BOURBON COUNTY, KY HISTORY AND LOOKUP
County History Books
*None Listed
Bourbon County, Kentucky: A Genealogical Overview
Located in the heart of Kentucky’s famous Bluegrass Region, Bourbon County is a landscape of rolling hills, historic horse farms, and fertile agricultural land. Synonymous with the whiskey that bears its name and the development of the Thoroughbred horse industry, its history is deeply rooted in the westward expansion of pioneer America. For genealogists, it is a pivotal county with a rich repository of early Kentucky records and a complex history of boundary changes.
I. County Formation and Evolution
Understanding Bourbon County’s origin as a massive territory and its subsequent role as a “mother county” is fundamental for locating the correct records for early Kentucky ancestors.
- 1785: County Formed: Bourbon County was established on October 17, 1785, by the Virginia General Assembly, seven years before Kentucky achieved statehood.
- Parent County: It was created from a portion of Fayette County, Virginia. Records for settlers in this area prior to late 1785 would be located in Fayette County, Virginia (now Kentucky) records.
- Subsequent County Formations: “Old Bourbon” was an immense county that originally encompassed a large swath of northeastern Kentucky. It is the parent or grandparent county to at least 34 modern Kentucky counties. Key counties formed directly from its territory include Mason (1788), Clark (1792), Harrison (1793), Nicholas (1799), and part of Fleming (1798). Researchers must be vigilant about boundary changes when tracing ancestors in this region.
- Name Origin: The county was named in honor of the French House of Bourbon to show gratitude for the aid provided by King Louis XVI of France during the American Revolutionary War. The whiskey produced in the region later took on the county’s name.
- County Seat History: The county seat was established in 1786, first named Hopewell. In 1790, the name was changed to Paris, continuing the theme of honoring the French alliance. Paris has remained the county seat throughout its history.
II. Settlement and Early History
- Early Inhabitants: Prior to European settlement, the area was a rich hunting ground used by various Native American tribes, most prominently the Shawnee to the north and the Cherokee to the south. It was a contested “dark and bloody ground” and did not have large, permanent native villages at the time of settlement.
- Pioneer Settlement and Economy: The first significant pioneer settlement began in the mid-1770s, as settlers from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina came through the Cumberland Gap. They established fortified stations like Martin’s Station and Ruddle’s Station for protection. The region’s incredibly fertile limestone-based soil was ideal for agriculture. The economy was built on corn, hemp, tobacco, and livestock. The surplus corn led farmers to distill it into whiskey, which, when shipped down the Ohio River from the port in Bourbon County, became known as Bourbon whiskey.
III. Genealogical Records and Resources
This section provides practical information for locating ancestral records specific to Bourbon County.
- Courthouse: Bourbon County Clerk: Located at 301 Main Street, Paris, KY 40361. This office is the primary repository for the county’s most important genealogical records, including deeds (land records), marriage bonds and licenses, wills, and probate records dating from the county’s formation in 1786.
- Vital Records:
- Birth and Death Records: Statewide registration in Kentucky began on January 1, 1911. Records from that date forward are held by the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics. For records prior to 1911, researchers must rely on other sources, as official records are scarce. These include church records, family Bibles, cemetery inscriptions, and newspapers. The County Clerk’s office has some delayed birth certificates.
- Marriage Records: Marriage records are a major strength for Kentucky research. They are held by the Bourbon County Clerk from 1786 to the present.
- Libraries with Genealogy Collections:
- Paris-Bourbon County Public Library: Located at 701 High Street, Paris, KY 40361. The library has a dedicated Kentucky Room with local history files, family histories, microfilm of newspapers, and census records.
- Hopewell Museum/Historic Paris-Bourbon County: Located at 201 Mill Street, Paris, KY 40361. This is an important resource for local history, artifacts, and historical context.
- Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) & Kentucky Historical Society: (Both located in Frankfort, KY) These are the premier statewide repositories for Kentucky genealogical research, holding extensive collections of county records on microfilm, state archives, and published family histories.
- Bordering Jurisdictions:
- Fayette County, KY
- Scott County, KY
- Harrison County, KY
- Nicholas County, KY
- Bath County, KY
- Montgomery County, KY
- Clark County, KY