Contents
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Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · John Howard
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationJohn Howard
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1207, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
Every claim is tagged
Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not.
The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document
proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks
what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept
separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth, added on
13 September 2026, marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not
testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information
rather than lacking it.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for
it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands
apart from the three record tags above S24.
DNA evidenceBiological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does
not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond:
no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document
was read for it S46.
Living — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the
shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.
- Born
- about 1774
- Died
- 1822
- Sources
- 3
Research status
Research status: PROBABLE — accepted by Earl 28 September 2026 pending more evidence.
Howards in Kentucky, p. 127, a query column, not a sourced genealogy: “Sudie F. Spillman, Harlan, Kentucky, is a Howard descendant and is trying to trace her line from
John Howard of Virginia, born about 1774, d. 1822. Married Mary Risner, Scott County, Virginia. Their first child ‘Larkin’ was born in Tennessee about 1802. Their daughter Sarah married Rice Johnston.
Their second son John Covey is Sudie's great-grandfather. The other sons were William, Michael, and Robert. Robert was born after his father's death. The other daughters were Elizabeth, Phoebe, and Catherine.”
S864. Our John Covey Howard of Harlan County fits: his 1850 household includes a Larkin and a Michael, the names of brothers in the query
S865, and his sons' death records name him
S455. What is weak: a descendant's query, compiled and unsourced; no primary record names John Covey's father. Online trees give this John Howard births from 1763 to 1779, a middle name Warjack and Georgia parents, none from a record read, and the Magoffin County marriage of James C. Howard and Mary Risner that they attach to him belongs to a later couple.
Evidence: A descendant's query in Howards in Kentucky (p. 127) names John Covey as the second son of John Howard (born about 1774, Virginia; died 1822) and Mary Risner; John Covey Howard's 1850 Harlan household includes a Larkin and a Michael, as in the query. Weak or missing: The query is compiled and unsourced, and no primary record names John Covey's father; online trees' dates and the Magoffin County Risner marriage belong to other people. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →
Life in the order the records give it
Birth1774
Born about
1774 in Virginia; died
1822, by the query only
S864; his son Robert was born after his death
Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it
In the record
Generation 8 — Earl's earliest known
- S455Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965 — Hiram B. Howard, Harlan County, 1915. Ancestry record 751259890. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Hiram B. Howard, born 23 November 1837, son of John Cony [Covey] Howard and Matilda Brock; informant H. H. Howard of Wallins Creek. The image behind the site's existing statement that his death record names John Covey Howard and Matilda Brock as his parents.
- S864Howards in Kentucky, p. 127 (query column). Ancestry U.S. Family History Books, collection 62282, record 4449409226 (image 85982_fl5042582_2449242-00132). Image examined, read 28 September 2026. Probable “Sudie F. Spillman, Harlan, Kentucky, is a Howard descendant and is trying to trace her line from John Howard of Virginia, born about 1774, d. 1822. Married Mary Risner, Scott County, Virginia. Their first child ‘Larkin’ was born in Tennessee about 1802. Their daughter Sarah married Rice Johnston. Their second son John Covey is Sudie's great-grandfather. The other sons were William, Michael, and Robert. Robert was born after his father's death. The other daughters were Elizabeth, Phoebe, and Catherine.” A descendant's query, not a sourced genealogy.
- S865FamilySearch index, 1850 U.S. census — John C. Howard household, Harlan County, Kentucky. FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:M657-CYX. Index only; no image read (checked 28 September 2026). Probable John C. Howard, born about 1805, Kentucky, with Michael, John, Larkin, Hiram, Nancy, Elizabeth, Mary, Paulina and Jacob. Index only; relationships are not stated. The names Larkin and Michael match brothers named in the Howards in Kentucky query (S864).