Pulaski County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States   Kentucky    Pulaski County

Quick Dates
Pulaski County's civil records start the following years:

*Many years between 1852 and 1911 are missing

Parent County
1798--Pulaski County was created 10 December 1798 from Lincoln and Green Counties. County seat: Somerset

Boundary Changes
John H Long, editor, Kentucky Atlas of Historical County Boundaries 

Record Loss
1871--A disaster destroyed some records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Casey
 * Laurel
 * Lincoln
 * McCreary
 * Rockcastle
 * Russell
 * Wayne

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


 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records


 * Kentucky Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.

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


 * Kentucky Historical Society Cemetery Search can be searched by name, place and/or date. This database has hundreds of thousands of names transcribed from gravestones across Kentucky.


 * 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 Pulaski County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,


 * 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
 * Pulaski 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 Family History Library Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Pulaski 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.
 * The website http://www.pulaskispast.com/ has an impressive cemetery section maintained by Scott Burton and has an ongoing project to photograph every tombstone in every cemetery in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

Somerset Cemeteries
Sinking Creek Baptist Church Cemetery (First church in Somerset). Another transcription of the Sinking Creek Cemetery, showing different data, and including a grave location map is found in FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 H25P Pulaski County, KY Historical Society Newsletter. Nov 1992.

Census
1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Pulaski 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.

For a 1890 census substitute see 1890 Pulaski Co, Kentucky Taxpayers and Surviving Soldiers, Sailors and Marines and Widow, etc. 

BAPTISTS
Flat Lick Baptist Church


 * A Short History of Flat Lick Baptist Church, Pulaski County, Kentucky
 * Murrell P. Stewart, Flat Lick Baptist Church: Its Place in History, 1799-1999

Sinking Creek Baptist Church

City Directories

 * [1958, 1965, 1972-1977] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). Available at the University of Kentucky Library in Lexington.
 * [1979-1997] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). Available at the University of Kentucky Library in Lexington.
 * [1995-1998] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). See Pulaski County Public Library catalog.
 * [1999-2001] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). Available at the University of Kentucky Library in Lexington.
 * [2001-2005] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). See Pulaski County Public Library catalog.
 * [2010] Somerset City Directory (incl some surrounding areas). See Pulaski County Public Library catalog.

Court
A variety of courts serve Pulaski county, Kentucky. Court types include: Chauncery Court, Circuit Court, County Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Quarterly Court. Each of these courts have some common record types such as Order Books and Judgements; but some have records unique to their court such as the Deeds and Wills found in the County Court.

Circuit Court

The Pulaski county, Kentucky Circuit Court has generated a variety of records. Record types that exist include: Judgement Books (1800-1927), case files (1800-1920), Executions (1803-1928), Order Books (1(1804-1901), Commonwealth Judgements (1820-1926), Commissioners Reports of Sales (1838-1919), Commonwealth Cases (1939-1912), Indictments (1860-1920), Judgements by Default (1863-1885), Miscellaneous Bonds (1870-1893), Criminal Order Books (1876-1906), Orders De Idiota Inquirendo (1876-1917), Commissioner Bond Books (1877-1889), Attachment Bond Book (1877-1884), Civil/Ordinary and Equity Case Files (1880-1927), Injunction Bond Book (1905-1936), Inquests of Deaths (1924-1925), and Cvil Case Files (1926-1954). Some are still at the courthouse---others are at the Kentucky State Archives. In many cases these records have been microfilmed and are available through your local Family History Center.

Circuit Court Orders

The Court Orders found in the Circuit Court Clerks Office in the courthouse at Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky in 1969 contain orders about debt, slander, stealing, assault, and battery. Occasionally there are references to a probate record. There are a few land certificate orders. Orders often say "In case" or "In Chancery", but no case numbers are given. Vol 4, p 5 mentions the publishing of one particular case's information in the August [Argus?] Western America newspaper. If you see an order that says "upon Indictment", also check the COUNTY court order books to see if there isn't an order regarding your case there that pre-dates the circuit court order you found. If an order says "in case" be sure and order the entire case file (not just the final judgement) from the Kentucky State Archives in Frankfort.

