Radley : Who's Your Daddy?

I have a Hannah Radley in the family tree who is a bit of a riddle - and she likes to present riddles at times, too.

The particular Hannah Radley I am interested in is stated to be born around 1800 to 1802 time frame and she is often stated to having been born in the Ripley County, Indiana area. In August of 1824, in Ripley County, Indiana, Hannah Radley married a Andrew Hamilton, who is said to been born in Kentucky in 1802. As far as I currently know, Andrew and Hannah (Radley) Hamilton had three daughters and two sons: Nancy Jane in 1825, Isaac Newton in 1827, Mary Margaret in 1828, John Benjamin in 1830, and Sarah Elizabeth Hamilton in 1833 - all stated to been born, and later marry, in Ripley County, Indiana. After marriage some of the children, and their children, left the Ripley county area.

Andrew Hamilton is said to passed away in 1838 in Ripley County. Hannah, however, is vaguely listed to passing away, in Indiana, after him. I have seen it just simply stated as "after 1840" ... and I have seen her listed with an 1850 passing year, but in each instance the location broadly given as "Indiana".

Andrew Hamilton, per my research, was the son of Benjamin A.Hamilton [Jr.] and Nancy Wallace. Benjamin Hamilton, due to being a Junior, was the son of Benjamin Hamilton [Sr.], who died in 1782 in Warrick Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Sarah LNU. I have not yet gone further back than that on the Hamilton side.

I came across information, in a book of sorts, that suggested Hannah Radley may been the daughter of Ichabod Radley, born in New Jersey, who married a Hannah Bush, daughter of Christopher Bush, in Elizabethtown, Hardin, Kentucky. Although Ichabod Radley did marry Hannah Bush in Elizabethtown, Hardin, Kentucky and they did indeed have a daughter named Hannah Radley - their Hannah, who was born around 1792, married John Sawyer in Elizabethtown, Hardin, Kentucky. Ichabod and Hannah (Bush) Radley's daughter is also said to been born around 1790/1792 and passed away in Paradise, Coles, Illinois area later in life. Second marriage thoughts are out as the Hannah Radley, in my tree, was having children around the same time as Harriet Radley Sawyer was having some of her children in a different area (or state). Also, Ichabod Radley's wife and daughter are bit "known" as John Sawyer was a good friend of Tom Lincoln and Ichabod's sister-in-law, Sarah Bush, later became Tom Lincoln's second wife after the death of Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln's childhood is written about just as much as his years as President of the United States ... and his fondness toward his stepmother helped have some of her family, like Ichabod and his daughter, being included in many of those writings - which would include mentions of John Sawyer.

In other words: no. Ichabod Radley and Harriet Bush's daughter, Harriet, is a totally separate individual.

So then I come across a message board post that states John Radley (son of William Radley) and Sarah Denham as to being the parents of Hannah Radley. This naturally prompts me to start snooping around on my side for more information about John Radley and Sarah Denham.

WikiTree has the following for John Radley and Sarah Denham:

John Radley Sr.
Born 1768 in Essex, New Jersey, USA
ANCESTORS
Son of William Radley and Sarah Van Winkle
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of Sarah Denman — married 16 May 1791 in West Field, Essex, New Jersey, USA
Husband of Sarah (Jones) Radley — married 7 Aug 1798 in Colerain Township, Hamilton, Ohio, USA
DESCENDANTS
Father of Benjamin Radley, Mary Ann Radley, James Radley, John Radley Jr., Elizabeth Radley, Hannah Radley and Jacob Radley
Died 1837 [location unknown]
... Sources: WikiTree profile Radley-39 created through the import of Godfrey non-living.ged on Jun 14, 2011 by Jim Godfrey. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Jim and others.

Now we have Hannah Radley listed so I go to the WikiTree page for her:

Hannah Radley Born about 1800 in Ripley, Indiana, USA
ANCESTORS
Daughter of John Radley Sr. and Sarah (Jones) Radley
Sister of Benjamin Radley [half], Mary Ann Radley [half], James Radley [half], John Radley Jr., Elizabeth Radley and Jacob Radley
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died before 1850 in , Indiana, USA
... Sources: WikiTree profile Radley-26 created through the import of Godfrey non-living.ged on Jun 14, 2011 by Jim Godfrey. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Jim and others.

So, noting she is listed being a half-sibling to some of the children listed. According to the file at WikiTree she was the daughter of the second wife:

Sarah Radley formerly Jones
Born [date unknown] in , Kentucky, USA
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of John Radley Sr. — married 7 Aug 1798 in Colerain Township, Hamilton, Ohio, USA
Mother of John Radley Jr., Elizabeth Radley, Hannah Radley and Jacob Radley
Died [date unknown] [location unknown]
... Sources: WikiTree profile Jones-6182 created through the import of Godfrey non-living.ged on Jun 14, 2011 by Jim Godfrey. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Jim and others.

Ok, so Hannah is listed, but not with her husband or children and with another Sarah listed as her mother. So I hop over to another site to see what I can find since I now have two places saying "John Radley is da' man!" ... and that's when I encounter the differences, clashes, and Hannah sometimes listed as a child or not mentioned.

