Family Stories

John Daniel married Biddy Sparrow – March 5, 1790

Scan_Pic1552One of the early marriage records of Mercer County in 1790.  John Bailey was a Baptist minister from Lincoln County.  Mercer was part of Lincoln in the early days of Kentucky.

Mercer County

These are to License and permit you to join together in the Holy State of Matrimony John Daniel and Biddy Sparrow according to the rite and ceremonies of your church and for so doing this shall be your sufficient given from under my hand this 2nd day of March 1790.   Christopher Greenup

To any Minister of the Gospel legally authorized to solemnize the rites of marriage.

Scan_Pic1553March 5th – Then was joined in the Holy State of Matrimony John Daniel and Biddy Sparrow –

John Bailey, 1790

Bailey’s return of Marriages, March 1790

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  1. The John Daniel to Bridget “Biddy” Sparrow marriage has historical significance in that a John Daniel (likely the same John Daniel) attested to the age of Lucy Hanks when she married Henry Sparrow in either 1790 or 1791, depending on the marriage record used. Lucy Hanks is generally regarded as the mother of Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln, mother of President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln acknowledged Lucy in statements to William H. Herndon, as well as informants such as Dennis Friend Hanks and members of the Henry and Lucy Sparrow descendants, among others.

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