. Information from a variety of sources.
 * Bell, Annie Walker Burns. Marriage Records of Pulaski County, Kentucky Typescript written in 1936. Filmed in 1973. FHL US/CAN Film 928,021 items 3-4. See also WorldCat.
 * [1787-1860] Slevin, Ruth M. and Barbara Jordan. Marriage Bonds of Pulaski County, Kentucky, 1787-1860: with additional notes as obtained from the "consents". (Indianapolis, Ind., 1956). See Indiana State Library.
 * [1799-1850] Masley, Betty, et al. Pulaski County, Kentucky Records #1: Marriages, 1799-1850. (Indianpolis, IN : Researchers, 1997). See WorldCat.
 * [1798-1910] Kaurish, Mary Weddle. Pulaski County, Kentucky Marriage Records (Somerset, Kentucky : Pulaski County Historical Society, 1974). FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 V2p bk 1-4. Also note that the Pulaski County Historical Society will provide duplicated and certified photo copies of original marriage bonds and consent forms for the years 1799-1871 for a small fee.
 * [1799-1848] "Minister returns, marriages, 1799-1848," Pulaski County Historical Society Newsletter May 2007.
 * [1799-1850] Gloe, Joan Gilbert. Pulaski County, Kentucky Marriages, 1799-1850. (Indianapolis, Ind. : Researchers, 1991). See WorldCat.
 * [1852-1859] Birth, marriages, deaths, 1852-1859. Microfilm of original records. (FHL US/CAN Film 216838 item 5)
 * [1864-1924] County Clerk, Pulaski county, Kentucky, Marriage Books 2-65. Available on microfilm at Kentucky State Libraries and Archives in Frankfort.

DEATHS


 * [1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1876, 1878] Pulaski County Historical Society. Pulaski County, Kentucky Vital Statistics: Births 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878; Deaths 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1875-1876-1878 (Somerset, Ky. : Pulaski County Historical Society, 1983). See WorldCat.
 * [1852-1859] Birth, marriages, deaths, 1852-1859 (FHL US/CAN Film 216838 item 5)
 * [1854+] Gayle Triller, coordinator, KYGenWeb Team, "Death Certificates and Notices" Pulaski County, Kentucky: A part of KYGenWeb. Includes some Pulaski county related deaths published in the Nashville Christian Advocate.
 * [1875] Deaths, 1875. Microfilm of original records. (FHL US/CAN Film 974666 item 8)
 * Kentucky Vital Records Projecthas death certificates.

Societies and Libraries
Pulaski County Historical Society

PO Box 36 Somerset, KY 42502-0036

606 679-8401

Hours: M-Sat 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Offices are in basement of Pulaski County Public Library, 304 South Main St, Somerset, KY 42502-0036

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Pulaski County, Kentucky: A Part of KYGenWeb USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History  (Linkpendium)
 * Cyndi's List - United States - Kentucky - Counties - Pulaski
 * Cyndi's List - United States - Kentucky - Counties - Pulaski