Rowan County, Kentucky Genealogy

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

Rowan County Kentucky Courthouse
Rowan County Courthouse 627 E Main Street Morehead, KY 40351 Phone: 606.784.5212

Parent County
1856--Rowan County was created 15 March 1856 from Fleming and Morgan Counties. County seat: Morehead

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
1864,1880s--Courthouse disasters destroyed most of the records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bath
 * Carter
 * Elliott
 * Fleming
 * Lewis
 * Menifee
 * Morgan

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, Family Histories/Trees, GEDCOM files etc
[*KY Biographies ~ Jeff Murphy's Kentucky Biographies Project


 * Rowan County Family Pages
 * Relatives of Truby Petitt &amp; Florence Hall of Rowan County, Kentucky
 * Sorted by Name, Rowan County, Kentucky

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


 * Rowan 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 websites. 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 Rowan County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,
 * ePodunk list of Rowan 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.
 * Access Genealogy-Rowan County Kentucky Cemeteries
 * KYGenWeb Archives Project-Rowan County Cemetery Records
 * Linkpendium-Rowan Co., Cemeteries
 * Rowan County Cemeteries

Census
1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population schedules of Rowan 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.

Linkpendium Census Records &amp; Indexes- Rowan County Kentucky Rowan County Census Records Rowan County Genealogy Trails-1870 Census Index


 * 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
 * Kentucky Court of Justice-Rowan County Office of the Circuit Court Clerk

History
Rowan County Kentucky History Records The Alexander Stewart Family of Rowan County Kentucky Wikipedia-Rowan County, Kentucky

Land

 * The KY Land Office

Maps

 * Maps of Kentucky (1776-1939)
 * KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
 * Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site
 * 1895 U.S. Atlas- Rowan County Kentucky 1895

Military

 * Military Resources ~ Revolutionary War through Civil War
 * USGenWeb Archives Project-Rowan County Kentucky Military Records

Revolutionary War

 * List of Revolutionary War Pensioners

Civil War

 * 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 ~ Fallen Soldiers in WWI from Kentucky

Korean War

 * Korean War Memorial Korean War Memorial for Soldiers from KY ~ KYGenWeb

Vietnam War

 * Rowan County Genealogy Trails Vietnam War Casualties

Miscellaneous

 * Kentucky Postcards ~ The USGenWeb Archives Penny Postcard Project
 * The KYGenWeb Footsteps ~ The Kentucky Footsteps Archives ~ KYGenWeb Special Project

Newspapers

 * The Morehead News
 * Rowan County Bulletin
 * Kentucky News -  Kentucky Newspaper Index with links
 * Another Kentucky Newspaper Index with links
 * Kentucky Newspapers on Microfilm  -   Kentucky Newspapers Available On Microfilm

Obituaries

 * Lane/Stucky/Gray Funeral Home Obituraries
 * USGenWeb Archives Project-Rowan County Kentucky Newspaper Records
 * 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 Records
Online Probate Records


 * 1774 – 1999 Kentucky Wills and Probate Records 1774-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1727 – 1990 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1853-1971 - have been digitized by FamilySearch - free.

Vital Records
See also How to order Kentucky Vital Records

KYGenWeb Archives Project-Rowan County Vital Records

Birth

 * 1839-1960 - KY Births and Christenings ~ Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 Family Search
 * 1856-1861 - Rowan County Birth Index 1856-1861. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874-1875 - Rowan County Birth Index 1874-1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875-1876 - Rowan County Birth Index 1875-1876. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Rowan County Births
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages

Marriage

 * 1609-2016 - Kentucky, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1783-1979 - KY Marriage Records ~ KY Marriages 1783 - 1979 ~ Family Search
 * 1797-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1856-1859 - Rowan County Marriage Index 1856-1859. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - Rowan County Marriage Index 1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1876-1878 - Rowan County Marriage Index 1876-1878. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1973-2000 - Kentucky Marriage Records 1973 - 2000  ~ Kentucky Marriage Records - 1973 - 2000
 * Kentucky Marriage Project-Rowan County
 * Rowan County Marriages
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages

Death

 * 1843-1970 - KY Deaths and Burials ~ KY Deaths and Burials 1843 - 1970
 * 1911-1963 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * The Kentucky Vital Records Project Transcriptions of and Images of KY Death Certificates - A Work in Progress ~ The KY Vital Records Project
 * Rowan County Deaths
 * Searchable KY Vital Records ~ Searchable databases of KY Births, Deaths and Marriages
 * The Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index - Searchable

Divorce

 * 1973-1993 - KY Divorces 1973 - 1993 ~ Kentucky Divorce Records 1973 - 1993 ~ University of Kentucky Vital Records Databases

Rowan County Kentucky Genealogy Societies and Libraries
Rowan County Historical Society PO Box 60 Morehead, KY 40351 Website


 * Rowan County Public Library 185 East First Street Morehead, KY 40351 (606) 784-7137


 * Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Rowan County Kentucky Genealogy Websites

 * Rowan County, KY History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Rowan County KYGenWeb
 * KYGenWeb Archives-Rowan County
 * 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.
 * KYGenWeb-Rowan County
 * Rowan County KY Genealogy Forum
 * Rowan County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Rowan County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
 * Rowan County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)