Pitard.net Mysteries: Kentucky

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One of the enjoyable aspects of genealogy, or any archival research, is solving puzzles. And because genealogy is clearly interactive, here are a few for you to work with. Feel free to ask questions which might open more. These contribute to the work on the Kentucky Family History page.

Kentucky--and especially Germantown--figures in family history at several points. The Hamilton, Mannen, Pollock, and Savage families on this tree moved from various Virginia counties to Bracken and Mason Counties in Kentucky (in or near Germantown and Maysville, right on the Ohio River). Relatives in the Dye family, from another part of the tree, also lived there in the nineteenth century.

There are two categories here: places that are just stuck (that is, "walls"), and unknown photos.

A leaf from Sally Pollock's Bible
showing her children's birthdates.

Walls

Post-immigration ancestors. Shouldn't it be possible to identify all American ancestry? Here are some problems:

Who were the parents of John Mannen? This is one of the biggest stumpers on this site. He was the grandfather of May Mannen. I know that he was born on 7 April 1814 because the date is recorded in family notes. He was born in Kentucky. The date of his marriage to Minerva Hamilton in Kentucky is also known, on 27 October 1840. The Hamilton family is well attested (John Hamilton fought in the Revolutionary War), but the Mannens aren't. He died in 1879, but that, wouldn't you know, is the one year that Bracken Co. death records are not available . . . . (Query added Summer 2005).
Who were the parents of William Currens and his wife, Margaret Thompson? They were born about the time of the Revolutionary War, and died in Bracken Co., Kentucky, but I can uncover no information on their ancestry at all. (Query added December 2006).
Who were the parents of Jonathan Hieatt and his wife Mary Connor? Jonathan was, I believe, living in Mason Co., Kentucky in the 1840 census, and their daughter Elizabeth is said to have migrated from Orange Co., Virginia to Kentucky, so this gives a possible path of migration for the parents as well--but, I have nothing on them at all. (Query added December 2006).
Who were the parents of Mary Phillips? I think that she and her family were from Amherst Co., Virginia, but I have no good information here. She and her husband James Savage lived in Lewis Co., Kentucky. Mary's parents on this tree can at the moment only be called questionable. (Query seems to have been solved as of April 2007).
Was James Savage really a Revolutionary War soldier? No-one seems to have joined the DAR using his name, though the narratives I have found for his descendants say that he is. His brother John Savage seems to have served under Washington in the French and Indian War. (Query updated December 2006).
Will the real John Hamilton please stand forward? Which is the War of 1812 veteran? There are two: John O. is the son of Samuel and Dilly Donovan, and John O. is the son of John P. and Deborah Perkins. They are first cousins. It would seem that the one who was born on 25 Aug. 1794 would be the War of 1812 veteran, according to documents filed for Bounty Land grants from Gallatin Co., Kentucky in the 1850s. On the one hand, Frazee clearly gives the latter's birthdate as 25 Aug. 1794, and says that the former was married to Hannah Gregg. Yet a biography of the former, focusing on his daughter Eliza (and included on their pages), clearly gives his birthdate as 25 Aug. 1794, and identifies him as the War of 1812 veteran who served in Capt. Baker's Kentucky militia; and Kendall names the husband of Hannah Gregg as "Col. John O. Hamilton" from Gallatin Co.
So, which is more likely? A birth year of 1794 for John son of Samuel would mean that he was born before his parents' marriage; this would not be so for John son of John. But on the other hand the biography seems to be based on close to first-person accounts of Eliza's life, and therefore good information about her father's.
Clearly I am relying on second-hand accounts myself; any information would be appreciated. (Query added April 2007).

Unknown photos

This photo is clearly a partner with the photo of "Aunt Lizzie Turney"--the photographer, frame, and photographic style are both of a type. But, no names are attached to this photo. Any idea who they are? The photographer is "Bradley Kentucky."

And, what's the dog's name?