His death certificate (Vol. 15, #07312) records John L. Link, age 93 years 6 months 14 days, born 8 July 1836, died 20 Jan 1929 in Morgan Co., Ky, widowed, father Simon Link born in Pennsylvania, mother’s maiden name Mary Manhear born in Menifee Co., Ky, cause of death paralysis, informant Fannie Lewis, Blaze, Ky, burial in Lewis Cemetery.

His great-granddaughter Ethel (Brewer) Adkins said he lived to be 105, but apparently somewhere along the line his age got stretched.

1850 census lists John as age 14, with his parents Simon & Mary Link. He is also redundantly recorded in Bath Co. with his mother’s brother Thomas C. Mynhier as John Link, age 14.

1860 census of Morgan Co., Ky records as family #70:
John Lynk, 24; Rodah A., 29; Mary C., 4; James B., 3; Casea W., 1. All born in Ky.

1870 census of Rowan Co., KY, Pearce prec., dated 15 June, lists on p. 123, family #10:
Link, John, 37, farmer; Rhoda, 38; James, 12; Cassandra, 10; Robert, 9; Nancy, 8; Simeon, 5.
Also listed with the family is Andrew Brown, 26, farm laborer. All born in Kentucky.

1880 census of Morgan Co., Ky, district 87 (Blair’s Mill), p. 19 (handwritten), p. 539A (stamped/microfilm), lists as family #154:
Link, John, 40, farmer, Ky Pa Ky; Rhoda, wife, 40; James, 23, son; Cassorette, 21, dau; Robert, 20, son; Nancy, 19, dau; Peter, 16, son; Emma, 9, dau. All except John born Ky Ky Ky.

1900 census of Morgan Co., Ky, District 6, enumerated 5 June, lists on p. 4B as family #67/68:
John L. Link, 64, b. July 1835, Ky/Pa/Ky; wife Nancy, 17, b. Sept 1882, Ky/Ky/Ky, married 0 years, mother of 0 children; son David H., 12, July 1887, Ky/Ky/Ky; boarder Preston Petitt, 26, Nov 1873, Ky/Ky/Ky.

The number of years married column for John has what looks like either 5/12 or 6/12, or even possibly 3/12, overwritten with a large 0. The left side of the 0 cuts through the number of months, so the only part of it that is legible is the lower loop.

Preston Petitt is very likely to be the Preston Link age 8 listed in the 1880 census of Morgan Co as a boarder with the family of Bluford Elliott. He is probably an illegitimate son of John Link and Lizzie Petitt. (David Hopkins Pettit b. ca 1905 son of John Link’s son John Tom Pettit, may have been named after the above David H. Link, who would be his half uncle.)

1910 census of Morgan Co., Ky, District 7 (Panthers Branch), enumerated 27 April, lists on p. 8A as family #108/109:
John L. Link, 74, b. Ky/Pa/Ky, farmer, 5th marriage, married 10 years; wife Nancy J., 25, b. Ky/Ky/Ky, 1st marriage, married 10 years, mother of 0 children; son David H., 22, b. Ky/Ky/Ky, married 1 year; dau-in-law Martha J., 15, b. Ky/Ky/Ky, married 0 years.

Note that the age for Nancy is two years younger than that implied by the 1900 census.

1920 census of Panther’s Branch, Morgan Co., Ky, enumerated 7 Jan, lists on p. 4A as household #63:
Link, John L., 84, Ky Pa Pa; Nancy, wife, 35, Ky Ky Ky.

The following household is that of Nancy’s parents, and the one after that is her sister Louisa with her husband Willie Johnson.

Assignment as a daughter of William Sexton and Nancy Davis is tentative, based on the fact that the 1840 census indicates they had two daughters born between 1830 and 1835 (as well as two between 1835 and 1840). Also I have not found the William Sexton family in the 1850 census at all. Most of the other Sexton males of the right generation in the area are either already accounted for in 1850, or do not have room for an additional daughter.

She is not recorded in the 1850 census of Bath Co. (where they were married and the marriage record claims she was born) nor in Morgan Co. (where they were living in 1860.)

Bath Co. Ky marriage book 3 lists the marriage of John Link and Rhoda Ann Sexton on 21 Jul 1854.

The Morgan Co. annual report to the State Auditor for 1854 also lists the marriage on 21 July 1854 of John Link, age 19, residence Bath Co., to Rhoda Sexton, age 24, both born in Bath Co., by O. Sexton.