Clinton County, Kentucky Genealogy

United States

Kentucky

Clinton County

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

Kentucky Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Albany Organized: February 20, 1835 Parent County(s): Cumberland, Wayne Neighboring Counties Clay (TN) • Cumberland • Pickett (TN) • Russell • Wayne See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

DeWitt Clinton

County Information

Description

Clinton County was named for DeWitt Clinton. The county is located in the south-central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Clinton County Courthouse
212 Washington
Albany, KY 42602
Phone: 606-387-5234
Clinton County Website

Clinton County, Kentucky Record Dates

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 Government County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1852	1865	1852	1864	1865	1865	1810
*Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1911. General compliance by 1917.

Record Loss

1865, 1890--Disasters destroyed some records. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. List of counties in the United States with Record Loss

Boundary Changes

1835--Clinton County was created 20 February 1835 from Cumberland and Wayne Counties. County seat: Albany Kentucky Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county Kentucky Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating Kentucky county boundary changes

Populated Places

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:

Cities
Albany (county seat)
Unincorporated communities
Aaron Abstons Corner Alpha Browns Crossroads Bug Cannons Mill Cartwright Cedar Knob Churntop Cumberland City Decide Desda Dicken	Five Springs Highway Hobart Huntersville Ida Jones Mill Lettered Oak Marlow Narvel Nora Ootens Store (hist.) Pikeview Rolan	Seventy Six Savage Shipley Snow Sparta Static Upchurch Wago Watauga Waterview (hist.) Willis Creek Wolf River Dock

Resources

Bible Records

• Clinton County Bible Records at Kentucky Kinfolk
• Clinton County Kentucky Family Bibles Kentucky Genealogy Trails
• Kentucky Bible Records-Clinton County at Access Genealogy

Biographies

• Kentucky Biographies Project

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Clinton, Kentucky online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com KYGenWeb KYGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Kentucky Gravestones BillionGraves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com BillionGraves Kentucky Cemeteries FamilySearch Places
See Kentucky Cemeteries for more information

• Interment.net, Kentucky cemetery records by county.
• Naming the Forgotten, The Eastern State Hospital Project

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1840	3,863	—
1850	4,889	26.6%
1860	5,781	18.2%
1870	6,497	12.4%
1880	7,212	11.0%
1890	7,047	−2.3%
1900	7,871	11.7%
1910	8,153	3.6%
1920	8,589	5.3%
1930	9,004	4.8%
1940	10,279	14.2%
1950	10,650	3.6%
1960	8,886	−16.6%
1970	8,174	−8.0%
1980	9,321	14.0%
1990	9,135	−2.0%
2000	9,634	5.5%
2010	10,272	6.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

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

• Kentucky Census Transcriptions 1850-1930, USGenWeb
• Census Images, USGenWeb
• KY Census Online, Links to online census records

Church Records

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.

• Christian Church Directory for Kentucky at ChurchFinder
• Catholic Parishes in the Diocese of Lexington
• Catholic Parishes in the Archdiocese of Louisville

Baptist

• Clear Fork.
  • Church minutes and membership rolls (1802-1875) are available online.
  • Gaskins, Morris M. A Lighthouse in the Wilderness: History of the Clear Fork Baptist Church with Fascimile Pages from the Church Minutes from 1802 to 1902 (Albany, Ky., 1972) is available FamilySearch Digital Library.
• Seventy Six. Church minutes (1822-1958) are available at Western Kentucky University: Finding Aid.

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Court Records

• 1864-1908 Court Orders, 1864-1908(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1864-1911 Order Books, 1864-1911(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1889-1941 Order Books, 1889-1941(*); Fiscal Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1785-1792 Cases Heard Before the Supreme Court for the District of Kentucky, 1785-1792 at KYKinFolk.com - index
• Kentucky Court of Justice at KYCourts.gov

Directories

• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African Americans

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

• The KY African American Griots Project
• Kentucky Minorities has information specific to Kentucky African Americans.
• Sandi Gorin's Tips, Hangings in Kentucky 1792-1900

Funeral Homes

• Campbell-New Funeral Home, Inc. in Albany.
• Talbott Funeral Home in Albany.

