Thus far our
January weather has been topsy-turvy and the last week of the
month sort of imitated March. Although we had some snow flurries
we haven’t had a tracking snow (knock on wood)! We got a little
taste of winter Sunday, Jan 21st and there was a bit of
sleet so only a couple of our faithful members, James and Ruth
Anna Montgomery showed up at our 3rd Sunday meeting.
The next monthly meeting will be February 18 so come and meet with
us at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the historical archives building at 191
South Church Street in Salyersville.
Groundhog Day will be upon us by the time you read this. In my
young days on the Preston “forty acres” we felt spring was just
around the corner by Groundhog Day whether the old “whistle pig”
saw his shadow or not. February was a short month even though we
were only talking about 24 hours short. The groundhogs in our neck
of the woods were in danger of being on our table if they didn’t
den up in rock crevices where we boys couldn’t dig them out. If
they ventured out and up a tree they were definitely in danger of
becoming meat for the cooking pot.
Of course we
preferred squirrel, rabbit or possum but they almost became
extinct on Burton Fork as we Preston boys made them live hard in
our domain as did our cousins Ishmael Conley and Ernie Conley on
the other side of the hill.
I
believe I will let my tall tales come to a halt as I’ve slipped
out into the woods quite a bit lately and I’m behind on getting
all the mail answered, which seems to be getting harder to answer.
We are hoping to
complete some of our on-going projects by spring so February is
going to be a busy month. One task is to place a monument in honor
of Reuben Arnett b. ca. 1784 d. 1856. He married Susan Kilgore and
their children were (1) Anna m. William Howard, (2) Stephen m.
Elizabeth Gullett, (3) William m. Jemima Ray (he also had a son
Fetney Steve Arnett and a son Thomas Arnett), (4) Ambrose m. Susan
Ray, (5) David m. Lydia Gullett, (6) Nancy m. Reuben Howard, (7)
Hiram m. Serena Arnett, (8) Letty m. David J. Carty, (9) Reuben
Jr. m. Emeline Patrick and (10) Mary “Polly” m. Phillip Gose. So
if you find any of these names in your family tree and/or if you
are interested in preserving the early history of Magoffin County,
we hope you will want to be involved in this project. We do not
have enough money to buy a very elaborate monument at this time.
We also need information on where the monument should be set for
no one seems to know the actual burial site. It has been suggested
that it be set at the Arnett Cemetery behind the Bear Branch
Church and the cemetery at the Mouth of Sow Branch has been
suggested. Betty Jo Arnett Lykins is the chairperson of this
committee.
I am not an
Arnett descendant but I made a contribution to this project as
Reuben Arnett (son of David Arnett who died in Harlan Co. KY) was
one of our founding fathers.
Another project
we would like to complete is the Jesse Gullett memorial marker.
This has been put on hold several times due to illness and deaths
among the group who worked so hard to see the marker set. We are
awaiting word from Gay Gullett Wilson of Oklahoma who is
chairperson of this committee and hope the project will soon
become a reality. Again we need advice as to where the marker
should be set. The Reed Cemetery near the mouth of Big Pricey is
where Jack Reed has listed them. Another location on the point
below Ova Jenkins’ farm “under the edge of a shelter house” has
also been named as the burial site of Jesse Gullett.
We have a few
Civil War and other government markers ordered plus several other
memorial projects that need to be completed so we can sort of take
a “breather”. We’ve been involved in “who begat who” for twenty
eight years and many of our faithful members and helpers have gone
on to their final resting place. Some of us are nearing the
“Senior Citizen” status so we want to bring a bunch of projects to
completion before we are called to go the way of all the earth. We ask those who will to give a helping hand.
You may enjoy
coming in and looking at the latest publication we have. Connie
and Dorothy have put into print a nearly 600 page “Good Times”
cookbook. Now I don’t cook much but I bought the first one that
came off the press and I thought it worth the price to read about
all the post offices of yesteryear along with all the postmasters,
etc. pictures interspersed throughout the publication. No, I
didn’t put my favorite recipe in for cooked ‘possum for it would
have caused a lot of husbands to lose sleep trying to get a
‘possum for the pot! (Smile)
All joking aside,
folks, this is a grand publication!
Write to us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 ( [email protected] ).
The telephone number is 606-349-1607 and we are located at 191 Church Street in Salyersville.
Magoffin County Historical
Society
