Misinformed through the Internet:
A Case Study to Identify Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn
A Case Study to Identify Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn
About the year 1999, Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn began appearing as one of the children of Samuel and Nancy Harless Hahn in compiled genealogies published on the internet. The first item of concern is that the addition of this child to the Hahn family does not agree with other information collected about the family; namely a Bible-type record and several census reports. Next, it appears the justification for adding Joseph Daniel to this family lies in the one-time appearance of Joseph Daniel Hahn, bearing the same age as Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn, on a census with Samuel’s family in 1860. Finally, there are several children linked to Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn, and thus linked also to Samuel and Nancy and their ancestors.
A look at the Bible-type record of Samuel Hahn’s family would be advantageous at this point.1 It has been the basis for all of the researchers of Samuel Hahn’s family and has proven to be quite accurate. Following is a transcription of the Bible-type record:
Family of Samuel Hahn
Handwritten on three pieces of 6” x 8 ½” steno pad paper by Marcelle Hahn Klein, transcribed by Angela Thaden Hahn, 25 March 2009, in its entirety, including all inconsistencies in punctuation, misspellings, and Mrs. Klein’s side notes. The original pages accompany three more pages which include the family history of Isaac V. Rhoads and a brief biographical sketch of Lillie May Rhoads Hahn. The following is a transcription of the family of Samuel Hahn only.
Mrs. Klein passed this information around to several family members and mailed it to this transcriber, Mrs. Hahn, about 1980. She told this transcriber she had copied the information from someone else in the family but could not remember who. Judging by how the information is organized, it appears to be someone’s transcription of the pages in a family Bible. This transcriber believes the family Bible belonged to Lillie May Rhoads Hahn, who may not have been the first keeper of its recordings. She may have inherited it from her husband’s first wife or her mother-in-law. Since this information on Samuel Hahn’s family was included with a biographical sketch of Lillie Hahn, it is possible the Bible information was first extracted at the time of her funeral in 1949. If there is such a Bible, its whereabouts are unfortunately unknown.
Page 1
Samial Hahn
Born July 20th 1810
Columbia County, Ohio
Maried (1st time)
Born: 3 girls, Polly, Lydia, Elizabeth
2 boys, Adam & Samial
Maried (2nd time) Nov. 19, 1845
Nancy Harless, who was born Feb. 27,
1822 Giles Co, Virginia
Samial & Nancy Hahn
Births:
1. Delilah Jane Hahn Dec. 15, 1844
Dark Co, Mo.,
2. Thomas Jefferson Hahn
Dec. 5, 1846, Holt Co, Mo.,
3. Sarah Ann Hahn Dec 27, 1848
Holt Co., Mo.,
4. Susanah Hahn May 5, 1850
Holt Co., Mo. Died June 1, 1856
Age 6 yrs 3 Mon 26 days.
Page 2
5. Nancy Ellen Hahn Jan. 8, 1852
Holt Co, Mo.,
(Dad) 6. Benjamin Franklin Hahn Feb 25, 1854
Holt Co, Mo.,
7. Eliza Catherine Hahn Nov 2, 1855
Holt Co, Mo.,
(Uncle 8. Andrew Jackson Hahn Dec 16, 1860
Jack) Holt Co, Mo.,
9. Isabelle Stean Hahn April 20, 1862
(lived 5 days)
10. Alice Elvira Hahn Dec 7, 1864
Holt Co, Mo.,
Deaths:
Samial Hahn Jan 20, 1889
Nancy Hahn Mar 16, 1903
Benjamin Franklin Hahn Feb 25, 1854
Holt Co. Mo.
1st Marriage Nov. 28, 1882 at Harrisonville
Mo., Esther C. Fields – died April 4, 1892
Births:
1. Fredric Franklin Hahn
Page 3
Friday, July 16, 1885 Cass Co, Mo.,
2. Florence Ethel Hahn
Friday Oct 11, 1887 Mo.,
3. Flora Belle Hahn Sun Nov 17, 1889
2nd marriage to = Monday April 17, 1893
Harrisonville Mo. Lillie May Rhoads
Born July 14, 1875 Chicago, Ill.,
Births:
1. Samuel Hahn Dec. 17, 1893
2. Ruby Lydia Hahn Fri. Dec 7, 1894
3. Benjamin Isaac Hahn Sun. July 12, 1896
4. Charles Lester Hahn Sun Jan 23, 1898
5. Lottie Elenore Hahn Wed. Dec 17, 1902
6. Hazel Marie Hahn Mon Jul 24, 1905
7. Samuel Arthur Hahn Sun. Jan 20, 1907
8. Marcelle Evelee Hahn Sun. Aug 10, 1914
Deaths
Samuel Hahn Dec. 17, 1893
Benjamin F. Hahn July 9, 1936
End of Page 3.
