Monday, April 13, 2015

K is for Kennett or Kinnet


According to the current information on Familysearch.org, my fifth great grandmother, Drucilla Margaret Kennett or Kinnet was born in 1758 in Kentucky.  She married Thomas Franklin Collings, Sr, in 1787 in Bullitt, Kentucky.  These records show  that she and Thomas were the parents of 12 children, including my fourth great grandfather, Allen Collings or Collins, who was born in 1796.   The source listed for this information is a gravestone located in the Collins Cemetary  in Dudleytown, Jackson County Indiana, but when I print out the information on that website, only five children are shown.


 As you can see, the photo that I have of this grave marker from findagrave.com is dark and unreadable, so I can only trust that the information listed on these records  is accurate. One comment or note posted at Ancestry.com indicates that this cemetery is located on a farm where the commenter has never found anyone in residence to allow entrance into the Cemetery.  Another comment posted says that Thomas's wife's grave marker or headstone is missing.   (As you may have noticed, spellings of names at this time often had various variations, something to keep in mind when searching out records on your family tree.)  The current records on familysearch.com show that Drucilla's parents were David Kinnet and Mrs. Margaret Kinnet.  There is no source listed for this information.

However, my dear mother, who has spent years trying to find the parents and grandparents of Drucilla Kennett, has found information from the will of a Charles Kennett who married Anne Conwenhower on 12 October 1785 in Nelson County Kentucky.  Charles died in Washington County, Kentucky in 1803.  The will lists sons  Joseph, John, and Samuel, and Daughters Susannah, Nancy, Katty and Drucilla, and an unborn child.   On the marriage records that are available in several sources, Anne's father is listed as Joseph Conwehower.   However, this is not likely to be the family on my family tree, much as we would like it to be, as Drucilla's birthdate is listed as 1758, and Charles and Anne were not married until October 1785.

So, where are the sources for my fifth great grandmother's birth and parents?  My mother and I have been searching records in the Kentucky and Ohio and Indiana areas for many years.  There are quite a few records of Kinnets and Kennetts, mostly families who came to the area shortly after the revolutionary war from Virginia and Maryland, but I have yet to find definitive proof of who Drucilla Margaret Kennnet's parents were.  Does anyone out there have any information on the Kinnet or Kennett family that I have not found?  Anyone??

9 comments:

  1. Sorry - no help from me. I do love that the little family plot is protected by that fence.
    ~Visiting from AtoZ

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    1. Isn't it nice. So quaint and different from the large city cemeteries close to us.

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  2. Wow, this one is old. Someone needs to keep track of it.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Hopefully whoever owns the property now is aware of how valuable the information there is. Hopefully the transcriptions of the stones that people have provided at the Find A Grave website are accurate.

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  3. What an interesting blog challenge idea! Good luck with tracing back your roots, Marcy!

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    1. Thank you, Sangita. I've been thoroughly enjoying the challenge!

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  4. What an interesting blog challenge idea! Good luck with tracing back your roots, Marcy!

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  5. would you happen to know if one of the 12 children of thomas and drucilla was nancy collings who married thomas dorser? thomas and drucilla are my 5ggp and nancy and thomas are my 4ggp. having a
    bit of trouble finding parents for nancy. any help would be so totally appreciated : - }

    kind regards,
    peggy

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    1. Peggy, I have not found any mention of Nancy Collings who married Thomas Dorser. The only real source that I have on Thomas and Drucilla is from the Find A Grave Index which has a photo of Thomas Collings' gravestone in the Collings Cemetery found in Jackson County Indiana. There is a reference to a US and International Marriage Database at Ancestry.com, but I have not seen an actual true source for their marriage. There is also a land record for Thomas Collings and he 1810, 1820, 1830 and 1840 census records also show him in Jackson County Indiana. What sort of documentation do you ahve on Thomas and Nance Dorser? please feel free to email me at Marcyhowes@yahoo.com

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