McCracken County, Kentucky Genealogy

Guide to McCracken 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 Virgil McCracken. The County has Paducah as its seat and the County was created 1825. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
McCracken County Courthouse 132 S 4th Street Paducah, KY 42001 Phone: 270-335-5168 McCracken 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
 * All of the family biographies from the 1885 History of McCracken County, Kentucky by Battle, Perrin, and Kniffin are available free online on My Genealogy Hound

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


 * Interment.net, Kentucky cemetery records by county.
 * Cemetery Junction, Links to cemetery transcriptions
 * Naming the Forgotten, The Eastern State Hospital Project
 * ePodunk list of McCracken 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 Records

 * Kentucky Census Transcriptions 1850-1930, USGenWeb
 * Census Images, USGenWeb
 * KY Census Online, Links to online census records

Church Records

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

Court Records

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

Directories

 * Paducah, Kentucky Directory, 1890-91 at Ancestry ($)

African Americans

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

Genealogies

 * [Flournoy] Rivers, Flournoy. "The Flournoy Family," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jul. 1894):81-90; Vol. 2, No. 2 (Oct. 1894):190-213; Vol. 2, No. 3 (Jan. 1895):318-327; Vol. 2, No. 4 (Apr. 1895):437-447; Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jul. 1895):67-79; Vol. 3, No. 4 (Apr. 1896):414-416; Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jul. 1896):97-101. Digitized by JSTOR - free.

Land and Property Records

 * The KY Land Office

Local Histories

 * The Archives of Appalachia
 * Neuman, Fred G. The Story of Paducah. Paducah, Ky.: Young Printing Company, 1920. Digital version at - free.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Kentucky (1776-1939)
 * KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
 * Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site

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


 * - 4th Regiment, Kentucky Mounted Infantry (Union), Company C.
 * - 12th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Companies I, K, L and M.
 * - 15th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Union), Companies A, B, C, D, E and F.

Civil War Battle The following Civil War battle was fought in McCracken County:


 * March 25, 1864 Paducah
 * Map showing Civil War battles in Kentucky.

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
 * 1825-1947 have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

Tax Records

 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)

Birth

 * 1839-1960 – at FamilySearch
 * 1852-1862 - McCracken County Birth Index 1852-1862. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874 - McCracken County Birth Index 1874. Batch at FamilySearch - free
 * 1875 - McCracken County Birth Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free
 * 1911-1912 - Searchable KY Birth Index

Marriage

 * 1609-2016 - Kentucky, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1785-1979 – at FamilySearch
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1852-1860 - McCracken County Marriage Index 1852-1860. Batch at FamilySearch - free
 * 1875-1876 - McCracken County Marriage Index 1875-1876. Batch at FamilySearch - free
 * 1876-1879 - McCracken County Marriage Index 1876-1879. Batch at FamilySearch - free
 * 1973-2000 - Searchable KY Marriage Records
 * 1973-2000 - Kentucky Marriage Records 1973-2000

Death

 * 1843-1970 – at FamilySearch
 * 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

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers
 * Paducah Kentucky Family History Center

Societies

 * McCracken County Genealogical & Historical Society P.O.Box 7651 Paducah, KY 42002-7651 Website
 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Websites

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