Kentucky Obituaries

The Kentucke Gazette of 1787 was the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains. Many of Kentucky’s historic papers are now free to search through the University of Kentucky’s ExploreUK site.

Recent Kentucky obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in Kentucky are:

• Courier Journal (Louisville)
• Lexington Herald-Leader
• Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro)
• Paducah Sun
• Bowling Green Daily News
• Cincinnati Enquirer (Northern Kentucky)

Legacy.com’s Kentucky page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

Kentucky obituaries in historic newspapers

John Bradford printed the first issue of the Kentucke Gazette in Lexington in 1787, five years before statehood. Early Kentucky papers reported deaths of settlers, Revolutionary War veterans and travelers on the Ohio River. Around 5,000 obituary notices from six early Kentucky newspapers, covering 1787 to 1854, were extracted and published by the Kentucky Historical Society and are available in book form.

Louisville became the state’s largest newspaper city in the 1800s, home to the Louisville Journal and later the Courier-Journal, along with a German-language press. Each county seat supported weekly papers, and in eastern Kentucky these are often the only printed record of deaths in coal camps and mountain communities.

The Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program at the University of Kentucky Libraries has digitized papers from across the state for ExploreUK and Chronicling America.

Where to find older Kentucky obituaries

Digitized Kentucky newspapers

• ExploreUK, University of Kentucky Libraries — Free digitized Kentucky newspapers from the Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program.

Obituary and death indexes

• Kentucky Death Records, 1911–1965 (FamilySearch) — Free index and images of Kentucky death certificates.

Archives and libraries

• Kentucky Historical Society — Research library in Frankfort with Kentucky newspapers, family files and genealogy collections.
• Vital records research, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives — KDLA's research services, including guidance on older Kentucky vital records.
• Kentucky Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Kentucky newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

Kentucky death records

Kentucky death certificates are public: anyone can order a copy from the Office of Vital Statistics in Frankfort. Death records from 1911 to the 1960s are also indexed free on FamilySearch, and KDLA holds older vital records.

• Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics — the office that issues Kentucky death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: Kentucky — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• Kentucky Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in Kentucky

• Kentucky records are open. Anyone can order a Kentucky death certificate, so you don't need to prove a relationship.
• Check Cincinnati papers. Northern Kentucky deaths were often reported in Cincinnati dailies.
• Use the 1911 cutoff. Statewide registration began in 1911; before that, rely on newspapers and county records.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions