Boyd County Obituary Database
This database includes the following Newspapers: The Ashland Daily Independent, the Boyd County Beacon (2010), and the Ashland Beacon (2010-Present)
This database covers The Ashland Daily Independent from July 1922 to Dec 2023 ** (See below for exceptions)
- The actual obituary is not available from this index, only that there is an entry in the Microfilm for that person on that date. Contact the Winder Room for copies, charges may apply.
- 1949- Jun 1970 were copied from Rose Hill Cemetery obituary scrapbooks donated by Louise Price Hoy, PhD. The obituaries in this timeframe were individually clipped and pasted into the scrapbook and a sampling indicates only about 50% of this time period obituaries are represented. It also appears that only Ashland obits as well as Rose Hill burials are included in this period.
- July 1970-1997 were entered by volunteers. These records were copied from the Rose Hill Cemetery obituary scrapbooks donated by Louise Price Hoy, PhD. The entire obituary page was pasted in the scrapbook so we are confident most if not all entries are indexed.
- 1998-2005 were records digitally converted from material donated by Curtis Puckett. Curtis maintained yearly indexes for the Ashland Daily Independent from 1990 to 2005. The Indexes from 1998 to 2005 have been scanned, converted to editable text using optical character recognition, converted to the obituary format, and merged with our obituary database. These are a wonderful addition to the database. They generally have the birth date, place, and age added to the normal information. Some of the entries will not have converted completely and as a result, may have unusual characters. This period of the database only indexes the first time the name appears for that person. Subsequent entries in the newspaper for that person were NOT indexed by Curtis.
- The Genealogy Staff maintains current obituaries.
- More newspapers will be added as indexing progresses from the Boyd Press Observer from the 1950s and the 1970s as well as Pre 1922 extant issues of prior newspapers
Ashland Cemetery Database
In cooperation with the City of Ashland and the Ashland Cemetery, the Cemetery offices annually provide a copy of their database. Note that the Cemetery office had a fire sometime around 1900, and records before that date are gone. The database contains burial records from around 1900 to the present. A few entries before 1900 have been entered from various sources. For tombstone transcriptions before 1900 refer to the Boyd County Cemeteries Database.
Boyd County Cemeteries Database
This database was created initially by Teresa Martin Klaiber. She and several volunteers collected this information. More information was included from cemetery readings taken in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Evelyn Scyphers Jackson. Evelyn was an avid genealogist and historian and spearheaded the readings for Boyd County for a statewide project to record cemeteries.
Boyd County Marriages Database
The Database covers from 1860 until 1920. These marriages were transcribed directly from the microfilm copies of the marriages. For more recent marriages contact the Minnie Winder Room staff or the Boyd County Clerk in Catlettsburg, KY
Kentucky Deaths Index 2000-2021
This database was converted from PDF files purchased from the Office for Vital Statistics, Frankfort, KY. This index is to be used as a reference only and is not intended to be an official record of death. For more information, request a copy of the actual death certificate from the Office of Vital Statistics. The Death Certificate number was NOT part of the original index purchased from the Office of Vital Statistics. As with any conversion process, there may be occasional errors.