On Family Search, in their "one world tree" section, shared for Ichabod Radley and Phoebe/Phebe Broadwell, who is listed with three sons (James, John and Ichabod) where:
·   one listing has John Radley listed without birth year, but passing away in Ripley County, Indiana. I have to relocate the URL for that page, but this has me going, "Hmmm." Only info shared is that he died sometime around, or after, 1860 in Ripley County, Indiana and nothing about wife or children...
·:   another has that linked John Radley, who married Sarah Denham and listed 3 children for the couple (my Hannah not included). In this tree Sarah Denham passes in 1821, which would have her being the mother of Hannah (not Sarah Jones)?
·   Not done yet, another has John Radley being Ichabod Radley's son who married a Phebe Spinning in 1788 (which matches to an 1850 US Census shared below?, and passing in 1854).

But WikiTree and the message board post shared John was the son of William Radley, so I click to see what Ichabod Radley [Sr]'s brother, William, information and yes, indeed, he is listed with a son named John Radley
      who married Sarah Denham in 1786, she is listed to pass in 1821
            but this has him marrying Sarah Jones in 1798
                  while this one has him without a wife
                        and all three say he passed around, or in, 1837.

Family Search shares two pedigree files for John Radley, but this time (both) have him being the son, and only child, of William Radley and Sarah Van Winkle:
·   one that has him passing 1837 in Ohio or Indiana.
·   the other one has him passing 1854 in New Jersey.

Find A Grave doesn't help untangle it as Ichabod Radley (b. 1731) has a bio sharing he had a son named John Radley - again said to be born in July of 1768 and passing away in 1854 and buried in New Jersey. However, John Radley's memorial page, with the same birth and death information, states he was the son of William Radley.

Here is the popular cited/used records, with two mentioning the Essex or Union County area, that I found so far on FamilySearch which are also for the John Radley said to be the father of Hannah Radley Hamilton:
... a 1768 New Jersey Christening record for a John Radley, son of a William Radley,
... a New Jersey marriage record for John Radley and Sarah Denham,
... and a FindAGrave burial record for a John Radley born in 1768, passing in 1854, and buried in New Jersey.

I also found these records, also for in/around the Essex County area, for a John Radley:
... 1830 US Census for John Radley and
... New Jersey marriage record for William Radley, born in 1828, son of John Radley and Elizabeth Sands.
... 1850 US Census for John Radley, born around 1770, in Essex County. He is listed with a Phoebe Radly who is around 3 years younger than him. This conflicts with a link shared above that had John Radley, who married a Phebe Spinning, passing in 1837,
... New Jersey death record for Benjamin, a son of John Radly. Benjamin stated to been born around 1790,
... and a handful of other records for a John Radley and War of 1812, pension, and a couple other things when I used a birth range of 1765 to 1770.

Then, going outside of Family Search and WikiTree tree's, Sarah Denham Radley has two different years for death, per the some other online trees: 1821, but some online trees have her listed passing in Indiana, Ripley county IN, or in Hamilton County OH but in 1840. My particular Hannah Radley, if using the 1802 birth year, would been around 18/19 years old in 1821 and in 1840 she would been a widow (or possibly deceased also?) when her mother passed (if Sarah Denham is her mother).

If John Radley decided to go back to New Jersey, after the death of Sarah in 1821, that could explain the 1830 and 1850 US census for a John Radley and the 1854 burial being in New Jersey. Hannah Radley, who is not said to been married yet for the 1821 date, could lived with one of her siblings that remained in Hamilton County or Ripley County area while a son, Benjamin (said to been born in 1792), could have decided to go to New Jersey with his father. But if John Radley went back to NJ due to the death of his wife, and she passed later to 1840, then there's that 1830 US Census unexplained being for a different John Radley living in NJ? And if it's a different John Radley in the 1830 and 1850 US Census, who could have died after the 1850 census - say like, to pull a possible death year out of thin air, 1854 in the same area of New Jersey.

Phebe Spinning Radley is not mentioned to leaving New Jersey area during her marriage, so the Benjamin Radley who passes in 1870s, and is listed with John Radley being his father, may been her son. Which wouldn't be confusing except John Radley and Sarah Denham are said to have a son named Benjamin around the same time Phebe had her Benjamin.

The one thing agreed upon, it seems, is that folks feel John Radley was a grandson of John Radley and Elizabeth Clark. After that, on my side so far in collecting data, there lacks pretty much any agreement about him with John Radley being credited to two different sets of parents from the same Radley branch, with having three different wives whom he married between 1788 to 1798 - two in New Jersey, and one in Ohio, and two different death locations. Either way, per the trees and those folk's prior research, my Hannah Radley, through her father John, would been the great-granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (Clark) Radley?

The records, I listed above, do not help and online sharings clash with each other - sometimes with the same researcher, on their side, ascribing John Radley with same birth/death info to having more than one set of parents. So, for now, I have Hannah Radley having the parent slots essentially still blank on her side as even though I listed John Radley and Sarah Denham with her, to share and compile information about the individuals (and ascribed children), I added a notation that there are still question marks about the association therefore it is still "up in the air" about who Hannah's parents were. Her parents may indeed been a John and Sarah Radley ... but which John Radley as it would determine who she was the grandchild of: William or Ichabod? Or is a totally different male Radley her grandfather? And which John Radley marriage may help with determining Hannah's mother as well.