Michael Facchinello

Research · Person profile

Melinda Porter

Spouse of A.J. Hanks

Surname line
Hanks
Living status
Not recorded
Evidence
supported

Events

No dated event is published for this person.

Relationships

Partners

Children

Claim ledger

Every exported claim about this person: what it says, how strong its best source is (tier 1 = original record image, 5 = unsourced lead), its review state, and the sources that carry it. Source links open the workings page for that citation.

Claim ledger: claim ID, predicate, summary, status, tier, review state and sources
ClaimPredicateSummaryStatusTierReviewSources
claim:melinda-porter:name:1nameMelinda Porter

Included in the documented Hanks reconstruction.

supported3 · compiled-genealogyaccepted
claim:melinda-porter:living-status:1living-statusunknown

Living status is not recorded in the public model.

supported3 · compiled-genealogyaccepted
claim:melinda-porter:parent-of:1parent-ofparent-of Nancy Hanks DeSpain

The workbook pedigree places Nancy Hanks DeSpain as a daughter of A.J. Hanks and Melinda Porter. Both compiled sources were checked on 2026-10-08 and neither states it: the William Hanks / Elizabeth Hall research paper lists A.J.'s siblings, names no child of his and never mentions DeSpain, and the GenoPro profile and its family page name no parents for Nancy and list no children at all. Only two contributor-created Find a Grave memorials assert the link; under the README a relationship is not a fact because it appears on a public family tree, so those memorials are deliberately not cited here and are recorded in question:nancy-hanks-despain:parentage instead (T-RES-005 review, record error R-10 / S-15). Conditional until the 1850 or 1860 Des Moines County census, the 1925 Iowa state census or Nancy's 1932 Iowa death certificate names her parents.

conditional4 · family-testimonyaccepted

Conflicts and open questions

  • Question question:nancy-hanks-despain:parentage (open)

    Is Nancy Hanks DeSpain (born 5 July 1848, Des Moines County, Iowa; died 4 July 1932, New London) a daughter of Andrew Jackson Hanks (1815–1889) and Melinda Porter? Only compiled memorials state it (Find a Grave memorials 15312126 and 13098364). The cited William Hanks / Elizabeth Hall research paper lists A.J.'s siblings, not his children, and never mentions DeSpain, and the GenoPro profile and family page name no parents and list no children. Do not confuse her with Nancy Hanks Miller (1794–1873), A.J.'s sister.

    Next: The 1850 and 1860 federal censuses of Des Moines County for the A.J. Hanks household (a daughter Nancy aged 2 and 12); the 1925 Iowa state census entry for Nancy DeSpain at New London, which records parents' names; her 1932 Iowa death certificate; the Des Moines County marriage record of 25 April 1869. This is a separate historical Hanks branch and does not control the newly supported Fleenor → Nancy Hanks Hall route.

    • claim:aj-hanks:parent-of:1 conditional Andrew Jackson “A.J.” Hanks: parent-of Nancy Hanks DeSpain
    • claim:melinda-porter:parent-of:1 conditional Melinda Porter: parent-of Nancy Hanks DeSpain
    • claim:nancy-hanks-despain:birth:1 reconstructed Nancy Hanks DeSpain: birth · July 5, 1848