Samuel Hahn’s family is posted on the internet. Rootsweb is home to two submissions in which Joseph Daniel Hahn is included as one of Samuel’s sons.2 One of the Rootsweb submissions even signifies that children, Susanah and Joseph Daniel were twins. He also appears within the Harless Homepage website, showing he is the son of Samuel Hahn, Jr. and Nancy Harless and having the same birth date as Susanah.3
The above sources list the children of Samuel and Nancy Hahn as follows:
1. Delilah Jane Hahn born 15 Dec 1844 in Darke County, Ohio
2. Thomas Jefferson Hahn born 5 Dec 1846 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
3. Sarah Ann Hahn born 27 Dec 1848 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
4. Susanah Hahn born 5 May 1850 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
5. Joseph Daniel Hahn born 5 May 1850 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
6. Nancy Ellen Hahn born 8 Jan 1852 in Holt County, Missouri
7. Benjamin Franklin Hahn born 25 Feb 1854 in Holt County, Missouri
8. Eliza Catherine Hahn born 2 Nov 1855 in Holt County, Missouri
9. Andrew Jackson Hahn born 16 Dec 1859 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
10. Isabelle Stean Hahn born 20 Apr 1862 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
11. Alice Elvira Hahn born 7 Dec 1864 in Lewis Twp., Holt, Missouri
In the FamilySearch database4 there are some differences contained in the data. For instance, Delilah is not included in the list of children; Isabelle’s middle name is spelled Stearn; Susanah’s name is accompanied by an alternative of Luanna; and Joseph Daniel’s surname is accompanied by an alternative spelling of Haun.
It is suspected that Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn was added to the family of Samuel and Nancy Hahn, which was first recorded in Mrs. Klein’s Bible-type record without Joseph Daniel, based on the family’s listing in the 1860 census.5 That report is as follows. Note Joseph Daniel’s placement at the end of the family. Coupled with his complete omission from the Bible-type record, which has been pleasingly accurate, it is possible Joseph Daniel was a relative, but not one of Samuel’s children:
Saml Hahn age 50 born in Ohio
Nancy Hahn age 37 born in Virginia
Adam age 22 born in Ohio
Samuel age 17 born in Ohio
Thomas J. age 13 born in Missouri
Sarah age 11 born in Missouri
N. Ellen age 8 born in Missouri
B. Franklin age 6 born in Missouri
E. Catherine age 5 born in Missouri
A. Jackson age 6/12 born in Missouri
Joseph Daniel age 10 born in Missouri
In the FamilySearch submission, Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn is not only linked to Samuel Hahn, but he is also linked to children. The children appear as follows:
1. Albry A. Hahn born Jul 1885 in Missouri The FamilySearch entry shows the last child of Joseph Daniel was born in Oklahoma in 1899. A search for Joseph Daniel in the 1900 census index returned a hit for Daniel Haun in North Wichita Twp., Lincoln County, Oklahoma.6 All of the above children were listed in Daniel’s household. It shall be noted that the surname is spelled Haun. Daniel’s birthplace is given as Illinois and his parents’ birthplaces are noted as Tennessee. This is the first alert that Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn born 1850 in Missouri, child of parents born in Ohio and Virginia, is not the same Daniel Haun on this census. It would appear at this point that Delilah Hahn Thompson’s residency in the same county during the same census year is merely coincidental.7 According to the FamilySearch submission, Joseph Daniel’s first three children were born after 1880 and the third child was born in Harrison County, Missouri. A search for Joseph Daniel in the 1880 census index returned a hit for Daniel Haun in Fox Creek Township, Harrison County, Missouri.8 Daniel’s age is 30, and he is a widower boarding with John Guymon and his wife. His birthplace is recorded as Illinois and his parents’ as Tennessee, exactly as they were reported in the 1900 census. Perusing the pages of the entire township reveals the elderly William and Elizabeth Haun, both born in Tennessee, on the page previous (p. 7) to Daniel’s listing. They have a son, Jacob, and a daughter-in-law living with them. Page 6 shows Elcania Haun, age 35, and his young family. Daniel Haun’s age in both the 1900 and 1880 censuses suggest he was born in 1840. He could not be located in the 1860 census for Illinois where he was born. Considering his family may have moved to Missouri by 1860, a search in the census index for that year returns a hit for Daniel Haun in Harrison County.9 This time he is listed as a ten-year-old boy, born in Illinois, in the household of his parents, William and Elisabeth Haun, both born in Tennessee. Included in the household are brothers, Elcanah and Jacob. Their household appears as follows:
