Shelby County, Kentucky Genealogy

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



County Courthouse
Shelby County Courthouse 501 Main Street Shelbyville, KY 40065-1133 Phone: 502-663-4410 Shelby County Website

History Timeline
Additional Information The county is named after Kentucky's First Governor Isaac Shelby (1750-1826).

Biographies

 * KY Biographies, Jeff Murphy's Kentucky Biographies Project

Cemeteries

 * 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 Shelby County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,
 * Kentucky Cemeteries lists the national cemeteries in Kentucky with links to their websites. The first link under Online Kentucky Cemeteries goes to the Kentucky section of Interment.net
 * Shelby 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 FamilySearch Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * ePodunk list of Marion 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.
 * Tombstone Transcription Project, Partial transcription of cemetery tombstones, USGenWeb
 * The KY Historical Society’s Cemetery Database
 * African American Cemeteries Online, Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * 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 Shelby 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

 * Baptist Church Records
 * Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of Lexington
 * Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville
 * Kentucky Christian Church Directory

Court Records

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

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

 * [Boswell] Hasskarl, Eula Richardson. The Boswells of Shelby County, Kentucky. Ada, Okla., 1970..
 * [Bush] Skelley, Mildred. The John Bush Family of Washington County, Indiana. 1976..
 * [Cottrell] Edgeworth, M.J. Some Descendants of Rev. Reuben Cottrell, Shelby and Daviess Counties, Kentucky. Microfilmed 1968:.
 * [Figg] Figg, Edward Clarence. Sketches of the Figg Family From 1719 to 1921. Press of Moll &amp; Company, 120 South First Street, Louisville, KY, 1921. Archives.org - free.
 * [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.
 * [Gilliland] Weedman, H.N. The Robert and Adam Gilliland Families of Shelby County, Kentucky. St. Louis, Mo.: H.N. Weedman, 1988, 1990..
 * [Graves] Erickson, Emma Louise Graves. Richard and Cynthia Goggins Graves Descendants, Shelby Co., Kentucky, Pulaski Co., Arkansas, Northern California: Side Line of Abraham and John Blue of Nelson Co., Ky., Washington Co., Miss., Chicot Co., Ark. Corvallis, Ore.: E.L. Erickson, 1982..
 * [Gregg] Roberts, Gary Boyd. Ancestors of American Presidents. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. ; online bookstore.
 * [Hickman] Fay, Mary Smith. "The Three James Hickmans: Identifying Revolutionary War Veterans," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1997):52-54. Digital version at American Ancestors ($)..
 * [Hollingsworth] Stewart, J. Adger. Descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, Sr. Louisville, Ky.: John P. Morton and Co., 1925. Digital version at - free.
 * [Holmes] Roberts, Gary Boyd. Ancestors of American Presidents. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. ; online bookstore.
 * [Lane] Quackenbush, Nancy. "Some Northern Neck Lanes," Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Nov. 1986):3-22. Digital version at Ancestry ($);.
 * [Lee] Scott, Hattie Marshall. Miscellaneous Records on the Lee Family of Shelby, Kentucky, 1798-1871. 2006. Digital version at - free.
 * [Miles] Miles, Samuel Robert. Record of Samuel and Sarah James Miles, about 1740, and Their Descendants. Typescript. Microfilmed 1967:.
 * [Snider] Franklin, James O. Descendants of Jonas Snider and Anna Hostutler Snider, Shelby and Spencer Counties, Kentucky. 1950; reprint 1990s. Digital version at - free.
 * [Truman] Roberts, Gary Boyd. Ancestors of American Presidents. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. ; online bookstore.
 * [Young] Davis, Elsie Jean Spry. Descendants of Jacob Young of Shelby County, Kentucky: Including President Harry S. Truman. Coronado, Calif.: E.S. Davis, 1980. Digital version at - free.
 * [Young] Roberts, Gary Boyd. Ancestors of American Presidents. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. ; online bookstore.

Land and Property Records

 * The KY Land Office

Local Histories

 * Archives of Appalachia
 * History of Shelby County, Kentucky at Ancestry ($)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Kentucky (1776-1939)
 * KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
 * Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site
 * Kentucky.gov for Current and Historical Maps

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

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


 * 1727-1990 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1774-1999 Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1794-1817 Shelby County, Kentucky Wills: 1794-1817, Ancestry ($)
 * 1796-1804 Kentucky Pioneers ($) Images of Wills, Estates, Distributions, Inventories, Guardianships, Bk 1
 * 1804-1811 Kentucky Pioneers ($) Images of Wills, Estates, Distributions, Inventories, Guardianships, Bk 2
 * 1812-1817 Kentucky Pioneers ($) Images of Wills, Estates, Distributions, Inventories, Guardianships, Bk 3
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)

Tax Records

 * 1800 - 1800 Tax List of Shelby County, Kentucky Genealogy is included in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky 1800, digitized by Ancestry ($).
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)

Birth

 * 1839-1960 - at FamilySearch
 * 1852-1862 - Shelby County Birth Index 1852-1862. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1869, 1874-1875 - Shelby County Birth Index 1869, 1874-1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1911-1912 - Searchable KY Birth Index

Marriage

 * 1609-2016 - Kentucky, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1785-1979 - at FamilySearch
 * 1795-1878 - Shelby County Marriage Index 1795-1878. Included on several batches at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1792-1800 - Shelby County, Kentucky Marriage Bonds: 1792-1800 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1973-2000 - Searchable KY Marriage Records
 * 1973-2000 - Kentucky Marriage Records 1973-2000

Death

 * 1843-1970 - at FamilySearch - 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

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Libraries

 * Links and address to Kentucky Public Libraries

Societies

 * Shelby County Historical Society 627 Main Street PO Box 444 Shelbyville, KY 40066 Telephone: 502-844-2277 Email: [mailto:info@shelbykyhistory.org info@shelbykyhistory.org] Website
 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Websites

 * Shelby 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 Kentucky Website
 * USGenWeb Kentucky Archives
 * Shelby County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Shelby County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
 * Kentucky Genealogy - Guide to Ancestry and Family Tree Records
 * . 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