Brown-Manning-Fannin
By Don Taylor
I’ve never been entirely comfortable with my entries for family relationships for my Great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Manning. I know my tree in that area goes back 30 years ago or more and was based upon other people’s trees. I know that her sister was Phoebe Jane Manning. It appears that her father was John William Manning and her mother was Lisa (possibly Elisa) Jane Fannin. The problem is that I don’t have sources for those relationships. I also believe that she had a half-brother, Robert J. Manning. Again, I don’t have much in the way of sources for that information. So, I thought I look at other people’s trees on Ancestry and see what they have for sources. There were two women that appeared to be my ancestor:
- Elisa J Fannin (1861-1880), married to John Mannen (1841-1919). The only source used in any of five trees that relate to her only cite other trees. Additionally, this John Mannen died in 1919, which would be inconsistent with other aspects of my Lisa Fannin’s husband.
- Lisa J. Mannin (1861-1880), married to John William “Joe” Mannin. This John Mannin appears to be correct, however, I’m not convinced this is the correct individual either, but more about that after I’ve analyzed the documents. Ancestry indicates there are 58 trees associated with Lisa J. Mannin.
The majority of trees that Ancestry associates associated with Lisa J. Mannin only have other trees as their sources, however, the first tree has 2 sources associated with it. So, I’ll take a look at those first.
1880 Census – I had already found John and Lisa in the 1880 Census. Nothing new there.
1870 Census – George M. Mannin household consisting of an implied wife and four children. Lisa’s name in this census is Louisa J. Mannin. The age is correct (9) but the name is different, and the location is questionable. This Census location is Greenup County. John lived in Bath County before the Civil War and He and Lisa lived in Rowan county in 1880. The logistics of a young girl marrying an older man from two counties away seems difficult for me to reconcile.
So, absent any compelling connections, I will not ascribe Louisa to my Lisa; however, I will add tracing the George M. Mannin household to future tasks.
Kentucky Marriage Records – The next source shows the marriage between John W. Mannin to Sarah J Garvin. The couple took out a license on July 29, 1868 and married the following day in Carter County by a Judge of CC. The individual whose tree provided this source is incorrect in ascribing it to John and Elisa’s marriage. However, it might provide insight into who might have been John’s son’s mother. I tentatively added this record as a “first marriage for John W. Mannin.” There is nothing compelling that this John W. Mannin is my (2nd Great-Grandfather) John Mannin other than name and location. I need to find other evidence to collaborate this is my John W. Mannin.
1860 Census – Simon Manning household consisting of an implied wife and one child, a girl Eliza Manning. Lisa was 19 in the 1880 Census, so it appears unlikely this two-year-old is the same person. I might add a note to Lisa’s profile: Do not confuse with Eliza Manning, born 1857-1858 Implied daughter of Simon and Polloy Manning.
There are 14 private trees identified on Ancestry which appear to have Lisa J. Mannin. All of them either have no records or only 1 record associated to Lisa. As such, I suspect they are all citing Ancestry Trees.
Conclusion
Other people didn’t have sources any better than mine. So, I should probably explore surname studies or other research avenues.
Future Actions
Trace the George M. Mannin household through other censuses.
The George M. Mannin household in 1870[i] consisted of:
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- George Mannin 49
- Elizabeth Mannin 33
- Martha A 12
- John B 10
- Louisa J 9
- James D 8
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Follow John W. Mannin and his wife Sarah Gavin in other records.
ENDNOTES
[i] Year: 1870; Census Place: Precinct 3, Greenup, Kentucky; Roll: M593_466; Page: 67A; Family History Library Film: 545965
