Lincoln County, Kentucky Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Lincoln County Courthouse 102 E Main Street Stanford, KY 40484 Phone: 606.365.4570

Parent County
1780--Lincoln County was created on 1 May 1780 as a Virginia county when Kentucky County (Virginia) was abolished to form Fayette, Jefferson and Lincoln counties. See County Formations Database (Kentucky Land Office)

County seat: Stanford

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.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Boyle
 * Casey
 * Garrard
 * Pulaski
 * Rockcastle

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
The following web sites have additional information on Lincoln 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


 * Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Local volunteers may take photographs of headstones found in county cemeteries.


 * ePodunk list of Lincoln 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
1790 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.


 * 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
 * Third census of the United States (1810 census), Lincoln County, Kentucky at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Church

 * Kentucky Christian Church Directory ~ ChurchAngel
 * 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

Early order books (1781-1791) were published in The Kentucky Genealogist. See, for example, Volume 12 (1970).
 * Lincoln County, Kentucky Marriage (1793-1800) & Will (1801-1807) Records at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

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

 * The KY Land Office

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


 * 1) Deed Book A: 1796-1799
 * 2) Deed Book B: 1796-1803
 * Some original land grant surveys along Green River in Lincoln and Casey Counties, Kentucky (1781-1836) at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Local Histories

 * ~ The Archives of Appalachia

Maps

 * Maps of Kentucky (1776-1939)
 * 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


 * - 10th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Company M
 * - 9th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Company C
 * - 1st Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Company K

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

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
Online Probate Records


 * 1774 - 1999 - Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1781 - 1865 - Lincoln County Kentucky list of will book testators SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills. - free
 * 1727 - 1990 - at FamilySearch — images

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Lincoln 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:


 * 1) Will Books A, B, C
 * 2) Will Books D,E: 1808-1814
 * 3) Will Books F,G: 1815-1822

Taxation

 * 1787 - Fothergill, Augusta B. and John Mark Naugle. Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau. 1940; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Online at FamilySearch - free; . [1787 personal property tax list of Lincoln County.]
 * 1787 - Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 &amp; 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 &amp; Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle &amp; Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Online at FamilySearch - free; . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Lincoln County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * 1790 - Heinemann, Charles B. "First Census" of Kentucky 1790. Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1940. 1981 reprint: ; digital version at Kentucky Kinfolks. ["2 volumes of 1790 were used." (p. 2)]
 * 1800 - 1800 Tax List of is included in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky 1800, digitized by Ancestry ($).

The Lincoln County, 1787-1805 Tax Lists are also available for purchase as digital images in PDF format on CD fromGenealogical 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.

Vital Records
See also How to order Kentucky Vital Records

Birth

 * 1839-1960 - KY Births and Christenings ~ Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 Family Search
 * 1852-1860 - Lincoln County Birth Index 1852-1860. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Lincoln County Birth Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages

Marriage

 * 1781-1792 - Lincoln County, Kentucky Marriage Records, 1781-1792 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)
 * 1783-1979 - KY Marriage Records ~ KY Marriages 1783 - 1979 ~ Family Search
 * 1793-1800 - Lincoln County, Kentucky Marriage (1793-1800) and Will (1801-1807) Records at Ancestry.com (Free /$)
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1852-1860 - Lincoln County Marriage Index 1852-1860. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Lincoln County Marriage Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1876-1878 - Lincoln 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 ~ 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
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages
 * The Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index - Searchable

Divorce

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

Societies and Libraries
Lincoln County Historical Society 313 Redwood Drive Stanford KY 40484


 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies
 * Link to Lincoln County Historical Society website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Lincoln 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.
 * Lincoln County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Lincoln County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
 * Lincoln County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)