Harrison Lykins (born c. 1851) and Harry J. Lykins (born c. 1851 or c. 1853) - sons of Rollin Coffee Lykins and Sarah Buffington.
Dozens, maybe hundreds, of family trees have these family members. But I don't think they ever existed.
I firmly believe they are the results of transcription errors from the 1860 census.Why do I believe this? It started with the census records. I found these names and birth dates only in the 1860 census. No other census record for any other member of this family included these individuals. In addition, the girls Narcissa (born c. 1851) and Mary J. (born c. 1853) appeared in 1870 and subsequent census records - but not in 1860. Where were they?
Other hypotheses occured to me, but they seemed a bit far-fetched:
- these were two sets of fraternal twins, and in 1860 the girls were in a different household (or two different households) [could not find any evidence]
- the boys died and the girls are adopted [no evidence]
FamilySearch has a name-only index, no access to the film, that runs from 1839 to 1860. It includes the following entries for this family and no other that I can locate:
- Gender Male
- Birth Date 27 Oct 1856
- Birthplace , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY
- Father's Name Roley C. Lykins
- Mother's Name Sarah Buffington
"Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWVS-CZ1 : 11 February 2018), James B. Lykins, 27 Oct 1856; citing , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY, reference ; FHL microfilm 216,835.
- Gender Female
- Birth Date 15 Mar 1853
- Birthplace , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY
- Father's Name Rodey_ Lykins
- Mother's Name Sarah Buffeton
"Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWVS-QG4 : 11 February 2018), Mary J. Lykins, 15 Mar 1853; citing , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY, reference ; FHL microfilm 216,835.
- Gender Male
- Birth Date 15 Feb 1855
- Birthplace , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY
- Father's Name Rolly C. Lykins
- Mother's Name Sarah Buffington
"Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWVS-DJY : 11 February 2018), Granville Lykins, 15 Feb 1855; citing , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY, reference ; FHL microfilm 216,835.
- Gender Female
- Birth Date 30 May 1859
- Birthplace , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY
- Father's Name Raleigh Lykins
- Mother's Name Sally Buffington
"Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWVS-N2B : 11 February 2018), Rebeca Lykins, 30 May 1859; citing , , MORGAN, KENTUCKY, reference ; FHL microfilm 216,835.
It is not simply birth records that I cannot find for "Harrison" and Harry J.", I have not found any other record for them at all. No death records, no marriage or any other kind. So, I theorized that these two boys were actually Narcissa and Mary J. Lykins.
What follows is the additional evidence that I do have that I believe supports this theory. It is not much, especially in the case of Harry (other than a birth record for Mary and not Harry).
The Evidence
Below is the transcription of this household on FamilySearch.
Household Sex Age BirthplaceRolly C Lykins M 30 Kentucky
Sarah Lykins F 28 Kentucky
Wm S Lykins M 10 Kentucky
Harrison Lykins F 9 Kentucky
Harry J Lykins M 9 Kentucky
Green Lykins M 5 Kentucky
James Lykins M 3 Kentucky
"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZ19-DLQ : 14 December 2017), Rolly C Lykins, 1860.
Problems with this transcription:
- Narcissa is missing
- Mary J. is missing
- both Harrison and Harry are 9 years old, but not marked twins
- Harrison is marked "F", female
MyHeritage has a similar transcription:
Relation to head Name Age
Head (implied) Rolly C Lykins 30
Wife (implied) Sarah Lykins 28
Son (implied) Wm S Lykins 10
Daughter (implied) Harrison Lykins 9
Son (implied) Harry J Lykins 9
Son (implied) Green Lykins 5
Son (implied) James Lykins 3
Source:
1860 United States Federal Census
MyHeritage.com [online database]. Lehi, UT, USA: MyHeritage (USA) Inc.
https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10127/1860-united-states-federal-census
Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, Population Schedule. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls.
Look closely at "Harrison":
Now compare it to the "H" in Harry and this other "H" from the profession column on line 24 on the same page:
Now consider the fact that "Harrison" , a female child born about 1851, does not appear in any other census record for this family, but "Narcissa" a female child born about 1851 does.
Harrison never existed, this 1860 census record is Narcissa at age 9.
Now on to "Harry J." vs "Mary J."
First - "Harry's" age.
"Harry's" age is not 9. Compare the "9" for Narcissa to the number for "Harry J.". They are not the same. Look at this number "7" from line #39 on the same page:
Second - "Harry J." is "Mary J."
There is no way I can argue that "Harry J." in the 1860 census is not "Harry J." The letter to letter comparison above clearly shows that the "H" in "Harry" is an "H", not an "M", and the child is clearly marked "M" for male.
I believe that this transcription error happened when the census was originally transcribed from the pages collected from the enumerators by the clerks in the county offices.
I believe this because "Harry J."
- never appears in any other census record for this family, and
- because "Mary J." about age 7, should be in this record, but she is not
- I can find "Mary J. Lykins" in 1870
- Mary J. Oney in 1880
- Mary J. Oney in 1900
- and Mary J. Oney in 1910. She dies in 1916.
 | ||
| Full Census Page |
"Population Schedules Of The Eighth Census Of The United States, 1860, Kentucky [Microform]". United States. Bureau of the Census,United States. National Archives and Records Service 2018. Archive.Org. Accessed July 7 2018. https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu385unit#page/n37/mode/1up
Conclusion
I am going to trim my tree, and combine any "Harrison" and "Harry J." entries with "Narcissa" and "Mary J,", respectively. If evidence to the contrary surfaces I will re-evaluate my conclusions.
