Finding Free Resources
When searching for Kentucky ancestors, you can take advantage of these free resources from Google Books. Most of these books can be searched online but you can also download them to your computer for free.
Kentucky, A History of the State
This Kentucky History book is part of a series of nine volumes published in the 1880s. It covers Kentucky history from 1450-1885. The book goes into a detailed history of the state.
Here are some of the highlights of interest:
- Page i contains an index of the book
- Chapter 22 describes how the 118 Kentucky counties were formed.
- Appendix A contains the Boone Family genealogy
- Appendix B lists the officers, soldiers for the Union and Confederate armies
Kentucky Land Grants
Written by Willard Rouse Jillson, a Kentucky geologist, the Kentucky Land Grants book explains how lands were granted, the land grant types, and lists the individuals granted land. There are 143,228 separate land grants contained in the book.
For each grantee or name, the book lists the following information:
- Grantee name with surname
- Acres
- Book and Page documented
- Date Surveyed
- County
- Closest watercourse
This information is indexed online at various locations but sometimes its more fun to look through the book yourself.
From Kentucky Land Grant Book
Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, 1971
If your Kentucky ancestors was an inventor or author in 1971, you might find the copyright or patent claim in the Catalog of Copyright Entries.
The book has a list of domestic and foreign books, pamphlets, serials, and contributions to periodicals registered during the period covered by this issue. Arrangement is alphabetical under the name of the author or issuing body or, in the ease of serials and certain other works, by title. References from the names of claimants, joint authors, editors, etc. and from variant forms of names are interfiled.
History of Culpeper County Virginia
Many Kentuckians migrated from Virginia during the 1800s. If your ancestor lived in St Mark’s Parish of Culpeper, this book contains history, biographies, and historical information about the county. The book was first published in 1900 but reprinted in 2006.
The most common family surnames listed within the book are:
- Brown
- Barbour
- Green
- Pendleton
- Thomas
- Strother
Books from Organizations
These books might contain an ancestor’s name if he or she was involved in a professional association:
- Kentucky Medical Association, 1892
- A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians, 1912
- Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, 1867
- Proceedings of Kentucky Pharmaceutical Association, 1901
- History of Kentucky Baptists, 1886
- The Kentucky State Register, for the Year 1847
Kentucky Government Related Volumes
These books are related to the state government and court system:
- Kentucky Opinions from the Kentucky Court of Appeals, 1916
- Reports of Selected Civil and Criminal Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1871
- Reports of Selected Civil and Criminal Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1904
- War of Rebellion: Correspondence, Orders, etc from June 1863 to March 1864, 1899
- Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1769-1792
Random Books
These books contain biographies and antidotes that may enrich your own family stories.
