Franklin County, Kentucky Genealogy

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

Franklin County Kentucky Courthouse
Franklin County Courthouse PO Box 338 219 St Clair Street Frankfort, KY 40602-0338 Phone: 502.875.8702

Phone: 502-564-7013 or 502-564-8380

Parent County
1794--Franklin County was created 7 December 1794 from Woodford, Mercer, and Shelby Counties. County seat: Frankfort

Boundary Changes
1790--Franklin County was part of Jefferson, Woodford, and Mercer Counties. 1795--Franklin County was created. 1800--Franklin County included part of Anderson and Owen Counties. A section of Franklin County was included in Shelby County. 1810--Same as 1800. 1820--Franklin County included part of Anderson County. A small section of Franklin County was located in Henry County. 1830--The boundaries of Franklin County are permanently established.

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.

Record Loss
1995 A disaster destroyed some records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Anderson
 * Henry
 * Owen
 * Scott
 * Shelby
 * Woodford

African American Research

 * Bellardo, Lewis J. "Frankfort, Kentucky, Census of Free Blacks, 1842," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Dec. 1975):272-275. Digital version at NGS website ($);
 * the KY African American Griots Project ~ The Kentucky African American Griots Project
 * Sandi Gorin's Tips ~ Hangings in Kentucky 1792 - 1900
 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records
 * Kentucky Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.

Biographies

 * KY Biographies ~ Jeff Murphy's Kentucky Biographies Project

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


 * Interment.net Kentucky cemetery records by county.


 * Cemetery Junction ~  Links to cemetery transcriptions


 * Naming the Forgotten ~ Naming the Forgotten - The Eastern State Hospital Project


 * ePodunk list of Franklin 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.

Census

 * USGenWeb Census Project ~ Kentucky Census Transcriptions 1850 - 1930
 * The USGenWeb Census Images ~ The USGenWeb Census Images Project
 * Kentucky Census Transcriptions ~ The USGenWeb Census Project
 * Census Online ~ Census Online

Church

 * Kentucky Christian Church Directory ~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of Lexington
 * Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville


 * A good resource for information concerning people living in the Forks of the Elkhorn area is:


 * Darnell, Ermina Jett. Forks of Elkhorn Church. Louisville, Kentucky : Standard Printing Co., 1946.

Court

 * Abstracts of Early KY Court Cases Abstracts of Early Supreme Court Cases ~ KYGenWeb Special Project
 * Kentucky Court of Justice Research &amp; Reference

Family Histories

 * [Brown] Buchanan, Paul C. and Susie M. Owens. "Henry Long and Some Descendants of Colonial Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1994):115-126; Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1994):190-200; Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1994):263-273; Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1995):27-31. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [Catlett] Peters, Norman R. "Benjamin Robinson of Caroline County, VA. But Not the Clerk!" The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 2004):57-75; Vol. 48, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 2004):120-139. Digital version at American Ancestors ($).
 * [Clarke] Buford, Marcus Bainbridge. A Genealogy of the Buford Family in America, With Records of a Number of Allied Families. San Francisco, Calif., 1903. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * [de Graffenried] de Graffenried, Thomas Pritchett. History of the de Graffenried Family from 1191 A.D. to 1925. Binghampton, N.Y.: Vail-Ballou Press, 1925. Digital version at Internet Archive - free;.
 * [Head] Buchanan, Paul C. and Susie M. Owens. "Henry Long and Some Descendants of Colonial Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1994):115-126; Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1994):190-200; Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1994):263-273; Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1995):27-31. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [Julian] Buford, Marcus Bainbridge. A Genealogy of the Buford Family in America, With Records of a Number of Allied Families. San Francisco, Calif., 1903. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * [Long] Buchanan, Paul C. and Susie M. Owens. "Henry Long and Some Descendants of Colonial Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1994):115-126; Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1994):190-200; Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1994):263-273; Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1995):27-31. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [McAndre] Buchanan, Paul C. and Susie M. Owens. "Henry Long and Some Descendants of Colonial Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1994):115-126; Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1994):190-200; Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1994):263-273; Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1995):27-31. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [Major] Harper, Lillie DuPuy VanCulin. Colonial Men and Times: Containing the Journal of Col. Daniel Trabue, Some Account of His Ancestry, Life and Travels in Virginia and the Present State of Kentucky During the Revolutionary Period; the Huguenots, Genealogy, with Brief Sketches of the Allied Families. Philadelphia, Pa.: Innes &amp; Sons, 1916. Digital version at Internet Archive;.
 * [Patteson] Smith, Ethel Marion. An Informal History of Virginia-Kentucky Pattesons in Illinois, Their Forbears and Their Kin Including the Lewises of Llangollen. Washington, 1948. Available at.

