I am researching a man named Daniel Higby, born in Kentucky sometime around 1854, was a servant to Rankin Roberts Jr. and Mary Farnsworth Roberts in Keene, Jessamine, Kentucky on the 1880 Census, was a servant to Mary Farnsworth Roberts in Chicago on the 1920 Census, and passed away that same year. His death record on FamilySearch offers me the following:
Daniel Higby
Illinois, Cook County Deaths
| Name |
Daniel Higby |
| Event Type |
Death |
| Event Date |
08 Oct 1920 |
| Event Place |
, Cook, Illinois, United States |
| Gender |
Male |
| Age |
65 |
| Marital Status |
Single |
| Ethnicity |
American |
| Race |
White |
| Occupation |
house servant |
| Birth Date |
25 Dec 1854 |
| Birthplace |
Brennan, Kentucky |
| Burial Date |
09 Oct 1920 |
| Father's Birthplace |
Brennan, Kentucky |
| Mother's Birthplace |
Brennan, Kentucky |
| Record Number |
26 |
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7LT-R68
I dug into county names in 1860 Kentucky and didn't find anything close enough to 'Brennan' to be even plausible. It could have been a town name, so I thought I would ask if there is someone more experienced than me in researching vanished place names, or even in possession of maps from that time period.
The following birth record is the only one in Kentucky during the timeframe that comes close to matching Daniel, and so might possibly provide another hint:
Higbee
Kentucky Births and Christenings
| Name |
Higbee |
| Gender |
Male |
| Birth Date |
04 Dec 1853 |
| Birthplace |
, , WOODFORD, KENTUCKY |
| Death Date |
1853 |
| Father's Name |
Alexander Higbee |
| Mother's Name |
Mary E. Berry |
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWVW-Z2Y
Woodford County appears to be about 10-20 miles from Keene, where he was Rankin and Mary Roberts' servant.
For what it's worth, family legend says that Mary took her young son and ran north, away from Rankin's plantation, and never came back.
