This article, written by Todd Preston, the president of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the December 13, 2007 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper. The Salyersville Independent is a weekly newspaper published and edited every Thursday. For inquires or comments, please write to P.O. Box 29, Salyersville, KY 41465. Yearly subscription rates are $22.00 in Kentucky and $26.00 per year out of state.

It’s beginning to look like Christmas in Magoffin County!  Our park’s new bridge is all decked out with glittering lights and all the street lights are aglow.  The big news is that Santa is coming to town!  Thanks to some young ladies who have stirred up interest in having a parade, we are told that over 20 units and floats have signed up to help usher in Old Santa.            Some of the activities begin here at the Pioneer Village with open house and goodies for the children and the bicycle give-away by City Hall.  The Muzzleloaders and the Health Department is joining in here at Prater’s Fort where we hope to have a little “pickin’ and grinnin’” before the 3 o’clock parade that will end up at City Hall where Santa will hand out goodies and presents for all youngsters!  Now, don’t be a Scrooge, get in on the spirit!  That is this coming Saturday afternoon, Dec 15th.           By the time you read this, hopefully the two dedications of the Patrick markers for William Patrick, Jr. and William Patrick, Sr. will have been held.  The late Boon Howard had told me about William Patrick, Jr., a veteran of the War of 1812, who was buried behind the present day Bethel Assembly of God Church on lower Burning Fork.  I found the site to be in an abandoned condition thirty years ago and, sad to say, it remained in that condition until recently when John Carpenter and I prepared the area for a memorial marker to be set.           His father William Patrick, Sr. who was married to Mollie Reins had a little unreadable fieldstone in the Patrick Cemetery at Bradley where now a twin monument has been set.  This William Patrick, Sr. is the ancestor of the largest portion of all the Patrick’s of our area and is certainly worthy of being honored.            Although these markers are not as large as we would have liked to have installed at these gravesites we feel proud that it has been done.  What if they had not been placed in this generation?  The burial sites of these two ancestors may have been lost forever.  We had several bits of information in addition to the names and dates engraved on the markers.  If you were not able to come to the dedications then perhaps you can visit the cemeteries at a later time.           We hope that other folks will think about reviving abandoned cemeteries.            Here is a Patrick family query that I am unable to answer.  Elizabeth Johnson (lizana5 @sbcglobal.net) relates that the 1860 Magoffin census lists Lucinda Patrick is age 48, the widow of Henry Patrick, who has a 3-year-old Lucinda Patrick in her household.           This is apparently Henry “Little Hen” Patrick b. ca. 1810, a son of Robin Patrick and Betsy McMullen.  His wife was Lucinda b. in 1810 and in 1850 their children were listed as Mary Patrick b. 1833, Samuel Patrick b. 1837, Elijah Patrick b. 1837, Allen Patrick b. 1840, John Patrick b. 1843, Hiram Patrick b. 1845, Margaret Patrick b. 1847 and Brice Patrick b. 1850.           I can’t place the second Lucinda Patrick b. 1836 although the 1880 Magoffin census shows her married on 7 Nov 1874 to Fielding Whitely.  They had two known children, Mary Whitely b. 1875 and Rebecca Whitely b. 1879.  This Lucinda’s mother was named Nancy and she was born in 1841 but we have no further info.  Any help on this family would be appreciated.           Last Saturday I met a lady over at the Rockhouse Church and in our conversation we discussed her grandparents John Collinsworth and Susan Montgomery.  John Collinsworth was born in 1825 on Burning Fork, the son of Thomas Collinsworth b. ca. 1785 and Hannah Williams.  Thomas was a son of Edmond Collinsworth b. ca. 1750 and died about 1820 in Davidson, TN.  Susan Montgomery was born in 1832 and died in 1911. She was a dau of John Montgomery, Jr. and Sarah Flannery.  We would like any information on this family and especially clues as to where they may be buried.           John Porter telephoned an inquiry on Kizzie Gibson.  Harvey Porter was born in 1871 and married in 1893 to Louise Rose Murphy b. 1874.  Louise was a dau of Marion Murphy and -?- Gibson.            Marion Murphy was a son of -?- Murphy and Kizzie Gibson b. ca. 1824, a dau of Brison “Brice” Gipson (b. 1782 Wise Co. VA) and Fannie Green.  Brice was a son of Thom Gibson.           This info was gleaned from Dr. Richard Carlsen’s genealogy charts and a book he recently donated to our library.  Can anyone give names to the question marks in the above query?           We have been doing some Nickles research and find that McKinley Nickles b. 1896 was a son of Newton P. Nickles b. 1861.  Newton was a son of Joseph Nickles b. 1822 and Joseph was a son of William “Bill” Nickles and Elizabeth.           Joseph Nickles married Omie Cole b. 1823.  Newt P. married Dollie Ann Collins.  McKinley m. Gladys Gipson (we have seen her surname listed as Canada). She was a dau of Ira Gibson and Meldi Collins.           Any additions or corrections are welcome.  We appreciate our readers and especially those who take a moment to get in touch with us to help with the genealogy queries.  Our telephone number is 606-349-1607 and our genealogy library is located at 191 South Church Street in Salyersville, Magoffin Co. KY. You may write the Magoffin County Historical Society at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 (email: [email protected]).