Orders of the Circuit Court 1804-1809

This volume contains an index at the front however it has limited scope. For example, given two randomly picked pages, p. 40 and p. 180, along with an entry containing a plaintiff and defendant from each page for a total of 4 different people and surnames; none of the 4 individuals were found in the index! (FHL US/CAN Film 800,722. This is presently (2011) cataloged as Orders of the Circuit Court, Vol 1 1804-1805; but an examination of the microfilm reveals that the spine cover of this volume reads "1804-1809" and the last few pages of this volume are carrying 1809 dates. It should also be noted that the spine cover at the time of this 1969 filming did not refer to this volume as "Vol 1" nor "Book 1")

Orders of the Circuit Court 1810-1815

This volume has 565 pages in it, with no index at the beginning or end of the volume. (FHL US/CAN Film 800,722. This is presently (2011) cataloged as "Vol 3" but there is no "Vol 3" on the spine cover in this 1969 filming.)

This volume also contains Tellico land certificate orders. Although scattered, the Telico land certificate orders are easy to spot because the have numbers by them (ie: no. 1, no. 2, etc) in the left margin. The Telico land certificate orders often have a half page to a full page description of the land. And the descriptions often referenced the south side of the Cumberland River and “near the county line”.

Orders of the Circuit Court Vol 4, 1816-1820

This volume has 504 pages in it, with no index at the beginning nor end of the volume. (FHL US/CAN Film 800,723 item 1. The spine of the book cover reads "Order Circuit Court No. 4 1816-1820"). The entries make no mention of case numbers.

Orders of the Circuit Court Vol 5, 1820-1823

This volume has 437 pages in it, with no index at the beginning nor end of the volume. (FHL US/CAN Film 800, 723 item 2)

 County Court  The Pulaski county, Kentucky County Court has generated a variety of records. Record types that exist include: Deeds, Wills, Order Books, Commissioners Deeds, Probate records, Inventory/Appraisement/Settlement Books, Guardian Bonds, Mortgage books, and Mineral lease books. Some are still at the courthouse---others are at the Kentucky State Archives. In many cases these records have been microfilmed and are available through your local Family History Center.

County Court Orders

There is a General Index to the County Court Orders, 1799-1940 (FHL US/CAN Film 804,645). This is a rather unique typed index that has several sections to it. The first section is an alphabetically arranged subject index. Then their are several alphabetically arranged sections of plaintiffs vs defendants, but even then subject indexing is intermingled. The subject indexing is quite interesting to read through as it contains subjects such as Bastardy, Purchase of Record Books, Pulaski county in an Act of the General Assembly, Stray Pen and Stocks, Jail, Small pox, etc.

There are several types or categories of Kentucky grants but when some grants were issued for land in Pulaski county, the grants contained a grant number and a certificate number. The certificate number is a reference to the numerically ordered "No."s in the County Court Order books.

County Court Order Books 1-2, 1799-1855 (FHL US/CAN Film 804,646 items 1 and 2. In this filming the spine of vol 1 reads: "Orders No. 1 1779-1803"; however the volume starts with 1799. The spine of vol 2 reads: "County Court Orders No 2 1804-1815 Pulaski County".) Vol 1 contain no volume index at the front nor back. Volume 1 contains land certificate number No. 1 to No. 613.

County Court Order Books 3-5, 1815-1835 (FHL US/CAN Film 804,647. In this filming the spine of vol 3 reads "Orders No. 3 1815-1822 Pulaski County". Page 1 reads "March Court 1815 At a County Court held for Pulaski County")

Minutes

Minutes From Inferior Court, No. 1, June 1853-Dec 1885 This volume has no index at the front or back of the book. These minutes are mostly about debt (less than $50 appears to be the protocol, although there were exceptions) and are often found ending with the plaintiff being unable to recover because the defendant has no property found by the constable to make the residue of the debt. These minutes often include copies of the judgement, execution and return of the debt action. See FHL US/CAN Film 969,926 for a 1975 filming by the Genealogical Society of Utah.The researcher should not be satisfied with just the copies of judgments found in the Minutes, but should also consult Judgements from Inferior Courts, 1854-1966 housed at the Kentucky State Archives.

