Hyrcannous Jett or is it Harkanus?.........52 Weeks, #3

     Hyrcannous Jett is my 3rd Great Grandfather.   He was born January 2, 1838 in the area that became Breathitt County, Kentucky.  He is the son of Newton Jett and Elizabeth Cloud Jett.  In the 1850 Census, Hercann was 12 years old and living with parents in Breathitt County, KY.  At the age of 18, on the 15th of February in 1856, he married Carolina McQuinn in Breathitt County.   They set up their home on land in Jett's Creek.  On the 8th of August 1864, Harcanus enlisted in the Confederate Army.  He served in Company B of the Three Forks Battalion.  He mustered in on the 17th of August in Booneville, Ky.  He served 6 months and mustered out on the 17th of July 1865 in Estill County, KY.   The Civil War Pension Index lists his name as Hyrcaunus.  In the 1870 Census, Harkanes was listed as a Farmer, had annual income of $3000 and still lived in Jetts Creek in Breathitt County, KY.  Breathitt County Court records indicate that Hyrcannous C. Jett was appointment Postmaster for Jetts Creek.  This was the 15th of July 1872.  The 1890 Veterans Schedule lists Arkanes Jett as having served 11 months and 13 days.  In the 1900 Breathitt County Census, Arkansas Jett is Crawford Precinct (formerly Jett's Creek).  Harkanis died 25 January, 1916.
     This is a brief overview of his life.  Why do I bring him up?  Well, even with all of these records, I still have no clue as to the 'correct/intended' spelling of his first name.  When I first started doing research, the internet was not yet the asset it is today.  Needless to say, finding him in the records was a challenge as a result of all the variations of his name.  One of my biggest breakthroughs came with Fold3, back when it was Footnote. With the filmstrip feature on this site, I was able to pull his Civil War records with all the various names. Needless to say, it was not spelled the same way twice.  But I had some additional variations to add to search list.
     For some unknown reason, Hyrannous' father, Newton, chose to give his children names that did not follow the trend.  Hyrcannous is the most unique; his siblings names ranged from Pocohontis and Tymandra to Nancy and Rachel.  Maybe they decided to slide away from the trend of  Stephen, John, Curtis, William...  Is it easier to locate our ancestors if they continue 'family' names or start a new trend?
    Based on the research I have done thus far, either way presents its own challenge, as I will share in another post on Curtis Jett.  So, stay tuned.....