This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the August 4, 2005 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.
 

            We hosted the residents of the Mountain Manor Nursing Home of Paintsville where my daughter Abbie Preston Conley is the social worker and special activities coordinator.  Some thirty residents in wheelchairs and with walkers and canes were taken for a tour of our Pioneer Village by the staff of the Mountain Manor with assistance from A. B. Conley, president of the Muzzleloader’s Club, Toddie Preston in the Blacksmith Shop, along with Abbie Conley, Jessica Preston Miller, Haley Preston, Ruth Anna Montgomery and Ol’ Todd in frontier dress pushing wheel chairs, etc. and describing the village whilst Dorothy worked inside.

            We had to rush them through a bit as we have been in the middle of a heat wave but they enjoyed it.  We brought them back inside to our air conditioned archives building where they ate lunch while watching a documentary of our Pioneer Village done by WYMT-TV, after which they were reloaded into special buses to be transported back to Mountain Manor.

            We were glad to treat these residents to this outing just to see the ladies faces light up when they saw a quilting rack set up, ready for quilting or an old churn, etc. The men were equally as pleased when they watched A. B. Conley working on making a powder horn or Toddie in the blacksmith shop heating up metal for beating out a knife blade on the anvil.

            Yes, I think we took them back to their childhoods. The schoolhouse with the pot bellied stove, our kitchen with its step-stove as well as the old time hand washing machine with wooden tubs brought back many memories for them. We believe the work force of the Mountain Manor enjoyed it as much as the residents…and Ol’ Todd and the “home-twenty” group were equally as thrilled as the staff.

            P.S., you may remember that Ol’ Todd brings some cheer to this group each year as he has clowned around in a red suit for the last five years at Christmas so he knows most of them by their first names.

            I want to thank our “bunch” again for making this a memorable day for those Mountain Manor residents.  We enjoyed having them here in Magoffin County very much.

            Andy Fletcher, the son of Herald Fletcher (b. 1926) and a grandson of Milton Fletcher (b. 1867) visited.  Milton was the son of Meredith Fletcher (b. 1836). Meredith was a son of George Fletcher (b. 1796) who married Levisa Marshall. Levisa was born in 1802 to Reuben Marshall and Elizabeth Nolan. Meredith married Margaret Whitaker, dau of Mark Whitaker and Nancy Cundiff.

            Milton Fletcher married Eliza Patrick b. 1884, dau of Lewis Patrick (b. 1835) and Nancy Baldridge (b. 1845).  Lewis was a son of Hiram Patrick (b. 1810) and Nancy Haywood. Hiram was a son of Robert or Robin Patrick and Elizabeth McMullen.

            Andy would like to obtain a picture of his grandfather Milton Fletcher so we are reaching out to his kinsmen. Please let us know if you have one.

            During the recent Auxier Reunion held in Paintsville we had several of those attending here to visit our facility. I asked one lady to share her genealogy on one local Auxier/Oxier family, namely Willis Auxier b. 1871 who married about 1893 to Malinda E. Penix b. 1864.  This is the information she had: Malinda was a dau of William Penix and Melvina “Vina” Helton. Vina was a dau of George Helton and Anna Estridge (my great grandparents).

            Willis and Malinda are buried in the Williams Cemetery on Mash Fork. Willis was a son of Ezekiel Auxier b. 1837 and Spicy Barnett b. 1835.  Ezekiel was a son of Christopher Auxier who died in 1826. Christopher was married to Margaret “Peggy” Collins b. ca. 1810 in NC.  Christopher was a son of Simon Auxier (veteran of the Revolutionary War) and a grandson of John Michael Axer whose wife was Barbara Spress.  John M. died in 1777 in southwest Virginia. He was killed and scalped by Indians during the Revolutionary War. 

            John Michael was a son of Johann Axer and Anna Hasserman. Anna was a dau of Hans Conrad Hasserman. Johann was a son of Johann F. Axer.

            Back to Margaret “Peggy” Collins Auxier, the 1850 Floyd Co. KY census lists Margaret Auxier at age 40 with Ethea age 22, Barbara age 17, Ezekiel age 13, French age 9, Hiram age 7, Clarah age 6, Doctor age 3, and Feira age 8 months in her household.

            Ezekiel Auxier married Spicey Barnett b. 1835. Their children were Bethany b. 1856 (m. Martin Gibson), Nancy b. 1859, Willis b. ca. 1862 (m. first to Levisa Hale and m. 2. Malinda Penix. Willis’s children were Alfred Auxier b. 1894, Elisha b. 1896, John b. 1896, Lora E. b. 1898, Stella b. 1901 d. 1902 and Lenzie b. 1904.

            We would like to hear from other researchers of this family to substantiate this information.

            Clara Sue Griffis Amsdorff ([email protected]) writes that she is looking for info on her grandfather Elliott Douglas Allen who was born in “Barne” KY on 14 Feb 1874.  The family has little info on him other than the fact that he lived on a farm near “Saylorsville” and taught school here before he entered Central University in Richmond, KY where he received his Bachelor of Divinity degree.  He died in 1964. Ms. Armsdorff asks if the towns might be Berea and Salyersville.

            Our Allen family book on page 253 lists Elliott Allen as the son of Joseph Allen and Rebecca Wireman. He was born in 1873 and was a preacher and a merchant, went to Waco, TX. He may have married on 23 Jan 1908 to Laura Shepherd and had one daughter. This info was submitted by the late Dan Allen of Pikeville, KY.

            On page 246 of the Allen book we have Joseph Allen b. 1836 Breathitt Co. KY d. 21 May 1913 Magoffin Co. KY, son of John Allen and Nancy Click.  Joseph m. on 8 Feb 1866 to Rebecca Wireman b. 1847, dau of Jacob Wireman and Susanna Sizemore.

            On page 140 of the Allen book, we have John Allen b. 1809 d. 1893, son of William Allen and Caty Gearheart (she was dau of Adam Gearheart).  John married in 1831 to Nancy Jane Click b. 1808, dau of John Click and Susan Drake.  William Allen b. 1783 d. 1854 married Caty Gearheart.

            Please let us know if this is the right Elliott Allen you are looking for.

            We are expecting Kentucky Educational Television (KET) to visit the 28^th to do a documentary on our Pioneer Village and we have invited the Muzzleloaders to help make our Pioneer Village look more authentic of early times. We will give you a report next week.

            Then on August 2^nd the First Baptist Church of Owensburg, SC will be here for a tour. On Aug 11^th, the Geiger Associates will make an appearance, followed by the State Library Board for a forum on genealogy.

            And there are preparations for Founder’s Days that have to be made so the “Home Twenty” needs to take on about a dozen more helpers to reach that “twenty” mark.  All kidding aside, we are running low on the workforce, we are down to two and a half…and I am the “half” (smile).

            Our telephone number is 606-349-1607 (email [email protected]) or write the Magoffin County Historical Society, Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465.