Land and Property Records

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.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• The KY Land Office
• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Clinton 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 Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• KYGenWeb compiled list of maps
• Click on the county to go to the KYGenWeb site
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

• Military Resources, Revolutionary War through Civil War

Civil War

Online Records

• 1861-1865 Kentucky Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection - index
• 1861-1865 Kentucky Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection - 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 Kentucky Confederate Pension Applications 1912-1950 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images

World War I

• Fallen Soldiers in WWI from KY

Korean War

• Korean War Memorial, Korean War Memorial for Soldiers from KY, KYGenWeb

Newspapers

• 1800s-Current Kentucky, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• USNPL, Kentucky, Kentucky newspaper index with links
• World-Newspapers, Kentucky, Kentucky newspaper index with links
• Kentucky Newspapers on Microfilm

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

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Do a Clinton County, Kentucky Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Obituaries

• Kentucky Footsteps Archives, KYGenWeb
• Kentucky Obituary Sources, KYGenWeb

• Browning Genealogy Database, Compiled by Charles Browning.
• Kentucky Obituaries, USGenWeb

• Obituary Daily Times, Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries (Ancestry)
• Nashville Christian Advocate Death Abstracts

Other Records

• Kentucky Postcards, USGenWeb

Probate Records

Probate records are held by the Clinton County, Kentucky Genealogy Clerk of Court and are housed at the Clinton 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.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1774-1989 Kentucky, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1774-1989 at Ancestry ($) — index & images
• 1863-1943 Will Books 1 to 2 (1863-1943) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1863-1943 Wills, 1863-1943(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1864-1911 Order Books, 1864-1911(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1864-1915 Probate Records, 1864-1915(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1872-1907 Administrators Settlements, 1872-1907(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
• Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

School Records

• Clinton County Schools, KYGenWeb

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Tax Records

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.

• Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records, Ancestry ($)

Vital Records

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 Clinton County Clerk, with divorce records 1849-1958 located with the Clinton County Circuit Court. For more information see How to Find Kentucky Marriage Records. For Kentucky divorce records see the wiki page Kentucky Vital Records.

Birth

• 1839-1960 Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection;
• 1852-1859 - Clinton County Birth Index 1852-1859. Batch C517251 at FamilySearch
• 1911-1912 Searchable KY Birth Index
• 1911-1999 Kentucky Births, 1911-1999 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Marriage

• 1609-2016 Kentucky, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
• 1785-1979 Kentucky Marriages 1785-1979 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1785-Onward Kentucky Marriages at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
• 1797-1954 Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1852-1859 - Clinton County Marriage Index 1852-1859. Batch M517251 at FamilySearch </ref>
• 1878 - Clinton County Marriage Index 1878. Batch M517252 at FamilySearch
• 1973-2000 Searchable KY Marriage Records
• 1973-2000 Kentucky Marriage Records 1973-2000 at RootsWeb
• 1960-1993 Kentucky Marriages, 1960-1993 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

• 1843-1970 Kentucky Deaths and Burials 1843-1970 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1911-1965 Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
• 1911-2000 Searchable KY Death Index
• 1900-1999 Kentucky Deaths, 1900-1999 at MyHeritage ($) — index
• United States Social Security Death Index - How to Use this Collection
• The Kentucky Vital Records Project, Transcriptions of and Images of Kentucky Death Certificates

Divorce

• 1962-2005 Kentucky, U.S., Divorce Records, 1962-2005 at Ancestry - index ($)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Clinton County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Kentucky Archives and Libraries.

Archives of Appalachia
East Tennessee State University
Sherrod Library, Room 422
344 J L Seehorn Rd
Johnson City, TN 37614
Phone: 423-439-4338
Email: archives@etsu.edu
Facebook
Website

FamilySearch Centers

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Jamestown Tennessee FamilySearch Center
• Sulphur Well Kentucky FamilySearch Center
• Tompkinsville Kentucky FamilySearch Center
• Whitley City Kentucky FamilySearch Center
• Green County Public Library - an affiliate library.

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Clinton County. For state-wide library facilities, see Kentucky Archives and Libraries.

Clinton County Public Library
302 King Dr
Albany, KY 42602
Phone: 606-387-5989
Email: CCPLHelpDesk@outlook.com
Website

Societies

Listed below are societies in Clinton County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Kentucky Societies.

Clinton County Historical Society
103 N Cross St
PO Box 177
Albany, KY 42602
Telephone:606-387-6021
Facebook
Website

Links and addresses to Kentucky genealogical and historical societies.

Websites

• Clinton County KYGenWeb
• KYGenWeb Project. Has maps, name indexes, history or other information for each county. Select the county.
• State of Kentucky Website
• USGenWeb Kentucky Archives
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Kentucky in the USGenWeb Archives
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Clinton County, Kentucky Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Clinton County KY Genealogy (Kentucky Genealogy)
• FamilySearch Catalog . Free - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records