Land

 * The KY Land Office

Local Histories

 * ~ The Archives of Appalachia
 * A history of the First Presbyterian Church, Frankfort, Kentucky : together with the churches in Franklin County, in connection at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Maps

 * KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
 * Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site

Military

 * Military Resources ~ Revolutionary War through Civil War
 * Korean War Memorial Korean War Memorial for Soliders from KY ~ KYGenWeb
 * Fallen Soldiers in WWI from KY ~ Fallen Soldiers in WWI from Kentucky

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 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 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * - 7th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Companies B, C, G and K.
 * - 22nd Regiment, Kentucky Infantry (Union), Companies A and F.
 * - 24th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry (Union), Company H.
 * - 30th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry (Union), Companies A, B, E, F and G.
 * - 32nd Regiment, Kentucky Infantry (Union), Company B.

Miscellaneous

 * Kentucky Postcards ~ The USGenWeb Archives Penny Postcard Project
 * The KYGenWeb Footsteps ~ The Kentucky Footsteps Archives ~ KYGenWeb Special Project

Newspapers

 * Kentucky News -  Kentucky Newspaper Index with links
 * Another Kentucky Newspaper Index with links
 * Kentucky Newspapers on Microfilm  -   Kentucky Newspapers Available On Microfilm
 * The Kentucky Historical Society, in Frankfort, Kentucky, has a great newspaper collection.

Obituaries

 * KY Footsteps Archives ~ KY Footsteps List Archives - thousands of obituaries here ~ KYGenWeb Project
 * KY Obituary Sources ~ Kentucky Obituary Sources ~ Compiled by the KYGenWeb Project
 * Links to research and locate obituaries
 * Browning Genealogy Database ~ The Browning Genealogy Database - A Collection of Obituaries Compiled by Charles Browning.
 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project ~  Kentucky Obituary Project
 * 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 Advocate ~ Death Abstracts from the Nashville Christian Advocate

Probate

 * 1785-1880 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

Online Probate Records


 * 1774 – 1999 Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1727 – 1990 at FamilySearch — images

Taxation

 * 1801 - 1801 Tax List of is included in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky 1800, digitized by Ancestry ($).

Vital Records

 * How to order Kentucky Vital Records

Birth

 * 1839-1960 - KY Births and Christenings ~ Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 Family Search
 * 1852-1861 - Franklin County Birth Index 1852-1861. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874 - Franklin County Birth Index 1874. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Franklin County Birth Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages

Marriage

 * 1783-1979 - KY Marriage Records ~ KY Marriages 1783 - 1979 ~ Family Search
 * 1790-1815 - Franklin County, Kentucky Marriage Records, 1790-1815, Volume I at Ancestry.com (Free /$)
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1852-1861 - Franklin County Marriage Index 1852-1861. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Franklin County Marriage Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1876-1878 - Franklin County Marriage Index 1876-1878. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1973-2000 - Kentucky Marriage Records 1973 - 2000  ~ Kentucky Marriage Records - 1973 - 2000
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages

Death

 * 1843-1970 - KY Deaths and Burials
 * 1911-1963 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * The Kentucky Vital Records Project Transcriptions of and Images of KY Death Certificates - A Work in Progress ~ The KY Vital Records Project
 * The Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index - Searchable
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages

Divorce

 * 1973-1993 - KY Divorces 1973 - 1993 ~ Kentucky Divorce Records 1973 - 1993 ~ University of Kentucky Vital Records Databases


 * Births begin in 1852
 * Marriages begin in 1795
 * Deaths begin in 1852

The Family History Library has copies of the vital records starting with above dates.

To order vital records from Franklin County, you may order online at:

Franklin County Vital Records

Franklin County Kentucky Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * Paul Sawyier Library (Frankfort): http://www.pspl.org/
 * Kentucky Historical Society (Frankfort): http://history.ky.gov/
 * Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (Frankfort): http://www.kdla.ky.gov/


 * Bald Knob
 * Bridgeport
 * Forks of the Elkhorn
 * Frankfort City
 * Peaks Mill

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Franklin County Kentucky Genealogy Websites

 * Franklin County, KY History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * KYGenWeb project. Has maps, name indexes, history or other information for each county. Select the county.
 * State of Kencucky Website
 * USGenWeb Kentucky Archives ~ Kentucky in the USGenWeb Archives ~ Vital statistics, maps, obituaries, Bible records, tombstone transcriptions and many other records.
 * The USGenWeb project May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Franklin County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Franklin County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
 * Franklin County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)