Boyd County, Kentucky is the gateway to Eastern Kentucky Genealogical and Historical Research.
The county is home to the Eastern Kentucky Genealogical Society and the quarterly publication Tree Shaker. The Tree Shaker's editor, Jimmie Epling provides readers with a variety of records and family histories for Eastern Kentucky Researchers. Members also share a wealth of information inside its pages. While the internet provides us with a vast amount of material, a subscription to the Eastern Kentucky Genealogical Society is a big bang for it's little bucks. Membership is just $10.00 per year. You can join by sending dues to: Eastern Kentucky Genealogical Society, Inc., APO Box 1544, Ashland, KY 41105-1544.
Boyd County also houses Eastern Kentucky's largest genealogical holdings at the Boyd County Public Library, 1740 Central Avenue, Ashland, KY. Staff members work daily to digitize and make records available to the public. Besides an archives containing original source material, the collection includes vast microfilm holdings for newspapers and vital records. Bound publications are easy to locate and use and include many other states. During what the staff is terming "spring cleaning" they are expanding their shelves for larger and more Virginia and West Virginia materials. Several databases are available at the web site and Judy Fleming's Boyd County, Kentucky Marriage database continues to grow daily.
The Boyd County Master Cemetery Database has been my pet project for many years. It now has searchable capability & we have turned over the digitized photograph collection to the library as well. They are available for viewing in-house. If your questions are not answered after reviewing The Boyd County Cemetery Location Guide [it was a labor of love!] please feel free to contact me concerning any given county cemetery or individual. Remember if you did not locate a person it may be that they have an unmarked grave. One tip that searchers need to know is that Rose Hill Cemetery is not included in the database at this time.
Boyd County, Kentucky was formed in 1860 [KY county #107] from parts of Greenup, Carter and Lawrence County, KY. With pioneer waterway travel, researchers should also look at records across the Ohio, in Lawrence and Scioto County as well as the Big Sandy River and {West} Virginia connections.
Our County was named for Linn Boyd, Lt Governor of Kentucky who died in 1859 shortly after being elected. Boyd Countie's first appointed sheriff was William Williams. John D. Ross the first judge. The John D. Ross Cemetery has undergone some renovations over the past few years.
The Boyd County seat is in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Catlettsburg was laid out in 1849 and incorporated as a town in Greenup County in 1858. Boyd County built the first courthouse in 1861. A new Justice Building opened this past year modernizing the visual look of the main part of town.
I invite you to visit my web site about Boyd County Genealogy as well as information concerning Family Lineage Investigations . You will find a complete reading of Klaiber Cemetery as well as a free copy of a 1902-1906 Blacksmith Ledger with many Boyd county family names mentioned. Just follow the links. Want more information about the author of this blog just click! Please feel free to make suggestions for postings for future blog posts at this site. Let's chat and have a cuppa together!
