Kentucky Vital Records

Civil governments have created records of births, marriages, and deaths. Records containing this information are commonly called "vital records" because they refer to critical events in a person’s life. These are the most important documents for genealogical research, but the births, marriages, and deaths of many people have never been recorded by civil authorities.

Birth and Death Records Prior to 1852
No births or deaths were recorded by civil authorities before 1852. You may find some information on pre-1852 births and deaths in genealogies, histories, church and Bible records, and collections of personal papers.

There are many collections, books, etc. that have been created to fill this gap in the civil records. One such book is "Kentucky Obituaries 1787-1854" by G. Glenn Clift, published by the Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.

Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1852–1910
Kentucky law required counties to record births, marriages, and deaths as early as 1852. Unfortunately, this law was repealed in 1862. Registration was again attempted from 1874 to 1879 and sporadically from 1892 to 1910. Although compliance with the early registration laws was inconsistent, the existing records are a good resource for genealogists.

The Department for Libraries and Archives has the records for 1852 to 1910. The Family History Library, Kentucky Historical Society, Filson Club, and other Kentucky repositories have copies of many of these records. Some of these have been extracted, and the names appear on the FamilySearch™ International Genealogical Index. Records at the Family History Library include:

Kentucky Vital Records: 1852–1914. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Division of Archives and Records, 1975. (On 8 Family History Library films, beginning with 1533971.) The records are arranged alphabetically by county.

Kentucky Vital Records. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1958. (On 11 Family History Library films, beginning with 174932.) This includes Kentucky Births 1874-1878, 1907–1910; Marriages 1874–1878, 1906–1914; Deaths 1874–1876, 1905–1910.

The Kentucky Historical Society has an incomplete index to the 1852 to 1862 records. For an index to deaths occurring during the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census years, see:

Index, Kentucky Mortality Records, for the Year ending June, 1850, 1860, 1870. [N.p.], 1949–1950. (Family History Library film 873777.) These records are arranged by year and list the name of the deceased and the page number in the original records.

Birth and Death Records, 1911–Present
Beginning 1 January 1911, Kentucky again required the registration of births and deaths. Registration was generally complied with by 1917. The Family History Library has birth and death indexes and death records covering this period:

Kentucky. Office of Vital Statistics. Birth Index, 1911–1995. [Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics], 1997. (On 1038Family History Library fiche, beginning with 6118873.) The index lists the child’s name, birth date and county, and mother’s maiden name.

Kentucky. Office of Vital Statistics. Kentucky Death Index, 1911–1995. [Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics], 1997. (On 188 Family History Library fiche, beginning with 6118879.) The index contains the deceased’s name, death date and place, age, and place of residence as well as the volume and certificate number.

Kentucky. Office of Vital Statistics. Kentucky Death Certificates, 1911–1947. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics, 1993–1998. (On 357 Family History Library films, beginning with 1904664.) The death certificates are arranged by year, by month, and then alphabetically by county. The certificate numbers are continuous for each year.

For copies of records kept since 1911, write to:

Cabinet For Health Services Office of Vital Statistics Department for Health Services 275 East Main Street Frankfort, KY 40621-0001 Telephone: 1-502-564-4212 Fax: 1-502-227-0032 Internet: http://chfs.ky.gov/dph/vital/

State your relationship to the individual and the reason you want the information.

Application forms and instructions for birth, death, and marriage certificates can be acquired from the Office of Vital Statistics’ web page, listed above.

Kentucky death certificates are also on microfilm at the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, beginning with 1911. Another resource for researching Kentucky birth and death indexes from 1911 to 1988 can be found at the Kentucky Room of the Lexington Central Public Library, the Louisville Free Public Library, the Kenton County Public Library, and many other libraries across Kentucky. See the "Archives and Libraries" section of this outline for their addresses. The Kentucky Room contains 130 bound volumes of birth and death indexes for 1911 to 1969 that were created by the Office of Vital Statistics. Microfiche is available for 1911 to 1988 (only to 1986 for deaths). The births are indexed by name of the child and name of the mother.