Divorces

 

The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives has some Pulaski county court records, including:

Executions 1803-1928, Circuit Court

Commissioners Reports of Sales, 1838-1919

Commonwealth Cases, 1839-1912

Cases, 1800-1920, Pulaski County (Ky) Circuit Court

Commissioners' Deeds 1816-1956, Pulaski County (Ky) County Clerk

Account Ledger Books of Mercantile Establishments, 1849-1897, Pulaski County (Ky) County Clerk

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
FHL has acquired copies of Pulaski County's Real Estate Conveyances Indexes, 1799-1936 (4 microfilms), which was produced by E &amp; K Microfilming (Morgantown, Ky., 1993). The FHL Catalog states: "This is an index to deeds, commissioner's deeds, mortgages, chattel mortgages and divisions of land":.

Deeds

The original Pulaski County Deed Books are held at the County Couthouse. In 1969, the Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed Deed Books 1 to 50 (1799-1901) and Indexes (1799-1934): ff. Deeds, mortgages, bills of sale, and apprenticeships are included in the index.

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Pulaski 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 1: 1799-1805
 * 2) Deed Book 2: 1806-1814
 * 3) Deed Book 3: 1815-1819
 * 4) Deed Book 4: 1819-1822
 * 5) Deed Book 5: 1822-1825

Abstracts of some early Pulaski County deeds were published in the periodical Kentucky Genealogist (Louisville, Ky.):


 * 1799-1803 (Vol. 6, Iss. 2 and 3)
 * 1803-1806 (Vol. 8, Iss. 4; Vol. 9, Iss. 1) ff.

For an index to the above consult Glenda K. Trapp and Michael L. Cook's Kentucky Genealogical Index: An Every Name Index to Kentucky Ancestors, Kentucky Genealogist, Kentucky Pioneer Genealogy &amp; Records, The East Kentuckian, All Issues through 1980 [].

Commissioners Deeds

Prior to 1816 Commissioners Deeds are found in the Deed books. Starting in 1816 Commissioners Deeds had their own separate books.


 * 1816-1956 See Kentucky State Archives
 * 1886-1905 See FHL catalog

Land Grants

There is an article on the early Kentucky/Virginia land grants as it pertains to Pulaski County in the Oct 1990 edition of the Pulaski County, Kentucky Historical Society's Newsletter.

For Tellico Land Grants in Pulaski county, see content under Circuit Court Orders, 1810-1815.

For Kentucky Grants South of the Green River see content under County Court Orders.

Newspapers
There is a list of newspapers known to be published in Pulaski County in the Nov 1998 edition of the Newsletter of the Pulaski County Kentucky Historical Society. This list was compiled by compiled by the late Don Orwin, a communications professor at Somerset Community College. (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 H25P) This list is essentially repeated here.

The Commonwealth-Journal (8/5/2008-current) is available through GenealogyBank.

The Pulaski County Public Library also has some newspapers on microfilm from about the 1920s.

Probate
As there is variation among counties in how probate records are organized, the reader will find it helpful to know that in Pulaski county the early will books include wills, administrations, inventories, bills of sale, and settlements; but by 1864 these things started being kept in separate books.

Index and Abstract Resources

There are several sources available to make your search of Pulaski County probate records easier. No single source is all inclusive. Each offers it own help that the others don't.

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Pulaski 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 Book 1: 1801-1816
 * 2) Will Book 2: 1817-1829
 * 3) Will Book 3: 1829-1838

Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills 1800 to 1950 (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 P22p) was published by the Pulaski County Historical Society in 1991 and replaces it 1977 edition (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 P22pu). In creating the index, the compilers searched the original will books at the Somerset Courthouse, the courthouse's 1935 typed index and microfilms. The powerful index found in the 1991 edition contains two sections. The first is an index to the wills, inventories and appraisements, settlements, sale of land, dower allotment, etc. The second is an index to "original copies of all the early Pulaski County wills" (see title page). Page 79 states, "the Pulaski County Historical Society has zerox [sic] copied all early original documents from the will files at the Pulaski County Courthouse. These documents are in the actual hand writing of the person who prepared the document. This list also includes some wills that were rejected by the court and were not recorded in the will books."

