Kentucky & Tennessee Research

Kentucky & Tennessee Research by Susi Pentico

Having brought up Google.com first, surprise it was not usgenweb.org. I went through free web sites to find information on Kentucky.

Remember that each state can follow this basic format for research. Tennesse, and other interior States, broke off of the coastal states.  So follow the lineage back to England for very early data.


Kentucky was taken from Virginia, where Tennessee was formed from North Carolina.

If you try usgenweb.org and find almost nothing for that state of county within that state please go to the archives for that state and pull up the data that was so freely shared with researchers since the early 1990's.

Kentucky was the first state to create such a site, other states soon followed. Some are very active yet today. Sad to say some are falling away with neglect and that should never happen to volunteers research efforts.

Prior to usgenweb.org, we had Rootsweb. Thanks Brian L.  Still using this site, everyone should exhaust the free sites before running to the paid sites.

Here in, is a list of my first used sites for Kentucky.

1.  I vary between google.com and usgenweb.org and Rootsweb.

  This comes from knowledge of the sites and what I am looking for.

Kentucky Research

Now we will start the development of the state. 

 Kentucky was part of Virginia in the beginning.

Remembering that, and Virginia was a British Colony in the beginning.

http://www.kygenweb.net/counties/formation.html

1777, Fincastle County divided into three parts creating: Washington, Montgomery and Kentucky Counties.

Kentucky Co. was to the south and westward of 

a line beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of the Great Sandy Creek and running up the same and the main, or northeasterly, branch thereof to the Great Laurel Ridge of Cumberland Mt. then south westerly along the said Mountain  to the line of North Carolina.

1780 Kentucky Co was divided: Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln Co.

Soon became 9 counties and a full state with full consent from Virginia.

For lists, websites, family trees, charts and forms, books, obituaries try the various listed above free sites first.

http://kygeonet.ky.gov/tcm/

In hopes you remember to try local libraries, court houses, historical societies,

private libraries and college and university

venues.