Daniel McAninch and Families in Kentucky: Myths, Fables, Facts and Fiction

This article will focus on Daniel McAninch and his family lines in early Kentucky,

and will identify many of the myths, fables, legends, traditions, facts, and fictions

that have been passed down about various McAninch lines in early Kentucky [Note 1].

Three recent articles have addressed many other McAninch myths and fables:

1. "Our Surnames, Books and Other Credible Sources" [Note 2]

2. "McAninch Family Genealogical Data: ca 1746-1988, Kentucky" Bert Austin [3]

3. "William McAninch, Kentucky Pioneer (born before 1765; married 1796 in

    Tennessee; Kentucky land 1797-1813; died 1813, Casey County, Kentucky)" [4]

Name

Daniel McAninch’s name and the myth of the middle initial Daniel (O.?) McAninch:

c.1750

Daniel’s name is just “Daniel McAninch”, with no ‘second name’ and no middle initial.

At that time, ‘second names’ were rare (consider George Washington, John Hancock,

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and, later, John Quincy Adams).

The middle 'O.' first appears in a magazine Query published in 1980:

    "80-474. McAnninch (sic), Ross, Quinton . . . descendants of Daniel O. McAninch,

    b.1750-5 in Ireland, resided in Westmoreland Co., Pa., and later Casey Co., Ky . . ..

    Mary Elizabeth Ross, m. George A. McAninch (son of Daniel O.) 27 July 1817 . . .".

    "Kentucky Pioneer Genealogy & Records" magazine, Vol.2 No.4 pg.234, Kentucky

    Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 153, Frankfort, Kentucky 40602  https://kygs.org

Later, the author of the query said that the middle initial ‘O’ was their traditional family

story, no idea what name the ‘O’ stood for, and no documentary evidence for the ‘O’.

In 1989, Bert Austin also used the middle ‘O’, with no source(s): “Daniel O. McAninch,

tradition has it, was the father of 11 children, I have only found 6.” [Note 3, pg.18]

This is clearly ‘our’ Daniel McAninch, western Pennsylvania, moved on to Kentucky;

however, there is no evidence that Daniel ever had a second name – all census records,

church records, court records, land records, and tax records show him as “Daniel” only.

So, Daniel’s name is just “Daniel McAninch”, on all document records, although we may

show “Daniel (O.?) McAninch” with the traditional but undocumented middle initial.

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Daniel McAninch and Families in Kentucky: Myths, Fables, Facts and Fiction

McAninch Family History NL v.XXIX n.2  / Copyright Frank McAninch / pg.2021-16

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