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Morgan County, Kentucky Genealogy

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

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County Facts
County seat: West Liberty
Organized: December 7, 1822
Parent County(s): Floyd, Bath [1]
Neighboring Counties
Elliott  • Johnson  • Lawrence  • Magoffin  • Menifee  • Rowan  • Wolfe
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Courthouse
Morgan County Kentucky Courthouse.jpg
Location Map
Morgan County svg.png
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County InformationEdit

DescriptionEdit

The County was named for Daniel Morgan. The County is located in the east central area of the state.[2]

County CourthouseEdit

Morgan County Courthouse
450 Prestonburg Street
PO Box 26
West Liberty, KY 41472-1162
Phone: 606-743-3949[3]
Morgan County Website

Morgan County, Kentucky Record DatesEdit

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records[4]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1911 1823 1852 1823 1823 1823 1810
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1911. General compliance by 1917.

Record LossEdit

1862, 1925 - Disasters destroyed most records. 9 March 2012 - Tornadoes destroyed much of West Liberty.

For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:

Boundary ChangesEdit

  • 1822--Morgan County was created 7 December 1822 from Floyd and Bath Counties.  
  • County seat: West Liberty[5]

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.

Populated PlacesEdit

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[6]

Cities
Unincorporated communities
  • Hickory Grove (hist.)
  • Holliday
  • Index
  • Jeptha
  • Jones Creek (hist.)
  • Kellacey
  • Leisure
  • Lenox
  • Liberty Road
  • Licking River
  • Lost Creek (hist.)
  • Lower Sandlick
  • Malone
  • Matthew
  • Maytown
  • Middle Fork
  • Mima
  • Mize
  • Moon
  • Murphyfork
  • Neal Valley (hist.)
  • Nickell
  • Oak Hill (hist.)
  • Ophir
  • Panama
  • Payton
  • Pekin
Census-designated places


History TimelineEdit

ResourcesEdit

Bible RecordsEdit

BiographiesEdit

Business, Commerce, and OccupationsEdit

CemeteriesEdit

Cemeteries of Morgan, Kentucky online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)
List of Cemeteries in the County
See Kentucky Cemeteries for more information

The following web sites have additional information on Morgan county cemeteries.

Census RecordsEdit

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1830 2,857 —
1840 4,603 61.1%
1850 7,620 65.5%
1860 9,237 21.2%
1870 5,975 −35.3%
1880 8,455 41.5%
1890 11,249 33.0%
1900 12,792 13.7%
1910 16,259 27.1%
1920 16,518 1.6%
1930 15,130 −8.4%
1940 16,827 11.2%
1950 13,624 −19.0%
1960 11,056 −18.8%
1970 10,019 −9.4%
1980 12,103 20.8%
1990 11,648 −3.8%
2000 13,948 19.7%
2010 13,923 −0.2%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

For tips on accessing Morgan County, Kentucky Genealogy census records online, see: Kentucky Census.

Church RecordsEdit

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Kentucky denominations, view the Kentucky Church Records wiki page.

Court RecordsEdit

DirectoriesEdit

Emigration and ImmigrationEdit

Ethnic, Political, and Religious GroupsEdit

African AmericansEdit

More information about African American resources in Kentucky can be found on the Kentucky African Americans and the United States African Americans Wiki pages.

Funeral HomesEdit

GenealogiesEdit

GuardianshipEdit

Land and Property RecordsEdit

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Kentucky Land and Property for additional information about early Kentucky land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local HistoriesEdit

Local histories are available for Morgan County, Kentucky Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories see the wiki page section Kentucky Local Histories.

Maps and GazetteersEdit

Rowan CountyElliott CountyLawrence CountyJohnson CountyMagoffin CountyWolfe CountyMenifee CountyKY MORGAN.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources

MigrationEdit

Military RecordsEdit

Revolutionary WarEdit

Civil WarEdit

Online Records

Regiments. Men in Morgan County served in various regiments and companies. Those listed below were specifically formed in this county:

- 2nd Battalion, Kentucky Mounted Rifles (Confederate). Company A.
- 14th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry (Confederate). Company B.

World War IEdit

World War IIEdit

Korean WarEdit

Naturalization and CitizenshipEdit

NewspapersEdit

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Morgan County, Kentucky Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

ObituariesEdit

Other RecordsEdit

PeriodicalsEdit

Probate RecordsEdit

Probate records are held by the Morgan County, Kentucky Genealogy Clerk of Court and are housed at the Morgan County, Kentucky Genealogy Courthouse. Microfilmed records can be found online at Kentucky, Probate Records, 1792-1977 for Caldwell, Henry, Hickman, Russell and Trimble counties. See the wiki page Kentucky Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, and adoptions.

School RecordsEdit

Tax RecordsEdit

Taxes were levied on free white males over 21 and slaves aged 21 to 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records for each county are divided by militia district. For more background information and state-wide resources see the wiki page Kentucky Taxation.

Vital RecordsEdit

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Although Kentucky enacted a statute in 1852-1862 requiring registration of births and deaths,many counties did not comply. A second law was written in 1874-1879, and 1892-1910 but, again, was not always followed. By 1911, the law was more clearly defined and kept by 1920. Any existing births 1852-1960 and death records 1852-1953 can be accessed online. See How to Find Kentucky Birth Records and How to Find Kentucky Death Records for links to indexes and images.

Original marriage records are held at the office of the Morgan County Clerk, with divorce records 1849-1958 located with the Morgan County Circuit Court. For more information see How to Find Kentucky Marriage Records. For Kentucky divorce records see the wiki page Kentucky Vital Records.

BirthEdit

MarriageEdit

DeathEdit

DivorceEdit

Research FacilitiesEdit

ArchivesEdit

Family History CentersEdit

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

LibrariesEdit

MuseumsEdit

SocietiesEdit

WebsitesEdit

Research GuidesEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Kentucky. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Morgan County, Kentucky" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_County,_Kentucky."
  3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Morgan County, Kentucky page 273, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
  4. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Morgan County, Kentucky. Page 268-276 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 251-254.
  5. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Kentucky. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
  6. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Morgan County, Kentucky," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_County,_Kentucky, accessed 4 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/images/7/75/Igikentuckymz.pdf.



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