Madison County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States   Kentucky    Madison County

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

County Courthouse
Madison County Courthouse 101 W Main Street Richmond, KY 40475-1415 Phone: 859.624.4707

Parent County
1785--Madison County was created 17 October 1785 from Lincoln County. County seat: Richmond

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Kentucky county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Kentucky County Boundary Maps" (1776-1939) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
For a list of record loss in Kentucky counties see: Kentucky Counties with Burned Courthouses

Neighboring Counties

 * Clark
 * Estill
 * Fayette
 * Garrard
 * Jackson
 * Jessamine
 * Rockcastle

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


 * 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
 * Kentucky 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.


 * Madison 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
 * 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 Madison County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,
 * The FamilySearch Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * ePodunk list of Madison 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
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

 * 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

Education

 * Berea College Yearbooks - approximately 40 years of yearbooks digitized and available full-text online via the Internet Archive. Years include approximately 1929-1970 (not fully inclusive).

Eastern Kentucky University


 * Three Decades of Progress (1936) - a history of the school written by the faculty.

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

Local Histories

 * ~ The Archives of Appalachia
 * A glimpse at historic Madison County and Richmond, Kentucky at Ancestry.com (Free /$)

Maps

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

Civil War

 * - 11th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Confederate). Companies A, B, E, F, G, and H.
 * - Jesse's Battalion, Kentucky Mounted Riflemen (Confederate), Company C
 * - 12th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Confederate), Company G


 * 1912-1950 at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War battle was fought in Madison County.


 * August 29-30, 1862 = Richmond


 * Map showing Civil War battles in Kentucky.


 * 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
Online Probate Records


 * 1774 – 1999 Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1727 – 1990 at FamilySearch — images

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Madison 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 Books A-A1: 1787-1813

Taxation

 * 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. Madison County is included in Vol. 1.]
 * 1788 Court and Tax Records. GenealogyTrails.
 * 1789 - Heinemann, Charles B. "First Census" of Kentucky 1790. Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1940. 1981 reprint: ; digital version at Kentucky Kinfolks. ["3 volumes of 1789 were used, with some duplication of names." (p. 2)]
 * 1800 - 1800 Tax List of is included in Clift's Second Census of Kentucky 1800, digitized by Ancestry ($).
 * 1815 - The 1815 list is the first list (at least since 1808) in which we can build geographical clusters despite the alphabetizing of the first letter of surnames. This is done by using the regiment and company information. See FHL US/CAN Film 8,127. These alphabetical by surname lists were prepared by the Madison County clerk from records in his office.

Vital Records
See also How to order Kentucky Vital Records

Birth

 * 1852-1859 - Madison County Birth Index 1852-1859. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874 - Madison County Birth Index 1874. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Madison County Birth Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage

 * 1785-1851 - Record of Marriages in Madison County, Kentucky for the Period of Years 1785 to 1851 Inclusive. Digital version at - free.
 * 1797-1954 -  at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1852-1859 - Madison County Marriage Index 1852-1859. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Madison County Marriage Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Madison County Marriage Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1876-1878 - Madison County Marriage Index 1876-1878. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Unsorted

 * 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
 * Madison County, Kentucky Marriage Records, 1790-1843 at Ancestry.com ($)

Societies and Libraries

 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

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