Pulaski County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States &gt; Kentucky &gt; Pulaski County

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

Record Loss
1871--A disaster destroyed most records.

Neighboring Counties

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

Cemeteries
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.

Baptist
Flat Lick Baptist Church

Sinking Creek Baptist Church

Court
The original Orders of the Circuit Court books are found at the Courthouse in Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky. The volumes contain orders from cases about debt, slander, stealing, and swearing; with an occasional reference to an administration record and/or land of heirs being sold. Vol 4, p 5 mentions the publishing of one particular case's information in the August Western America newspaper.

Orders of the Circuit Court Vol 1, 1804-1805 contains an index at the front. (FHL US/CAN Film 800,722)

Orders of the Circuit Court Vol 3, 1810-1815 has 565 pages in it, with no index at the beginning or end of the volume. (FHL US/CAN Film 800,722)

Orders of the Circuit Court Vol 4, 1816-1820 has 504 pages in it, with no index at the beginning nor end of the volume. (FHL US/CAN Film 800,723 item 1)

Orders of the Circuit Court Vol 5, 1820-1823 has 437 pages in it, with no index at the beginning nor end of the volume. (FHL US/CAN Film 800, 723 item 2)

Land
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.

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. (FHL US/CAN Book 976.963 H25P)

Probate
There are several sources available to make your search of Pulaski County probate records easier.

FHL 976.963 P2b doesn't give the Will Book Volume and page number of the wills abstacted, but it's index does include executors and witnesses.

''Pulaski County Kentucky Index to Wills 1800 to 1950" (FHL 976.963 P22p) was published by the Pulaski County Historical Society and in creating it's index, searched the original will books at the Somerset Courthouse, the courthouse's 1935 typed index and microfilms. This powerful index contains two sections. The first is an index to the wills, inventories and appraisements, etc. The second is an index to original documents.

Pulaski County, Kentucky Will Book Number Two (1817-1829) compiled by Margaret Dunn Frye includes an index only to "deceased persons and their heirs", however, in her typescript abstracts she includes the names of buyers, executors, commr, etc. As her book (FHL US/CAN Film 855,033 item 4) is only 37 pages of typescript 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.

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.
 * Family History Library Catalog