The 28th Annual Founder's Days celebration here in Magoffin County is only a few weeks away and, as usual, the “home-twenty” bunch is getting nervous as there are so many things that need to be done before the curtain “falls”. To paraphrase the Marine recruiting slogan, “We need a few good men and women!”
Connie drew up a projected program of things that need to be done before that curtain is opened and I will highlight only a few, such as contact chairpersons for events, speakers for opening ceremony and unveiling, music, sound, food and craft booths, flag raising, etc. We need to get the baby, children's, Miss Teen and Miss Magoffin pageants underway with needed materials, and many other things such as clean up each night. I ask you, can you help in some of these categories? We need to hear from you.
The future of Founder's Days is hanging in the balance as some of us are reaching “maturity” age. This came to my attention when I received a beautiful handmade walking cane, a gift from my nephew Kenneth Kelley who had emblazoned on one side the words “Todd Preston, so far so good” but on the other side is “Thought you may need a little help.” Thanks, Ken!
We believe this year's Founder's Days may have the largest crowd ever and the largest parade. We have already heard from a few entrants. For instance, the Navy has almost verified they will send a marching squad. Even though Magoffin wasn't close to a naval base, a lot of our young men chose to serve in the Navy, probably due to the fact they could volunteer at age 17, while other branches held to age 18 for volunteering.
A little bird told me that B. F. Holbrook got in the Navy by telling the recruiter he could swim the English Channel under water! (smile).
We would certainly welcome any and all military units and the present National Guard members are especially invited.
Kentucky has, we are told, over 300,000 veterans, just how many have Magoffin County ties will be hard to determine basically because of the migration of our people to the defense plants in all parts of our nation, taking their teenage children with them. Many of these offspring were drafted in other states, yet they have Magoffin County ties.
How we can best honor our veterans in 2006 has been the main topic here at the historical society, besides making an effort to get them all listed in book form and giving out small tokens. But how do we reach out to those in a hospital bed or nursing home. You guessed it; we need help from a lot of people out there who may never have given a thought to taking part in Founder's Days!
We've become more aware of those Magoffin countians who “gave their all", many were buried on foreign soil or in the depths of the sea, those that fought one hundred days on the front lines of battle and lived through it.
There are those who lived through seeing their buddies shot down and escaped this massacre by playing dead underneath his dead comrades…and we could go on and on.
My goodness, this attempt to honor “your” veterans is everybody's responsibility!
Our regular monthly meeting on the 3 rd Sunday of July was over 325 such monthly meetings and it was sparsely attended with James Montgomery, Luva Connelley, Belsey Connelley, Jodi Wright, Charlotte Gillum, Jincy Bailey, Dorothy Wireman, Connie A. Wireman and Ol' Todd.
Now, in the remaining few weeks before the 28 th Founder's Days we need a lot more folks to step up to the “batting plate”.
We are working on a program of events for Founders' Days and one important change was made. We have added one more night of activities to our schedule. The Baby Pageant will be on Tuesday night this year with the Children's Pageant the following night, the Miss Teen Pageant on Thursday evening and the Miss Magoffin Pageant on Friday evening.
The Appalachia Service Projects “Salyersville Start Up” was held Tuesday evening and was a huge success and drew much praise from the leaders of the group. This is the group who came into our area and repaired homes for the elderly or needy. The only dancing shoes at the event were worn by Katie Prater who got Wendell Hoskins as a partner and did a little hoedown.
Warning, Katie has her a new dog, only 9 months old but she has taught it to dance, just thought I would pass it on to all you people who enter the Founder's Day Pet Show!
Judge Executive Bill May welcomed this group. He and Willard Holiday had nothing but praise for the event. Tom Whitaker and the Creekers band entertained the crowd for the first half of the evening and after a scrumptious meal, the Blistered Fingers Band entertained until dark. They stopped only after Toddie Preston was threatened with cruelty to animals as he was preventing the owls from hooting.
We have some mail this week. Nancy Long Dahir asked for help on her Arnett and Patrick families. She is the gr/dau of Homer Arnett b. 1890. Homer was the son of Joseph Gardner Arnett b. 1867. Joseph was a son of John “Bud” Arnett b. 1846 and Bud was the son of Wiley “Ol' Wile” Arnett b. 1816. Wile was the son of Stephen Arnett b. 1790, a son of David Arnett who died in Harlan Co. KY.
