This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the April 3, 2008 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.
 

          We had a meeting Friday evening to discuss plans for the upcoming Magoffin County Founder’s Day which honors the Fletcher family this year.  Attending were mostly local Fletchers but we had one, Harold Fletcher, from Ohio.  He and other family members were here working with Myrtle Cole to clean up the George Washington Fletcher Cemetery on Gun Creek.
          One item of discussion was the memorial marker for “Old” George Fletcher.  Morris Fletcher had offered to head up a committee to acquire and set this memorial and the group unanimously agreed to give Morris the chairmanship.  We also discussed having a marker here at the Pioneer Village which will name the several Fletcher lines as we have not as yet found a common ancestor for them. 
          We plan to have other forums leading up to the annual Salyer-Fletcher reunion around Memorial Day at Royalton.
          We have a general outline of George Fletcher whom we refer to as “Old George” as there were a number of Georges in the Fletcher line.  We do not know the names of his parents although we have received several letters from people who have found various names on the Internet listed as possible parents for “Old” George but no proof to date.   
          “Old” George Fletcher married Dicey Johnson and they were the parents of Alexander Fletcher who died 22 Sep 1876 at the age of 60 which would put his birth year as about 1816.  Alexander married Ludema Castle who died in 1849.  Apparently George and Dicey had separated as Dicey married 2nd in 1833 to Phillip Stambaugh, Jr. who died about 1850.
          The 1850 Johnson Co. KY census lists Alexander Fletcher age 34, wife Loudema age 33, children Violet age 8 (b. 1842), Winston age 6, Sylvester age 5 and Walter age 2.
          The 1850 Johnson Co. KY census lists Dicey Stambaugh, age 50, and Phillip Stambaugh, Jr. Their children were (1) Serena age 20 (b. 1830), (2) John age 18, (3) Sarah age 14, (4) Dicey b. 1832 (5) Mary Emily b. 1827.
          Marilyn (Thompson) Gilbert telephoned inquiring about her Fletcher connection. She is the dau of Janet Armstrong Thompson. Janet was the dau of Marvin Armstrong and Nellie Fletcher b. 1925. Nellie was the dau of Elzie Fletcher b. 1900, a son of Garfield Fletcher b. 1862. We believe Garfield was the son of Winston Fletcher b. 1844 and the grandson of Alexander Fletcher, the only child of Old George Fletcher and his first wife Dicey Johnson.
          Alexander Fletcher married Ludema Castle and their 2nd child Winston married in 1861 to Perlina Jane Cole b. 1842, a dau of Valentine Cole b. 1812. Valentine was a son of William “Billy” Anderson Cole b. 1791 and Biddy Collins. Valentine married Mariah Gibson b. 1816.
          Garfield Fletcher married Eveline Cole b. 1853, dau of Hiram Cole. Hiram was a son of Billy Cole and Biddy Collins. Biddy was a dau of Valentine Collins b. 1770 Hawkins Co. TN and Dicey -?-.
          Elzie Fletcher married Sola Risner and they are shown in the 1930 Magoffin census with children Simon b. 1918, Georgeann b. 1919, Thurman b. 1920, Herman b. 1922, Nettie b. 1923, Nellie b. 1925 and Catherine b. 1927.
          Elzie was married several other times and is said to have fathered a total of 30 children.  Who was Sola Risner?  Marilyn believes her name to be Elizabeth.
          Ms. Mildred Bays, 1002 Ohio St., Walkerton, IN 46574 sent us a nice long letter telling us of her childhood memories of life on Puncheon Creek.  Mildred relates she was a mail carrier when only age 18, riding a mule from Green Carpenter’s farm where the Swampton Post Office was located to Prudy Sizemore’s so she knew all the residents on her route.  She also knew the cemeteries in that locality. Some of the names of those burial sites have changed over the years.
          Now I believe Mildred was born about 1920, the dau of “Big” Willie Allen, and married in 1947 to Wiley Bays, son of Jim Bays and Rhoda Prater.  If this 88 year old can send us this helpful information, it should be an inspiration to other folks to follow suit.  Thanks, Mildred!
          I sort of know how Chicken Little must have felt when she thought the world was tumbling down what with all the emails coming in. I will touch on some of them briefly.
          Clifford Jackson writes that he has found info that Apperson Fletcher was born in 1835, was a son of George Fletcher and Louise Marshall, and married Anna b. 1835.
          We have folders on each child of Old George. The Apperson folder is almost empty.  We have Anna’s last name as Barker and that Apperson and Anna had two sons, Preston Fletcher b. 1856 and John A. Fletcher b. 1858.
          Sandra Cramer writes her children are the gr/grandchildren of Parrot Fletcher of Gun Creek.  Sandra married Parrot’s grandson Luster Howes, Sr. and, by that time, Parrot’s husband was dead.   We found that a Wiley Fletcher married 22 Jun 1912 to Parrot Pinks. This Wiley was born in 1890 and his father was George Fletcher.
          Wanda Sue Landrum writes she lives in Knox, IN and plans to visit Magoffin this summer. She has many cousins in Salyersville and Royalton. Her parents are Dennis and Jewel Marshall Cole.  Dennis was a son of Noah Cole and grandson of Miles Cole. Jewel was a dau of Lesley Marshall and gr/dau of Haskell Marshall.
          Mark Hammons wrote to us about the March 13 article concerning Ephraim Johnson.  He says Ephraim Johnson’s death date was 21 Feb 1949 as found in KY Death Certificate, No. 09629.  He hopes to come to visit sometime in the next few weeks.
          Thanks, Mark and I am glad to know you are planning a visit.  I might add here that Carter Conley is inviting help to aid in setting Ephraim Johnson a memorial marker, either monetary or labor or both.
          If you look in the latest copy of the Taste of Home magazine you will find a familiar name.  Patty Auxier was a runner-up in one of their recipe contests.  Patty writes a column for our Historical Society Journal and she and her family have helped us for many years with various projects.  Way to go, Patty!

We appreciate hearing from our readers. Our telephone is 606-349-1607. Write us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 (email: [email protected] ).