Nicholas County, Kentucky Genealogy

Guide to Nicholas County, Kentucky ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Description
Nicholas County was named for Col. George Nicholas, the "Father of the Kentucky Constitution". The county is located in the north-eastern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Nicholas County Courthouse Main Street Carlisle, KY 40311-0329 Phone: 859-289-3730 Nicholas County Website

Populated Places
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:

Biographies

 * Kentucky Biographies Project

Cemeteries
The following web sites have additional information on Nicholas county cemeteries.


 * Cemetery Junction, Links to cemetery transcriptions
 * Naming the Forgotten, The Eastern State Hospital Project
 * Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, Local volunteers may take photographs of headstones found in county cemeteries.

Census Records
1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Nicholas 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.


 * Kentucky Census Transcriptions 1850-1930, USGenWeb
 * Census Images, USGenWeb
 * KY Census Online, Links to online census records
 * Census of 1810, Nicholas County, Kentucky at Ancestry ($)

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Kentucky Christian Church Directory, ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of Lexington
 * Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * 1796-1802 (*); District Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1800-1869 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1801-1822 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1857-1908 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1890-1989 (*); Fiscal Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * Cases Heard Before the Supreme Court for the District of Kentucky 1785-1792 at KYKinFolk.com
 * Abstracts of Early Kentucky Supreme Court Cases


 * Commonwealth of Kentucky, State Board of Elections at KY.gov
 * Contact information for all Kentucky County Court Clerks. Scroll down or use index at top of page to find desired county.


 * Kentucky Court of Justice at KYCourts.gov

African Americans

 * The KY African American Griots Project
 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records available
 * Kentucky Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.
 * Sandi Gorin's Tips, Hangings in Kentucky 1792-1900

Funeral Homes

 * Clark Funeral Homes in Moorefield.
 * Mathers-Gaunce Funeral Home in Carlisle.

Genealogies

 * [Asbury] Holtzclaw, B.C. "Asbury of Westmoreland County, Virginia," Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jul. 1967):55-65; Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct. 1967):77-87; Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan. 1968):10-26. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * [Bedinger] Smith, Zachary F. and Mary Rogers Clay. The Clay Family. Louisville, Ky.: John P. Morton and Company, 1899. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * [Stafford] Stafford, Carolyn Joy. The Biography of Thomas Moore Stafford, 1841-1910 of City of Louisville, Clark, and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky and Citrus and Lee Counties, Florida: Saddler, Soldier, Settler. Brandon, Fla.: C.J. Stafford, 2007. ; digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Some of the descendants of Robert and Jane McCune of Bourbon and Nicholas County, Kentucky at Ancestry ($)

Land and Property Records

 * The KY Land Office

Local Histories

 * History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky. 1882. Edited by William Henry Perrin. Cincinnati, Ohio : Art Guild Reprints. Online at: Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($);.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Kentucky (1776-1939)
 * KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
 * Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * Military Resources, Revolutionary War through Civil War

Civil War
'''Online Records
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection;
 * 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 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images


 * - 6th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Confederate). Company B.
 * - 9th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Confederate). Company B.

World War I

 * Fallen Soldiers in WWI from KY
 * prepared by Elizabeth Rich ; assisted by Fred P. Caldwell ; under the direction of the Kentucky Council of Defense. History of Nicholas County, Ky. in the World War, 1917-1919. FHL Digital Images

Korean War

 * Korean War Memorial for Soldiers from KY, KYGenWeb

Newspapers

 * USNPL, Kentucky, Kentucky newspaper index with links
 * World-Newspapers, Kentucky, Kentucky newspaper index with links
 * Kentucky Newspapers on Microfilm

Obituaries

 * Kentucky Footsteps Archives, KYGenWeb
 * Kentucky Obituary Sources, KYGenWeb


 * 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 including interactive search function
 * Nashville Christian Advocate Death Abstracts

Other Records

 * Kentucky Postcards, USGenWeb

Probate Records
'''Online Probate Records


 * 1774-1989 Kentucky, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1774-1989 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1795-1839 Index to Wills : Fleming County, Kentucky, 1798-1834, Harrison County, Kentucky, 1795-1831, Nicholas County, Kentucky, 1800-1839. By Ellsberry, Elizabeth Prather. Nicholas County, Kentucky : Nicholas County, Kentucky, n.d. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Also at: 
 * 1798-1943 at FamilySearch  - How to Use this Collection
 * 1799-1872 Kentucky Genealogy and Images of Old Wills, Estates, Inventories, Annual Returns, Marriages at Kentucky Pioneers ($)
 * Nicholas County, Kentucky Court Records at USGenWebArchives
 * 1800-1869 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1800-1929 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1854-1952 (*); Clerk of the County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1854-1969 (*); Clerk of the County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1869-1926 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1869-1941 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * Record of Marriages and Settlement of Estates in Nicholas County, Kentucky. By Burns, Annie Walker. Washington, D.C. : Annie Walker Burns, 1936. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Also at: 
 * (*); at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

 * 1800 - 1800 Tax List of Nicholas County, Kentucky Genealogy is included in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky 1800, digitized by Ancestry ($).
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)

Birth

 * 1839-1960 – at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1852-1859 - Nicholas County Birth Index 1852-1859. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1911-1912 Searchable KY Birth Index
 * 1911-1999 Kentucky Births, 1911-1999 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Marriage

 * 1609-2016 Kentucky, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1785-1979 – at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1797-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1800-1812 - Nicholas County, Kentucky Marriages, 1800-1812. Digital version at
 * 1852-1859 - Nicholas County Marriage Index 1852-1859. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1876-1878 - Nicholas County Marriage Index 1876-1878. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1973-2000 Searchable KY Marriage Records
 * 1973-2000 Kentucky Marriage Records 1973-2000
 * 1960-1993 Kentucky Marriages, 1960-1993 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

 * 1843-1970 – at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1900-1999 Kentucky Deaths, 1900-1999 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1911-1965 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1911-2000 Searchable KY Death Index
 * - How to Use this Collection
 * The Kentucky Vital Records Project, Transcriptions and Images of Kentucky Death Certificates

Divorce

 * 1973-1993 Kentucky Divorce Records 1973-1993, University of Kentucky Vital Records Databases

Archives
Archives of Appalachia East Tennessee State University Website

Family History Centers

 * Lexington Kentucky Family History Center
 * Owingsville Kentucky Family History Center
 * The Kentucky Historical Society Library - an affiliate library.
 * Lexington Public Library - an affiliate library.

Societies
Nicholas County Historical Society PO Box 222 108 West Main Street Carlisle, KY 40311 Phone: 859-289-4200 Email: [mailto:carlislehistory@gmail.com carlislehistory@gmail.com] Facebook

Websites

 * KYGenWeb project. Has maps, name indexes, history or other information for each county. Select the county.
 * State of Kentucky Website
 * USGenWeb Kentucky Archives
 * The USGenWeb project May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Nicholas County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Nicholas County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
 * . 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