There are four Hendrickson children in the Indiana area at the time that John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson are there. I call them “unparented” because no one seemed to know who their parents were, and there were no existing records to prove parentage.
They are:
- Richard Hendrickson who marries Margaret McKibbens (1831 Bartholomew County, Indiana) and Sarah Cruz (1850 Bartholomew County, Indiana).
- John F Hendrickson who marries Margaret Beavers in 1836 Clark County, Illinois.
- Alexander B Hendrickson who marries an unknown first wife, then marries Melcina Dehart in 1851 Coles County, Illinois. (We know Alexander and John are related because Alexander is living with John in 1850.)
- Mary E Hendrickson who marries Alexander Breeding in 1832 Shelby County, Indiana.
One clue is that every single one of Richard’s, John’s, Alexander’s, and Mary’ descendants have “Hardin Only” DNA matches
Doing an analysis of the 1810, 1820 and 1830 census records, shows that John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson DO have missing children. (The last three children from the 1830 census are probably their grandchildren via their son William, not their children.)
Richard’s records say he was born in Kentucky, and his records start in Bartholomew, and at the same time, his parents and brother James would be in Shelby County, the county next door. But the Adair County, Kentucky Hendricksons, including Elizabeth Hendrickson married to a Breeding, are in Bartholomew County, Indiana in the same 1820/1830 time frame as John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson.
Looking at the Adair County, Kentucky Hendricksons (who are related to the Washington/Mercer County, Kentucky Hendricksons through John and Eve Hendrickson,) they migrate to Bartholomew. But on their census records, none of them has children of the right age as Richard, Mary, Alexander and John.
But John and Sarah Hardin have exactly the right children in the right age ranges on their census records.
Coles, Edgar, and Clark counties in Illinois are right across the river from Vermillion County, Indiana, which is where John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson live, right before they leave in the 1840s to go to Green County, Wisconsin.
Some other coincidences that make sense if these four people are the children of John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson:
- Alexander B Hendrickson’s second wife if Melcina Dehart. Her sister, Julie Ann Dehart, marries Thomas Rice, grandson of John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson. Thomas Rice is the son of Thompson and Sarah Hendrickson Rice, in 1851 Coles County. Sarah Hendrickson Rice is the daughter of John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson..
- In 1850, Alexander B Hendrickson is living with his brother, John F. Hendrickson and Margaret Beavers Hendrickson.
- John and Margaret Beavers Hendrickson buy land in Green County, Wisconsin, where his parents and many of his siblings move after they leave Vermillion County, Indiana.
- Mary E Hendrickson is the second wife of Alexander Breeding (of Adair County, Kentucky). His first wife is Elizabeth Hendrickson, Mary’s cousin.
- Several of Richard’s siblings each name a son “Richard.”
So, there’s no document that proves these four people are the children of John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson. But if you’re from one of these lines, and you have Hardin DNA matches that go back to Moses Hardin and Mary Angelina Ball (and the Hardin family from Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, Virginia), you’ve found your family!
For those of you on Ancestry.com, you can see John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson’s tree here:
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/110854964/person/140180384045/facts
The line-up of John and Sarah Hardin Hendrickson’s children is:
- William, who marries Sarah Thompson, his first cousin on the Hardin side.
- An unknown son born around 1805, probably dies young.
- James, marries Nancy McGibbens and Jane Billingsley.
- Sarah, marries Thompson Rice.
- Mary E, marries Alexander Breeding.
- Richard, marries Margaret McKibbens (no relation to Nancy McGibbens that I know of!), and Sarah Cruz.
- Lucinda, who marries four times: William David Livengood, Peter Mitchell, James Kelly, Daniel Richmond.
- John F Hendrickson marries Margaret Beavers.
- Thomas Nelson Hendrickson, marries a first unknown wife, second wife is Sarah Lang.
- Alexander B Hendrickson, marries a first unknown wife, second wife is Melcina Dehart.
Kinfolk Journal 
The Breedings are my Mother’s side of the family and go way back to the 1600’s in North America, settling first in Virginia. John Cassidy Breeding is my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather (born ca. 1760; died Dec 8, 1838 in Adair County, Kentucky). His sixth child Alexander (Born Sept 23,1795 in Adair County, Kentucky; died Oct 18, 1867 in Davis County, Iowa, after a time living in Edinburg, Indiana) is my Great, Great, Great Grandfather. My Alexander’s first wife was Elizabeth Hendrickson (died ca. 1833), married on September 12, 1816 in Adair County, Kentucky. They had two children, with Silas being the first, my Great, Great Grandfather (born January 21, 1819; died August 31, 1895 in Davis County, Iowa). They had a second child, Alexander Jr., (born November 8, 1823; died August 12, 1897 in Edinburg, Indiana). My Alexander remarried, presumably after Elizabeth Hendrickson died. His second wife must have been another Hendrickson, a cousin, by your analysis, Mary E. Hendrickson (married in Shelby County, Indiana in 1832). They were quite prolific (9 or more children; I have a list). Alexander may have eventually had a third wife, Mary Rankin (born 1808; died Jan, 1879; presumably in Iowa). I have my Breeding male line nailed down well in North America starting in Virginia, but don’t have the Breeding or Breed male nailed down in England/Scotland/Wales who sailed over to Virginia from his mother country. I am sure about my next male ancestor, one (?) of the “sailor’s” sons, John Bryant Breeding. He is my Great (six times) Grandfather (born September 25, 1711 in North Farnham Parish, Richmond, Virginia; died May 26, 1778, in Culpeper County, Virginia). And I am also sure of the next in line, George Breeding (born 1732 in Russell County, Virginia; died April 11, 1812 in Adair County, Kentucky). George is John Cassidy Breeding’s father and was George’s first born. I have fleshed out this line with quite a few details, with the initial legwork above done by a very smart relative in Malvern, Iowa (Ralph Wederquist) where my Mother, Mildred Gladys Breeding was born. I have visited the tiny town of Breeding and some of its cemeteries in Kentucky (Adair County) named after my Mother’s line, where quite a few Breedings are buried.
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It’s great to have this info, David, thanks for sharing. I’m not 100% sure of Mary Hendrickson m. Alexander Breeding. She might be from the Adair Hendrickson line, a younger sister of Elizabeth (which would make sense). But Mary’s DNA matches have Hardin matches, too, and that’s a different line of the Hendrickson family. So, until I see more of Mary’s descendants’ DNA kits, I’m putting a question mark on her in my mind. 🙂
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