Kentucky Biography

Online Resources

 * County and Town Histories with biographies
 * Sandi Gorin's Kentucky Biographies.
 * Kentucky Biographical Encyclopedia, 19th Century, ($), index.
 * Kentucky Biographical Dictionary, 1896, ($), index.
 * Notable men of Kentucky at the beginning of the 20th century (1901-1902), e-book
 * A Sesqui-Centennial History of Kentucky - A Narrative Historical Edition...and Chronicling the Genealogical and Memorial Records of its Prominent Families and Personages, e-book, Vol. 4
 * A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians - The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities, by E. Polk Johnson, Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2, Vol. 3
 * History of Kentucky, Judge Charles Kerr, editor, Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5
 * Collins Historical Sketches of Kentucky, Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2

Introduction
Biographies provide useful genealogical information such as an individual’s birth date and place (including foreign birthplace, where applicable); marriage information; family members; occupation; education; and social, political, and religious affiliations. They may also contain previous residences, immigration information, and a physical description. Biographies are the product of family knowledge or previous research, often compiled about the early settlers and prominent citizens of the state, county, or town. Many lesser-known individuals may have biographical sketches written about them, especially in local histories.

Biographies in Local Histories

 * Biographical information is often found in state, county, and town histories.
 * Towards the end of the 19th century, began publishers soliciting short biographical/family histories from local founding families, offering to publish them in an upcoming local history. This then became an incentive for family members to buy a copy of the book.
 * Families represented were not necessarily prominent. Practically everyone living there, especially in the Midwest, counted as an early settler.
 * These biographies often start with the first member of the family to settle in the area, and detail their descendants at the time of publishing. They may tell where the family moved in from. Children's marriages often are given, with maiden names included.

Finding Biographies
The FamilySearch Library has a good collection of biographical sources. Representative biographical works for Kentucky include:
 * The county Wiki page lists several county histories. It also lists local libraries, and societies which probably have copies of local histories.
 * Many histories are no longer under copyright and can be found in the following online, digitized book collections. Search with keywords "History" and "the name of your locality" (state, county, or town).
 * FamilySearch Books
 * Google Books
 * World Cat
 * HathiTrust
 * Internet Archive
 * The FamilySearch library has extensive collections of these local histories. Many are digitized. Search the FamilySearch Catalog under your locality for the topics "Biography" and "History".


 * Kentucky Genealogy and Biography. 9 vols. Owensboro, KY: Genealogical Reference, 1969–. . These are reprints of the biographical sections of various editions of Kentucky: A History of the State, by W. H. Perrin, et al., published during the 1880s. The biographies are arranged by county. Another reprint of the biographical sections of Perrin’s work was published by the Southern Historical Press and bears the title of the original work, Kentucky: A History of the State. These volumes are facsimiles of the original biographies, with complete name indexes prepared by various individuals. New material was added in 1979. The FamilySearch Library has described each volume on a separate record. Vol.1 ; Vols.2-8a ; Vol.8b
 * The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century. 1 vol. in 2. Cincinnati, Ohio: J. M. Armstrong, 1878. ; index on  This includes an index to the more than 1,000 biographies.
 * Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Embracing Biographies of Many of the Prominent Men and Families of the State. 1896. Reprint, Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1980. . This book contains several hundred biographies and is indexed.
 * Biographical Directory of the Kentucky General Assembly. Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Historical Society, 1964. . This directory includes members of every session of the Kentucky General Assembly from 1792 to 1964. From 1792 to 1851 the directory is arranged by district, county, then senator for the Senate and by county and then representative for the House of Representatives. After 1851 the directory is arranged by district, county, and Senator/Representative for both the Senate and House of Representatives. The notes section after every session often contains the date and place of death if the elected official died while in office. It also gives the names of those expelled and the date and reason for the action.
 * Dickey, John Jay. Autobiography and Diary. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, 1951.  John Jay Dickey (1842–1934) was a Baptist minister from Fleming County, Kentucky, who used his diary to record the genealogies of anyone who would allow him to do so. The diary runs from 18 November 1882 to 15 October 1933. It is indexed in:
 * Winton, Wilma. Pioneer Ghosts of Kentucky, Rest in Peace John Jay Dickey: A Comprehensive Name Index of the Dickey Diary. 4 vols. Modesto, California: Pearl Bullock, 1986. . Mr. Dickey was a Baptist minister who lived in northeastern Kentucky from 1842 to 1934. During his ministry, he felt a need to preserve the genealogies of everyone he met.
 * Draper, Lyman Copeland, comp. Draper's Biographical Sketches. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Library, 1951. This film is unindexed but includes many biographies of eminent early residents of Kentucky and nearby states. These biographies are abstracted from the large Draper Manuscript Collection described on the Kentucky History wiki page.
 * Kentucky. Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, 1922. Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Kentucky Biographical Dictionary, 1896 at Ancestry.com (Free /$)
 * Kentucky Biographical Encyclopedia, 19th Century at Ancestry.com (Free /$)
 * Kelion Franklin Peddicord of Quirk's Scouts, Morgan's Kentucky Cavalry, C.S.A. : biographical and autobiographical : together at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Indexes
Indexes to major collected biographies include:


 * Cook, Michael L. Kentucky Index of Biographical Sketches in State, Regional, and County Histories. Evansville, Indiana: Cook Publications, 1986. . This index is alphabetical by name and includes a page number and a reference to the book where the biography is published.

The Kentucky Biographies Project has compiled over 7,000 biographies, which are available on the Internet at:


 * Kentucky Biography in Kentucky Biographies ProjectCourtesy of Kentucky GenWeb.

The Kentucky Historical Society, listed in the "Societies" section, has an extensive family surname file and a large collection of personal and family histories.

The Department of Special Collections and Archives at the Margaret I. King Library, listed in the "Archives and Libraries" section, has an extensive card index to Kentucky biographies.

See United States Biography for information on nationwide biographical collections. See also United States History and United States Genealogies.

The Last Name Search of the FamilySearch Catalog will lead you to biographies and published family histories on specific surnames. Using the term "Kentucky" and the surname in the Keyword Search will help to limit the extent of the search to families in Kentucky.

The FamilySearch Library has many collected biographies and local or county histories with biographical sketches on residents. These can be found in the Place-names Search of the FamilySearch Library Catalog under:

KENTUCKY- BIOGRAPHY

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY]- BIOGRAPHY

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY]- HISTORY

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- HISTORY

Online Resources
Kentucky Biographies GeneaSearch Kentucky Biographies Access Genealogy

Sandi Gorin's Kentucky Biographies State History Guide Resources

Notable Kentucky African Americans Database