Abstracts of wills in Pulaski County, Kentucky, vol. 1 (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 P2b) compiled by Annie Walker Burns doesn't give the will book volume and page number of the wills abstacted, but it's index does include executors and witnesses, which is something Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills 1800 to 1950 does not. Abstracts of wills in Pulaski County, Kentucky, vol. 1 only covers 1803-1850.

Pulaski County, Kentucky Will Book Number Two (1817-1829) compiled by Margaret Dunn Frye includes an index to "deceased persons and their heirs". So she has created a devisee index for us, which again is something "Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills" didn't do. Additionally, in her typescript abstracts she includes the names of buyers, executors, commr, etc. Although these buyers are not indexed, her book (FHL US/CAN Film 855,033 item 4) is only 37 pages of typescript and so it is a relatively easy read if you want to know if your ancestor was a buyer in an estate sale during this time period.

There is also a book, Abstract of will book one of Pulaski County, Kentucky prepared by Margaret Dunn Fryee available at the Martin F Schmidt Research Library in Frankfort. (976.902 P981f)

The General Index made by the county court is also available. (FHL US/CAN FILM 1,912,828)

Will Books

The original will books have been microfilmed. See FHL catalog.

Adm Bonds, Inventories, Appraisements, Settlement


 * [1864-1902] Administrators bonds. See FHL catalog.
 * [1864-1871] Inventory, Appraisement and Settlement Book at Kentucky State Archives.
 * [1870-1909] Inventories, Appraisements and Sale Bills on microform at Kentucky State Archives.
 * [1871-1909] Inventories, appraisements. See FHL catalog.
 * [1870-1907] Settlements, v 8-12. See FHL catalog.

Guardian Bonds


 * [1865-1901] See FHL catalog.

Probate Files [aka Estate Packets]


 * [1800-1850] Are not extant according to the Pulaski County Historical Society. County Clerk says these records would be found in the Circuit Clerks Office. Clerk of the Circuit Court does not think they exist. Loose original wills do exist. See content under wills.
 * [1993-present] Contact Pulaski County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 100 N Main St #302, PO Box 664, Somerset, KY 42502

Taxation
Tax records for Pulaski exist for most years from 1799-1966. See FHL catalog or Kentucky Historical Society. FHL films can be rented from FHL for local Family History Center viewing. Tax List films can be purchased from the Kentucky Department for Libraries &amp; Archives. Go to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, click KDLA catalog, type in pulaski and tax.

Kandie Adkinson's "Researching Early Kentucky Tax Lists: 1792-1840" is a must read. The beginning tax list researcher will find the second half of her article especially helpful and for the serious researcher she covers the legislation envolved in the tax process in the first part of her article. She continues her work to 1880 in the 2011 editions of the periodical Kentucky Ancestors.

Vital Records
BIRTHS


 * Gayle Triller, coordinator, KYGenWeb Team, "Birth Index in Pulaski County", Pulaski County, Kentucky: A part of KYGenWeb.
 * [1852-1859] Birth, marriages, deaths, 1852-1859 (FHL US/CAN Film 216838 item 5)

MARRIAGES


 * Gayle Triller, coordinator, KYGenWeb Team, "Pulaski County Marriages," Pulaski County, Kentucky: A part of KYGenWeb. Information from a variety of sources.
 * [1852-1859] Birth, marriages, deaths, 1852-1859 (FHL US/CAN Film 216838 item 5)

DEATHS


 * [1852-1953]
 * [1852-1859] Birth, marriages, deaths, 1852-1859 (FHL US/CAN Film 216838 item 5)
 * [1854+] Gayle Triller, coordinator, KYGenWeb Team, "Death Certificates and Notices" Pulaski County, Kentucky: A part of KYGenWeb. Includes some Pulaski county related deaths published in the Nashville Christian Advocate.
 * [1875] Deaths, 1875 (FHL US/CAN Film 974666 item 8)

Societies and Libraries
Pulaski County Historical Society PO Box 36 Somerset, KY 42502-0036 606 679-8401 Hours: M-Sat 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Offices are in basement of Pulaski County Public Library 304 South Main St Somerset, KY 42502-0036

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky: A Part of KYGenWeb
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Pulaski County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)