"
The first constitution gave judicial powers to the Kentucky Court of
Appeals. Other courts of record in Kentucky included superior,
county, chancery, quarterly, circuit, justice of peace, police,
district, quarter sessions, oyer and terminer, and general. Court
records include dockets, minutes, case files and orders. Land, tax,
and probate matters may be included in Kentucky court records. Most
court records are maintained at the respective county courthouse.
Some original records are maintained in books, while other
court-related documents are filed in folders in boxes or cabinets.
Many of the books containing court records have been microfilmed,
some have been abstracted and published, but the great majority of
data filed in boxes, cabinets, and folders has not been copied in
any form.
Courts and their jurisdiction have altered over time in
Kentucky. Some early courts are no longer extant. Some have
undergone name or jurisdictional changes. Early records may be filed
in volumes or containers that may be mistitled, making it necessary
to examine all court records for a county. County courts maintained
jurisdiction over most matters, both civil and criminal, until 1852
when quarterly or circuit courts began handling criminal cases. Some
circuit courts handled major civil and criminal matters as well as
divorces. The circuit courts also served as appellate courts.
Matters involving large sums of money were usually heard by the
courts of quarter sessions from before statehood through the state's
first ten years.
Microfilmed copies of county court records are at the
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Many transcribed
records are available at the University of Kentucky Library, the
Kentucky Historical Society, Filson Club Library, and the FHL.
Some published or transcribed records are at local and regional
libraries."
(Source: Ancestry's
Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources )
"County probate records are filed at the respective county
courthouse usually under the county clerk's jurisdiction. Probate
records include wills, estates, administrators, executors,
inventories, settlements, sales, accounts, guardianship, orphans,
insolvent estates, bastardy, apprentices, and insanity. Documents
pertaining to probate are recorded in volumes containing records of
administrations, court proceedings, court minutes, estates,
executors, guardians, inventories, probates, sales, settlements,
and/or wills. Records may be filed under various titles. Loose
papers are usually kept in folders or tied together in packets.
Early estate records are frequently recorded along with regular
proceedings of the county court. Circuit court records include
inherited estate disputes. Some counties have transcribed early
wills. The Kentucky Historical Society and the Filson Club Library
have collections of these.
Some transcribed or microfilm copies of original probate
records are available at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and
Archives, Kentucky Historical Society, University of Kentucky
Library, Filson Club Library, and the FHL. Some wills and
inventories for the period of 1780 to 1788 are recorded in book J of
the books maintained by the Kentucky Court of Appeals. These have
been abstracted by Michael and Bettie Cook (see Land Records).
Unfortunately, many of the 120 Kentucky county
courthouses have suffered record loss because of fire or other
accidents. Even though fire may have destroyed records pertinent to
the county in which research is being conducted, some records were
re-recorded. Research must encompass several years beyond the time
of the destruction of records."
(Source: Ancestry's Red Book: American
State, County, and Town Sources )