2. Isabell Hahn born Aug 1886 in Missouri
3. Jessie Theo Haun born 29 Sep 1889 in Bethany, Harrison, Missouri
4. Mary E. Hahn born Aug 1891 in Missouri
5. Margaret E. Hahn born Jan 1893 in Missouri
6. Susan N. Hahn born Oct 1895 in Missouri
7. Alfred B. Hahn born Dec 1897 in Oklahoma
8. Lloyd O. Hahn born Sep 1899 in Oklahoma
William Haun age 50 born in Tennessee The conclusion of this case study is that the FamilySearch entry of Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn, born in Missouri and linked to parents, Samuel and Nancy Hahn, who were born in Ohio and Virginia, and also linked to children, Albry, Isabell, Jessie, Mary, Margaret, Alfred, and Lloyd, is not the Daniel Haun, born in Illinois and found on the various censuses linking him to the same children and to parents, William and Elizabeth Haun, both born in Tennessee. A terrible mistake has been made in confusing Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn with Daniel Haun, for Daniel’s children have been linked to the wrong grandparents. Furthermore, a search for Daniel Haun in the Rootsweb database turns up three submissions, all with notes and sources, where he is linked to his real parents.10 This case illustrates a very real tendency to publish family histories that are undocumented and the ease with which they can be linked to other family histories. The internet has made this process as instant and as simple as the click of a Download button and an Upload button. The internet is not to be faulted at all, because it is through the internet that facts can be verified with such tools as the online censuses. It is up to individual family researchers to verify the information they intend to publish and to include their sources when they do so. Imagine Daniel Haun’s dismay at knowing he has been hooked up with the wrong parents! Any time facts are revealed in family history research, more questions come to the surface. So, since Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn is not Daniel Haun, then who is this Joseph Daniel Hahn, who shows up in Samuel Hahn’s household in 1860? That is the subject of another case study.
Elisabeth Haun age 47 born in Tennessee
Catherine Haun age 18 born in Illinois
Lillian A. Haun age 15 born in Illinois
Elkanah Haun age 12 born in Illinois
Daniel Haun age 10 born in Illinois
Jacob Haun age 4 born in Illinois
Francis M. Haun age 1 born in Illinois.
1. Marcelle Klein Hahn, Untitled (contains information on the family of Samuel Hahn), Handwritten notes, c1980, 1-3.
2. At Rootsweb, Joseph Daniel Hahn is included in the database titled “We Are All Family,” by Karen Beeler Izenour, last updated 13 Mar 2003; and Joseph Daniel (Twin) Hahn is in the database titled “Our Wilson Family Tree,” by Joyce Wilson, last updated 15 Nov 2008. Some researchers believe Joseph Daniel’s twin was Samuel’s daughter, Susanah. These databases can be accessed by using Joseph Daniel Hahn in the search fields. No notes or sources accompany these databases.
3. Paula Wiegand, Harless Homepage, updated 18 Oct 2008, 25Mar 2009
4. The FamilySearch submission was contributed by Alice Montgomery and can be accessed by using the name Joseph Daniel Hahn in the search fields.
5. Saml Hahn household, 1860 U.S. census, District No. 38, Holt County, Missouri, p. 2, line 30, HeritageQuest Online.
6. Daniel Haun household, 1900 U.S. census, North Wichita Twp., Lincoln County, Oklahoma, e.d. 123, sheet 4B, line 94 and sheet 5A, HeritageQuest Online.
7. Benjamin Thompson household, 1900 U.S. census, Pawnee Twp., Lincoln County, Oklahoma, e.d. 127, sheet 11A, HeritageQuest Online.
8. John Guymon household, 1880 U.S. census, Fox Creek Twp., Harrison County, Missouri, e.d. 299, p. 8, line 30, HeritageQuest Online.
9. William Haun household, 1860 U.S. census, Sugar Creek Twp., Harrison County, Missouri, p. 231, line 17, HeritageQuest Online.
10. Daniel Hahn is included in the Rootsweb databases titled “Hennessy,” by Ann Gooden, last updated 6 Apr 2003; “Hennessy/Meier/Withers/Cohagan,” by Ann Gooden, last updated 15 Mar 2005; and “Saffer Family,” by Penny Thorstensen, last updated 25 Aug 2001.
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Angela Thaden Hahn
20835 Boca Chica Heights
Pueblo, CO 81008
aethahn@msn.com
Created 26 Mar 2009
© 2008
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