Rockcastle County, Kentucky Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Rockcastle River. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Rockcastle County Courthouse 205 W Main Street Street Mount Vernon, KY 40456-0365 Phone: 606-256-2831 Rockcastle 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

 * KY Biographies, Jeff Murphy's Kentucky Biographies Project

Cemeteries
The following web sites have additional information on Rockcastle 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
1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Rockcastle 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

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

 * Abstracts of Early Kentucky Supreme Court Cases, KYGenWeb
 * Kentucky Court of Justice Research &amp; Reference

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

Genealogies

 * [Clark] Clark, Lily May McLemore. Wallis Clark, Sr. of Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Mount Vernon, Ky.: Rockcastle County Historical Society, 1990.
 * [Cummins] Funk, Frances. Cummins Ancient, Cummins New: A History of the Cummins Family of Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Washington, D.C.: McGregor and Werner, 1978.
 * [Harper] Harper, Joseph Doyle. The Harper's of Pulaski and Rockcastle Counties, Kentucky:A Genealogical and Historical Narrative. Livingston, Montana: The Shields' Valley Publishing Co., 1990.
 * [Hasty] Hasty, Warren H. Archibald Hasty and Descendants: of Pulaski &amp; Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Minneapolis, Minn.: W.H. Hasty, 2004.
 * [Johnson] Yates, William Allen. Johnson Genealogy: Descendants of George W. Johnson of Scott County, Virginia and Rockcastle County, Kentucky and Descendants of Benjamin Johnson of Smyth County, Virginia. Stevensville, Montana: W.A. Yates, 1992.
 * [Owen] Owens, Charles Sterling. David Owen, Revolutionary War Soldier, and His Descendants Wilkes County, North Carolina to Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Knoxville, Tenn.: C.S. Owens, 1991.
 * [Rogers] Irwin, Lyndon N. The Rogers Family of Paint Lick and Crab Orchard: Ancestry and Descendants Joseph and Ellen Steward Rogers of Garrard, Rockcastle, and Lincoln Counties in Kentucky. Bois D'Arc, Missouri: L. Irwin, 1994.
 * [Wallins] Heflin, Donald L. The Wanderin' Wallins from Henry County, Virginia, to Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Georgetown, Ky.: D.L. Heflin, 1994.

Land and Property Records

 * The KY Land Office

Local Histories

 * The Archives of Appalachia
 * Rockcastle Recollections, by John Lair

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:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * Military Resources, Revolutionary War through Civil War

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


 * - 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I and J.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Infantry (Union), Companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Veteran Cavalry (Union), Companies A, B, and C.

World War I

 * Fallen Soldiers in WWI from KY

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
 * 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 including interactive search function
 * Nashville Christian Advocate Death Abstracts

Other Records

 * Kentucky Postcards, USGenWeb

Probate Records
'''Online Probate Records


 * 1774-1999 Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1855-1959 have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

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
Rockcastle County Tax Lists, 1811-1875, are available for purchase as digital images in PDF format on CD from Jeff Renner's 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: Legacy, RootsMagic, etc) program you use.
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)

Birth

 * 1839-1960 - at FamilySearch
 * 1852-1860 - Rockcastle County Birth Index 1852-1860. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874 - Rockcastle County Birth Index 1874. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Rockcastle County Birth Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 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
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1852-1860 - Rockcastle County Marriage Index 1852-1860. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Rockcastle County Marriage Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1876-1878 - Rockcastle County Marriage Index 1876-1878. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 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 - index
 * 1900-1999 Kentucky Deaths, 1900-1999 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1911-1965 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1911-2000 - Searchable KY Death Index
 * - Searchable
 * 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

Societies

 * Rockcastle County Historical Society RTEC Garage Building 85 Spring Street Box 930 Mt. Vernon, KY 40456 Website
 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Websites

 * Rockcastle County, KY History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Rockcastle KYGenWeb
 * Rockcastle County USGenWeb Archives
 * 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.
 * Rockcastle County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Rockcastle 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