You can also search indexes to selected Kentucky vital records through the University of Kentucky’s web page:

Kentucky Vital Records Index. In the University of Kentucky [Internet site] Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky. [cited 25 October 1999]. Available at http://ukcc.uky.edu/~vitalrec/. This contains indexes to selected vital records including: Death Index for 1911–1986, Death Index for 1987–1992, Marriage Index for 1973–1993, and Divorce Index for 1973–1993.

Birth and Death Records Kept by Cities before 1911
Before 1911, several major cities kept separate records of births and deaths. The most complete collection of pre-1911 city births is at the Office of Vital Statistics. It has records for the following cities. Records for Louisville and Newport are also at the Family History Library.

The Department of Archives and Libraries and the Kentucky Historical Society have copies of some of these city records. The Lexington Public Library also has copies of the Lexington records. The Filson Club and the Family History Library have copies of the Louisville and Newport records.

Louisville (Kentucky). ''Registrar. Births and Index, 1898–1910; Deaths and Index, 1866–1910''. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1960. (On 23 Family History Library films, beginning with 209687.) The birth indexes are on films 209687–8. The death indexes are on films 209694–9.

Marriage Records
County marriage records are the earliest and most complete vital records for Kentucky. The records that have survived usually begin within a few years of each county’s organization. Lincoln, Fayette, and Jefferson Counties have marriage records dating from the 1780s.

Marriage records from the earliest dates to the present are kept by the county clerk for each county. Since 1958, duplicates have been sent to the Office of Vital Statistics.

The most complete collection of early marriage record is in the Department of Libraries and Archives. Major archives such as the University of Kentucky Library have microfilm copies of marriage records for many Kentucky counties. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of most of the existing county marriage records from the beginning dates to about 1925. Many of these have been extracted and appear on the International Genealogical Index (IGI).

Many published marriage records that are available include:

Ardery, Julia Hoge Spencer. ''Kentucky Records: Early Wills and Marriages Copied from Court House Records by Regents, Historians and the State Historian, Old Bible Records and Tombstone Inscriptions, Records from Barren, Bath, Bourbon, Clark, Daviess, Fayette, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mason, Montgomery, Nelson, Nicholas, Ohio, Scott, and Shelby Counties. 1926, 1932''. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1969, 1972. (Family History Library fiche 6049306.) An index is included with this record.

Clift, Garrett Glenn. Kentucky Marriages, 1797–1865. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub., 1966, 1940. (Family History Library film 1320550 item11 [1966 edition].) This record includes marriage notices from Lexington newspapers reprinted in The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.

Kentucky Marriage Records, from The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub., 1983. An index is included with this record.

Kentucky Marriages, Early to 1800: A Research Tool. Bountiful, Utah: Precision Indexing, 1990. The names are arranged in alphabetical order.

Marriage Records. Orem, Utah: Automated Archives, 1994. (Family History Library compact disc no. 9 part 2.) This does not circulate to Family History Centers. It contains marriage records for many Kentucky counties from the late 1700s to the early 1900s as well as marriage records from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee. Dates vary with the county. It is also indexed in FamilyFinder Index and Viewer (see the "Census" section of this outline).

Kentucky, 1851–1900. Liahona Research (Orem, Utah), 1998. (Family History Library compact disc no.9 part 233 [on 4 discs].) This does not circulate to Family History Centers. These are images of the original records. It contains approximately 318,000 names. It is also indexed in FamilyFinder Index and Viewer (see the "Census" section).

Beginning in 1958, Kentucky again required statewide registration of marriages. These records have been indexed and are found at the Office of Vital Statistics. The Family History Library does not have copies of these records. They do, however, have an statewide index to marriages covering 1973 to 1995 in Kentucky.

Office of Vital Statistics. Marriage Indexes, 1973–1995. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics, 1997. (Family History Library  fiche 6118875–6 [set of 173].) This record has separate bride and groom indexes.

Guide to Vital Records
You can learn more about Kentucky vital records in:

Duff, Jeffrey Michael. A Guide to Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1852–1910. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. Public Records Division, 1988. This book shows the birth, marriage, and death records available for each county and the years they were recorded.

See the "Vital Records" section of the United States Research Outlinefor more detailed information on the value and content of vital records. For divorce records, see the "Divorce Records" section.

To find vital records, consult the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

KENTUCKY- VITAL RECORDS

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY]- VITAL RECORDS

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- VITAL RECORDS