Most of us who have doing genealogy for a while recognize that few states kept vital records, at least at the State level, until about the 1910s. (Well, those New Englanders are different.) However, prior to the Civil War, Kentucky seemed to have a law requiring counties to keep records of deaths from about 1852 to just before the Civil War, when the procedure broke down. The Kentucky Historical Society as well as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City have films for these dates for Madison Co. [this is according to the FHL catalog which is on the net at _www.familysearch.org_ (http://www.familysearch.org) Births, 1852-1859, 1893-1894, 1903-1904, 1907; marriages, 1852-1859, 1894, 1903-1904; deaths, 1852, 1855-1859, 1894, 1903-1904, 1907. I was fortunate to find the Kentucky death record of the widow [she had remarried to Thomas Chilton] of that old pioneer Michael Stoner [of Wayne Co.] on the film of one of the Kentucky counties. Her maiden name was Frances [aka Frankie and perhaps Fanny] Tandy Tribble, daughter of Rev. Andrew Tribble Her first husband, as stated, was Michael Stoner. Her second husband [the father-in-law of one of her daughters] was Rev. Thomas Chilton. On one census, she is labeled "Chetton." Ah, well, we are used to the errors of census-takers. It has been a while since I have reviewed some of these films. If I am not mistaken, the deaths of blacks are also recorded. Genealogy is a constant exploration of - what is out there? Also, dear friends, use google.com to find Linkpendium. If you see any articles, such as one by Dick Eastman, read that first and then explore linkpendium. It is being constructed by the same folks who gave us rootsweb. Happy hunting. E.W.Wallace