Kentucky, U.S., Marriage Records, 1852-1914

This database is an index to Kentucky marriages from 1852-1914. Information that may be found in this database for each entry includes the following:

• Names of bride and groom


• Ages of bride and groom


• Birthplaces of bride and groom


• Residences of bride and groom


• Parents’ birthplaces


• Marriage date


• Marriage place

While all Kentucky counties except for McCreary and Mercer are included in this database, there may not be records for all years between 1852-1914 for each county. See below for a list of years included for each county.

Where to Go From Here:

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage.

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the original records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates of the bride and groom, their parents' names, and witnesses' names (often family members), in addition to the information listed in this index.

The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics maintains marriage records from June 1958. Records of marriage occurring before 1958 must be obtained from the county clerk of the county in which the marriage license was issued.

About Marriage Records in General:

Marriage licenses are the most common marriage records in the United States. They are issued by the appropriate authority prior to the marriage ceremony, and they have come to replace the posting of banns and intentions. Marriage licenses, which grant permission for a marriage to be performed, are returned to civil authorities after the ceremony.

Marriage licenses exist in varying forms. A standard form generally asks for the names of the bride and groom, their residence at the time of application, the date the marriage was performed, the date the license was issued, the place of the marriage, and the name of the person performing the marriage ceremony.

Marriage certificates are given to the couple after the ceremony is completed and are thus usually found among family records. There are exceptions, however. [Some] certificates…are similar to marriage licenses issued in other places. The bride and groom usually receive a marriage certificate for their family records containing similar historical information, signatures of witnesses, etc.

Taken from Cerny, Johni and Sandra H. Luebking, "Research in Marriage and Divorce Records." In The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).

Counties and Years Included in this Database:

Adair: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1906-1907

Allen: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1875, 1878, 1899-1900, 1903-1904, 1908-1911, 1913-1914

Anderson: 1852-1859, 1874-1876, 1878

Ballard: 1852-1854, 1856-1859, 1875-1878, 1893, 1913-1914

Barren: 1852-1859, 1861, 1877-1879

Bath: 1852-1859, 1875-1878

Bell: 1874-1878

Boone: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878

Bourbon: 1852-1859, 1874, 1876-1879

Boyd: 1875-1878, 1903-1904, 1906-1907, 1909

Boyle: 1852-1859, 1875-1876, 1878, 1901, 1904

Bracken: 1852, 1854-1859, 1861, 1875-1878, 1893-1894, 1903-1904

Breathitt: 1852-1859, 1874-1878

Breckinridge: 1852-1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1904

Bullitt: 1852-1859, 1861, 1878, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1906-1907

Butler: 1852-1860, 1874-1878, 1902-1904, 1906-1909

Caldwell: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1875, 1878

Calloway: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1903-1904, 1906-1909

Campbell: 1852-1859, 1877-1878, 1906-1907

Carlisle: 1893-1894, 1901, 1904, 1907

Carroll: 1852-1859, 1875-1878

Carter: 1853-1859, 1861-1862, 1875-1878, 1901, 1903-1905

Casey: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1902-1904, 1906-1909

Christian: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1902-1904, 1906-1907

Clark: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1900-1901, 1903-1904

Clay: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874, 1876, 1878, 1904, 1908-1909

Clinton: 1852-1859, 1878, 1893-1894, 1903

Crittenden: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1894, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1908-1909

Cumberland: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1906-1907

Daviess: 1852-1857, 1859, 1861-1862, 1874

Edmonson: 1852, 1854-1859, 1874-1879, 1893

Elliott: 1874-1878, 1909-1910

Estill: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874, 1878

Fayette: 1852-1859, 1861-1862, 1903-1905

Fleming: 1852-1853, 1855-1859, 1874-1876, 1878-1879, 1907-1908

Floyd: 1855-1859, 1874-1878, 1894, 1903-1904

Franklin: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1903

Fulton: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1902-1904, 1907-1909

Gallatin: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1879

Garrard: 1852-1859, 1874-1879

Grant: 1852-1859, 1874, 1876, 1878

Graves: 1852-1853, 1855-1859, 1874-1879, 1903-1904, 1906-1909

Grayson: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1901-1904, 1906-1907

Green: 1852-1853, 1855-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893, 1903

