Daviess County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States   Kentucky    Daviess County

Guide to Daviess County, Kentucky ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records. Located in the Western Coal Fields region.

Daviess County Kentucky Courthouse
Daviess County Courthouse 212 St Ann Street Owensboro, KY 42303 Phone: 270.685.8434

Parent County
1815--Daviess County was created 14 January 1815 from Ohio County. County seat: Owensboro

Boundary Changes
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.

County Pronunciation

 * Hear it spoken

Record Loss
1865--A disaster destroyed some records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Hancock
 * Henderson
 * McLean
 * Ohio
 * Spencer County, Indiana
 * Warrick County, Indiana

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


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


 * Daviess 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 KY Historical Society’s Cemetery Database
 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Cemetery Junction ~  Links to cemetery transcriptions
 * Naming the Forgotten ~ Naming the Forgotten - The Eastern State Hospital Project
 * 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
 * Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Local volunteers may take photographs of headstones found in county cemeteries.
 * 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 Daviess County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,
 * The FamilySearch Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * ePodunk list of Daviess 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
 * Daviess County, Kentucky Census, 1900 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)
 * Daviess County, Kentucky Census, 1920 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Church

 * Kentucky Christian Church Directory ~ ChurchAngel

Catholic

 * 1824-1841 - St. Lawrence Catholic Church Baptism Index 1824-1841. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1831-1841 - St. Lawrence Catholic Church Marriage Index 1831-1841. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of Lexington
 * Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville

Court

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

Genealogy

 * [Bauman] Bauman, William A. Baumann / Bauman Family of Daviess County, Kentucky: Including a Genealogy of the Related DeLashmutt, Elliott, Higdon, Kuhn, Powell, Trammell and Wilkerson Families: With a Summary of Christian Heinrich Baumann's Descendants in the Luttrell, Melhiser, Mercer, Peterson, and Taylor Families. 2011. Digital version at - free.
 * [Beall] Edgeworth, M.J. Some Descendants of Nathaniel and Eli Beall (Bell), Brothers and Early Settlers of Knottsville Precinct, Daviess County, Kentucky. Donated 1959. Digital version at - free.
 * [Bransford] Bransford, Clifton Wood. "Jacob Ammonet of Virginia: and a Part of His Descendants," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan. 1899):35-40. Digitized by Internet Archive. Copy:.
 * [Clay] Smith, Zachary F. and Mary Rogers Clay. The Clay Family. Louisville, Ky.: John P. Morton and Company, 1899. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
 * [Cottrell] Edgeworth, M.J. Some Descendants of Rev. Reuben Cottrell, Shelby and Daviess Counties, Kentucky. Microfilmed 1968:.
 * [Howard] Hamilton, Anna L. The Genealogy of the Howards of Daviess County, Kentucky and Their Ancestors: English Ancestors, Maryland Emigrants, Kentucky Pioneers, and Early American Catholic Heritage. Whitesville, Ky.: A. Hamilton, 1984. Digital version at - free.
 * [Shoemaker] Edgeworth, M.J. Some Descendants of Price Allen Shoemaker, Daviess County, Kentucky, 1760-1936. Microfilmed 1987:.

Land

 * The KY Land Office

Local Histories

 * The Archives of Appalachia

Maps

 * KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
 * Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site
 * Kentucky.gov for Current and Historical Maps
 * Historical Maps of Daviess County (Circa 1876)

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

Confederate Soldiers
 * - 10th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry. Companies E and H.
 * - 10th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Diamond's), Companies E and H.
 * - 10th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Johnson's), Companies E and H.

Union Soldiers
 * - 12th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, Companies A, C, D, E, F, G, H and K.
 * - 17th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, Companies I and K.
 * - 35th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, Companies A, C, D, E, F, G, H and I.

Miscellaneous

 * KY Postcards 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

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

 * 1812-1936 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~  Ancestry.com  (subscription)

Online Probate Records


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

Vital Records

 * How to order Kentucky Vital Records

Birth

 * 1839-1960 - KY Births and Christenings ~ Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 Family Search
 * 1853-1861 - Daviess County Birth Index 1853-1861. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874 - Daviess County Birth Index 1874. 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
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1853-1861 - Daviess County Marriage Index 1853-1861. 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

 * 1973 - 1970 - KY Deaths and Burials ~ KY Deaths and Burials 1843 - 1970
 * 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

Daviess County Kentucky Genealogy Societies and Libraries
Daviess County Historical Society 2020 Frederica St Owensboro, KY 42301

Society of Kentucky Pioneers 11129 Pleasant Ridge Road Utica KY 42376


 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Owensboro Kentucky Family History Center

Daviess County Kentucky Genealogy Websites

 * Daviess 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.
 * USGenWeb Project USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Davies County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History(Linkpendium)
 * Daviess County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
 * Daviess County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)