Fayette County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States   Kentucky    Fayette County

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

*Many years between 1852 and 1911 are missing

County Courthouse


Fayette County Courthouse 162 E Main Street Lexington, KY 40507-1363 Phone: 859.253.3344 County Clerk has marriage records from 1795, probate and land records from 1794; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court records

History


The county is named after Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834).

Parent County
1780--Fayette 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: Lexington

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Fayette County boundary changes.

Record Loss
1897--Fayette County Courthouse destroyed by fire on May 14, 1897. Records were either carried out of the burning building or stored in a fireproof safe.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bourbon
 * Clark
 * Jessamine
 * Madison
 * Scott
 * Woodford

African American Research
The following have information concerning African American research.


 * 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
 * Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.

Biographies

 * KY Biographies ~ Jeff Murphy's Kentucky Biographies Project

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


 * Available online: The Old Union Church Cemetery inscriptions and images for Fayette County.
 * Fayette 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 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 ~ Naming the Forgotten - The Eastern State Hospital Project
 * 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
 * The Family History Library Catalog lists  Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * 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 Fayette County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,
 * ePodunk list of Fayette 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.

Individual cemeteries

BillionGraves:


 * Calvary Cemetery, Lexington
 * Cove Haven Cemetery, Lexington
 * Eastern State Hospital (burial site), Lexington
 * Highland Cemetery, Lexington
 * Hillcrest Memorial Park, Lexington
 * Lexington Cemetery, Lexington

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

Church

 * Available online: The Old Union Church Cemetery inscriptions and images for Fayette County.
 * 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

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 Fayette 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) Record Book 1: 1794-1796

Local Histories

 * ~ The Archives of Appalachia

Maps

 * 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

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

 * 1819-1824, 1881-1894 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

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. Available at . [1787 personal property tax list of Fayette 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. Available at . [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Fayette County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * [1788] Stewart, Robert Armistead. "Personal Tax List of Fayette County (Kentucky), 1788," The Researcher: A Magazine of History and Genealogical Exchange, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Jul. 1927):239-241. Available at . [Only part of the list was published.]
 * [1789] Heinemann, Charles B. "First Census" of Kentucky 1790. Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1940. 1981 reprint: ; digital version at Kentucky Kinfolks. [Includes "5 volumes of 1789, with some duplication of names."]

Vital Records

 * The Kentucky Vital Records Project Transcriptions of and Images of KY Death Certificates - A Work in Progress ~ The KY Vital Records Project
 * KY Births &amp; Christenings ~ Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 Family Search
 * KY Deaths &amp; Burials ~ KY Deaths &amp; Burials 1843 - 1970
 * KY Marriage Records ~ KY Marriages 1783 - 1979 ~ Family Search
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths &amp; Marriages
 * Kentucky Marriage Records 1973 - 2000  ~ Kentucky Marriage Records - 1973 - 2000
 * KY Divorces 1973 - 1993 ~ Kentucky Divorce Records 1973 - 1993 ~ University of Kentucky Vital Records Databases
 * The Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index - Searchable

Societies and Libraries

 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Lexington Kentucky Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Fayette County KYGenWeb
 * Fayette County USGenWeb Archives
 * 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.
 * Fayette County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History(Linkpendium)
 * Fayette County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History(Linkpendium)