Greenup: 1852-1859, 1874-1878

Hancock: 1853-1859, 1861, 1874-1879, 1892-1893, 1906-1907

Hardin: 1852-1859

Harlan: 1852-1859, 1861, 1875-1879, 1903-1904

Harrison: 1852-1859, 1876-1878

Hart: 1852-1854, 1856-1859, 1861, 1874-1877, 1892-1893, 1907

Henderson: 1852-1860, 1874-1878, 1903-1905, 1907

Henry: 1852-1859, 1874-1877

Hickman: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1900-1901, 1904, 1908

Hopkins: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1903, 1907

Jackson: 1857-1859, 1874-1879, 1900-1901, 1904, 1909-1910

Jefferson: 1852, 1854-1860, 1892-1894, 1901, 1903-1904, 1906, 1908-1909

Jessamine: 1852-1859, 1874-1877, 1898, 1903-1904, 1906-1907, 1909

Johnson: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1902-1904

Kenton: 1852-1859, 1874-1879, 1903-1904, 1906-1907

Knott: 1902-1903, 1907-1908

Knox: 1852-1859, 1874-1879, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1907

Larue: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1903, 1906-1908

Laurel: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1900-1901, 1904

Lawrence: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1903-1904, 1906-1908

Lee: 1874-1879, 1902-1904, 1907-1908, 1910

Leslie: 1878-1879, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1914

Letcher: 1852-1856, 1859, 1874-1878, 1906-1907

Lewis: 1852-1859, 1861, 1875-1878

Lincoln: 1852-1859, 1875-1878

Livingston: 1852-1859, 1861, 1875-1878, 1903, 1907, 1909

Logan: 1854-1859, 1861, 1874-1876, 1878

Lyon: 1853-1859, 1861-1862, 1874-1878, 1893, 1903, 1906-1907

Madison: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1894, 1903-1904, 1907

Magoffin: 1861, 1874

Marion: 1852-1858, 1874-1876, 1893-1894, 1901, 1904

Marshall: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1913-1914

Martin: 1874-1878, 1900-1901, 1909-1910, 1914

Mason: 1852-1853, 1855-1859, 1861, 1874, 1904, 1907-1908, 1914

McCracken: 1852-1859, 1874-1879, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1906-1909

McCreary: no marriage records available

McLean: 1854-1859, 1861, 1876, 1900-1901, 1903-1904

Meade: 1853-1859, 1861, 1874-1877, 1894, 1900-1901, 1906-1909

Menifee: 1874-1878

Mercer: no marriage records available

Metcalfe: 1861, 1874-1878, 1906-1907

Monroe: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1894, 1906

Montgomery: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1894

Morgan: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1909-1910

Muhlenberg: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878

Nelson: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1903-1904, 1906-1907

Nicholas: 1852-1859, 1876-1878

Ohio: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1906-1909

Oldham: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1879

Owen: 1852-1857, 1859-1860, 1874

Owsley: 1852-1859, 1874, 1876-1879, 1903-1904, 1908-1910

Pendleton: 1852-1859, 1874-1878

Perry: 1852-1859

Pike: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1901, 1903-1904, 1906-1909

Powell: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874, 1878

Pulaski: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878

Robertson: 1874-1875, 1877-1878, 1909, 1914

Rockcastle: 1852-1859, 1874-1878

Rowan: 1856-1859, 1874-1878, 1893, 1906

Russell: 1852-1859, 1874-1875, 1878, 1903-1904, 1906

Scott: 1852-1859, 1874, 1876-1879

Shelby: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1876, 1878

Simpson: 1852-1859, 1874-1878, 1906-1907

Spencer: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1894

Taylor: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1879, 1893-1894, 1901, 1903-1904, 1909

Todd: 1852-1859, 1874-1879, 1903-1904, 1906-1907

Trigg: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1879, 1903-1904, 1906-1909

Trimble: 1852-1858, 1874-1878, 1893-1894

Union: 1854-1857, 1859, 1861, 1874-1876, 1878

Warren: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874, 1876-1878, 1903-1904, 1906-1908

Washington: 1852-1858, 1874-1878

Wayne: 1852-1859, 1874, 1878

Webster: 1874-1877, 1907

Whitley: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878, 1893-1894, 1900-1904, 1907-1910

Wolfe: 1861, 1874-1878, 1903, 1907, 1909

Woodford: 1852-1859, 1861, 1874-1878