His death certificate records Enoch C. Sexton, age 74 years 1 month 4 days, born 27 Sep 1844 in Morgan Co., Ky, died 1 Nov 1918 in Fleming Co., marital status not recorded, father Steph Stexton, born Ireland, mother’s maiden name Martha Sexton, born Bath Co., Ky, cause of death cerebral hemorrhage, informant Joseph H. Sexton, Hillsboro, Ky.

In 1860 Enoch was listed as age 16, in Morgan Co., with the family of James Cox age 33 and wife Elizabeth age 29.

Rowan Co. death register for 1893 lists Nancy J. Sexton, age 48, married, died 26 Nov 1893 in Rowan Co., born Bath Co., Ky, parents Aaron and Martha Donathan, cause of death womb trouble.

There are two very similar Enoch Sexton families in the 1870 census, one in Bath and one in Menifee (none in Morgan):

1870 census of Bath Co., Ky, Mudlick precinct, enumerated 24 Aug, lists on p. 40 as family #292:
Enoch Sexton, 25, farmer; Nancy, 24; Harrison, 4; William, 1. All born in Ky.

The preceding household is that of Aaron and Martha Donathan, who were Nancy’s parents according to her death record.

1870 census of Menifee Co., Ky, Beaver precinct, enumerated 12 July, lists on p. 3 as family #16:
Sexton, Enoch, 26, farmer; Nancy, 23; Mary, 4; Frances, 2; William, 8/12, b. Nov; Sexton, W. T., 25, farm hand. All born in Ky.

The preceding household is that of Benjamin Sexton (35) with wife Jane (38), and the one before that is John Sexton (38) and Nancy (18).

Despite the differences in the child lists, I believe that these two Enoch Sexton families are very likely to be the same, hit twice six weeks apart, perhaps because the family traveled to Bath Co. to visit Nancy’s parents.

My reasons for this conclusion are:

1. Both of these households list the place of birth for the entire family as Kentucky, but there is only one Enoch Sexton of the right age range in the 1850, 1860 and 1880 censuses, doing very aggressive searches. (There was an Enoch Sexton in Carter Co. who was about 4 years older, son of James and Amelia, but he was listed with a wife Sarah in 1860, 1870 and 1880, so he could not be either of these, and another Enoch Sexton in Mason Co. who was about 10 years younger, but he also appeared separately in all three census years.) It is unlikely that the other Enoch born in the mid 1840’s, if there was another, would be missed in all three of the other census years.

2. Nancy Jane’s parents are known to be Aaron and Martha Donathan from her death certificate, and Enoch Sexton and Nancy Jane Donathan are known to have a son James L. Sexton from his death certificate. It seems extremely unlikely that a different Enoch and Nancy would be living next door to Aaron and Martha Donathan. So the family in Bath Co. in 1870 (with a son Harrison age 4) must be the same one as the family in 1880 with sons James L. age 8 and Marion F. age 14. (There is also no Har* Sexton in the 1880 census of Ky or in the Ky death records, nor any Marion or Francis Sexton in the 1870 census anywhere in Ky.)

3. This name mismatch could be explained by the 1870 Bath Co census enumerator misreading his own handwriting from original notes that said Marion or Marrion. M and H often look a lot alike, and most census enumerators took scratch notes when they went visiting, and later recopied them into the official ledger. (That’s why there are many fewer corrections and names entered out of age order than you would expect if all names were written down at the point of interview.)

4. For the Menifee Co. listing, I believe what happened was that the enumerator in 1870 verbally took down the list of children, and misunderstood “Marion Francis” to be “Mary and Frances.”

1880 census of Morgan Co., Ky, Blackwater precinct, p. 519B, lists as family #24:
Sexton, Enoch, 34, works on farm; Nancy J., 33, wife; Maron F., 14, son; Wm S., 10, son; James L., 8, son; Emily A., 6, dau. Enoch born Ky Penn Ky, all others Ky Ky Ky.