Marriage records
Listed dates: 1785–2008.
Ask for the register entry and any associated license, bond or return.
BRICK WALL PROTOCOL / FREE GUIDESNelson County:
Nelson County:
Pair newspaper discoveries with local abstracts.
Use Bardstown’s genealogy room and the Nelson County Genealogical Roundtable to find local newspapers, family books, and published court-record leads.
Not sure where to begin? Build a free three-step research plan → Choose your question, period and records already checked.
Start with one connection.
Bring a person, a place, approximate years, and one question. A township, congregation, school, or employer may reveal records a surname search misses. The custodian can be outside the county.
Check the county for your research year.
A place may have belonged to a parent county before this county existed.
Explore Nelson boundary history →Which records cover your years?
Compare your research years with these KDLA inventory entries. Bars represent listed holdings, not verified completeness or online availability. Unmarked years mean not listed here, not proof that records were destroyed.
Check the volume before ordering. Inventory endpoints do not mark the beginning or end of all county recordkeeping. Ask about indexes, missing volumes, access conditions and other custodians.
Deed books
Listed dates: 1784–2018.
Locate the grantor and grantee indexes first; preserve the book and page reference.
Will books
Listed dates: 1784–2017.
Ask separately about estate settlements, administrations, guardianships and loose papers.
County order books
Listed dates: 1785–2017.
Request the relevant volume and index, then follow references to related proceedings.
Early birth records
Listed dates: 1852–1859, 1861, 1874–1876, 1878, 1903–1904, 1906–1907.
These interrupted runs require year-specific checking. Do not assume complete registration.
Death records
Listed dates: 1852–1858, 1861, 1874–1878, 1903–1904, 1906–1907, 1911–1967.
The 1911–1967 run includes KDLA statewide certificate holdings. Confirm the correct custodian for later records.
Tax assessment books
Microfilm (blue): 1785–1797, 1799–1831, 1835, 1837–1840, 1845–1894, 1896–1900.
Ask KDLA for the named county, taxpayer and exact year, and whether the item is microfilm or an original. An absent name alone does not prove death or migration.
Access: start with KDLA’s record-request forms . Select the appropriate series and provide county, name, date and any book/page citation. Confirm current fees and restrictions. These links lead to request instructions, not a promise of free online images.
Sources, dates and limitations
- KDLA Inventory of County Records, PDF page 11 : source for the six record groups above tax.
- KDLA Inventory of Land Records, PDF page 24 : source for tax intervals and formats.
Reviewed October 26, 2026. These inventories summarize selected holdings and may differ in scope or update date. No page-by-page volume check was performed. County boundaries and custody can change independently.
STOP 01 / Bardstown / onsite
Nelson County Public Library: Main Branch Genealogy Room
Digitized does not always mean available from home.
The room provides a digitized local newspaper collection described by the library as dating from 1900 to current. Access is limited to the Genealogy Room.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Plan for genealogy-room hours, not the building’s longer schedule: Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 9am–1pm; closed Sundays. Call 502-348-3714 about newspaper titles and missing issues before visiting 201 Cathedral Manor.
A question you can ask
Which local newspaper covers this community and date, and may I save a full-page image?
Keep in mind
The stated date range does not guarantee every title or issue. Browse nearby issues when an OCR name search fails.
STOP 02 / Online finding aids / Bardstown
Nelson County Genealogical Roundtable: The Nelson County Genealogist and family-book list
A quarterly article can lead back to an overlooked court book.
The Roundtable links a 1984–2024 quarterly table of contents and a list of family/surname books in the public library’s Genealogy Room. It also supports publication of abstracts from Nelson deed, will, and other court books.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Browse the contents list and request a specific article at ncgr.ky@gmail.com. The page’s newer notice says back issues are no longer available in hard copy and limits emailed article requests to one article per email. Confirm current arrangements.
A question you can ask
Could you provide this article and its original record references, or identify the relevant family book?
Keep in mind
Older hard-copy ordering text remains on the same page. Ask before paying. Abstracts and donated genealogies need comparison with the source records they cite.
Leave a trail another researcher can follow.
Save the repository, collection title, dates, volume, page or item identifier, link, and the date you consulted it. Follow an index to the original record when possible. Keep uncertain names and inferred relationships visibly separate from what the source states.
Return to the Kentucky county map · Follow settlement and county changes
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