Stephen Arnett m. in 1803 to Elizabeth Howard. Their son Wiley Arnett m. 1. to Betsy Sizemore, dau of George “Goldenhawk” Sizemore.
John Bud Arnett married Frances Dixon b. 1846, dau of Solomon Dixon and Eliza Spurrier.
Joseph Gardner Arnett married in 1887 to Adaline Patton. She was born in 1870 to Thomas Patton. Thomas was a son of George W. Patton and a grandson of Samuel Patton, Sr. Samuel was a son of James Patton and Florence Graham. George W. Patton married Polly Hagins, dau of Thomas Hagins.
Thomas Patton m. in 1868 to Armina Hounshell b. 1846, dau of Andrew Hounshell and Lavinia -?-.
Homer Arnett married in 1908 to June Patrick, dau of Samuel Houston Patrick. Samuel was born in 1854 to Greenville Patrick (b. 1824). Green's father was William Patrick, Jr. and his grandparents were William Patrick, Sr. and Mollie Reins.
William Patrick, Jr. married Nancy Prater, dau of Archibald Prater and Sarah Fugate.
Greenville Patrick married Eveline Rice, dau of Samuel Rice and Sarah Bayes. Samuel Houston Patrick married Rebecca Patton, dau of Elizabeth Patton Collinsworth. She was the dau of Edmond C. Collinsworth.
I remember Homer Arnett riding up Burton Fork on his big horse as he went about gauging oil tanks and opening them up to the oil line that transported the oil all the way to Ashland …with the help of pump stations along the way. This type of oil transportation lasted into the sixties when it started to be transported by trucks.
I grew up in the oilfields and followed my dad on his job as a pumper, finally growing up to drive a team of mules and pulling or servicing oil wells. I spent almost forty years in the oil fields so I've seen many thousands of barrels of oil sent to Ashland, KY. It would take a year of “Comments” to relate my years in the oil fields.
Patricia (Trusty) Hartley, 3608 Hawthorne Dr. , Jackson , MI 49201 visited Sunday and Monday, searching for the gravesite of Minnie (Poe) Trusty. As Minnie had no gravestone until recently we had no record of the site. After some telephone calls, we finally zeroed in on E. J. Rudd and he went with us to the Jordan Cemetery near the mouth of Oakley. So, with E. J. as a guide, we made another visitor happy. She left with a good image of Magoffin County hospitality.
Patricia is the gr/dau of Charlie Trusty (b. 1900). Charlie was a son of Jefferson “Jeff” Trusty b. 1857. Jeff is believed to be a son of John Clay Trusty b. 1821 and Margaret McDaniel. I never could positively prove Jeff to be a son of John.
Jeff married in 1880 to Gillie Ann Wages. She was born ca. 1862/64, dau of Wilson Wages and Sarah Davis. Wilson was a son of Moses Wages b. 1794. Moses married in 1822 to Rebecca Smallwood. Moses was a son of Benjamin Wages b. 1742.
Charlie Trusty married Minnie Poe b. 1906 d. 1946. She was the dau of William Poe (b. 1884). William was a son of Merdia Poe b. 1845.
William Poe married Aggie Jordan b. 1881/84. Aggie was a dau of Robert Jordan b. 1844 and a Confederate soldier in Co. F, 10 th KY Inf. Robert was a son of Sarah Jordan or possibly a son of Apps Jordan and Sarah “Sally” Fitzpatrick. Robert was said to have been raised by Rev. John C. Coburn.
Robert married Naomi “Oma” Hughes b. 1850. She was a dau of Toliver Hughes b. 1807 and his wife Elizabeth b. 1810.
Any additional information would be appreciated. You may contact us via email
[email protected]
; write Box 222 , Salyersville , KY 41465. Our telephone number is 606-349-1607 and our genealogy library is located at 191 South Church St. in Salyersville.
Back to Archives
Magoffin County Historical
Society
This
article, written by Todd Preston, the president of the
Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the
July 20, 2006
issue of