Breathitt County Research

The most common question we get is: "I'm researching my _________ family, can you help me?"

I would love to! Unfortunately, as the maintainer of the Breathitt County KyGenWeb web site, not to mention living a good 4 hours away from Breathitt County, I don't personally have ready access to research materials other than what is found online. Fortunately over the past 30+ years the wealth of information that is available online today is massive compared to when I first began researching my own family.

Here are but a few tips that might give you some ideas on finding information. This is not an exhaustive list and I welcome all additions and corrections.

Search The Breathitt County KyGenWeb Site

We have a search feature generously provided by freefind.com. This allows you to search the information contained in this web site and is a good place to start. It's here and also on the home page below the menu on the left.

We maintain a list of research links for online sources of information. Among these is the Ancestry.com Message Boards which is a great place to search but only one of many that are available.

Most importantly and if at all possible take a 3-5 day trip to Breathitt County and Kentucky. I've made that that trip numerous times over the past 3 decades and came back with a mountain of information. The library in Jackson has a large genealogy room and is a great place to begin. The courthouse in Jackson should be stop #2 if you know the time period to search for. They have many of the original documents, or used to anyway if they haven't been moved to the History Center in Frankfort, KY. Jackson has a history museum as well. And the college in Jackson also has microfilm of the Dickey Diary and other materials to search through. The History Center in Frankfort is also a great place to search but check their hours before you go.

Also don't miss the archives of Virginia. Kentucky was formed from Virginia and there is potentially a lot of information to be discovered there as well if your family history dates back to that time. Check out our research links.

Lastly KyGenWeb maintains a list of researchers willing and ready to help.

Good Hunting!