This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the February 19, 2009 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            The “big yellow school buses” are running this morning and WRLV Radio’s D.J. “Country Cousin” Nolan Hall is warning everyone to be extra careful as he says they are hauling our most valuable commodity, our children!  We haven’t seen those school buses for awhile as there has been very little school since the first of the year due to inclement weather.  Even yet some of our roads are impassable due to the recent ice storm which downed many trees. It was the most devastating storm in my memory.

            I’ve tried to do a little squirrel hunting and have just about given up as some of these hollows are absolutely blocked by fallen timbers.  The temperatures are climbing back up and we have had several days of sixty degree weather.  It makes one think that gardening season can’t be that far away.  J. W. tells me his mother the late Eulah Gullett Back always tried to have her garden peas planted by Valentine’s Day!

            I shudder to think of all the trees that have fallen in our cemeteries. I’ve seen evidence of that in the abandoned cemetery in the churchyard here in town so I’ve kept my chain saw handy.

            On the bright side, I have my pictures back that were taken when the sun was shining on those ice covered trees and they are a spectacular sight.  The birds are still singing their beautiful tunes.  I tried to feed them a little extra during the ice and snow storm.

            I’ve spent many hours this weekend trying to unravel the family of Edward Collinsworth.  Edward was born about 1808 in Lee Co. VA and died after 1880 in Magoffin County.  He married in 1836 in Lee Co. VA to Rebecca George b. ca. 1810 and died after 1880 also in Magoffin County.  Their children were William Collinsworth b. 1837, Elizabeth Collinsworth b. 1839, Martha Collinsworth b. 1841, Nancy Collinsworth b. 1843, Mary Collinsworth b. 1845, Job F. Collinsworth b. 1847, Fannie Collinsworth b. 1849 and Louisa Collinsworth b. 1854 (she could be a granddaughter).

            The question is where are Edward and Rebecca Collinsworth buried?  On the right fork of Birch Branch was an abandoned cemetery until Ernest “Bo” Conley bought the property and cleaned it up.  I copied the cemetery in 1978 and noted that community legend told that it was the “Edwin Collins Cemetery” and the C. W. was a short way of putting “Collinsworth” on the stones.  I found these markers in 1978: J. C. W. (one date) 19 Apr 1853, M. C. W. b. 1866 d. 10 Oct 19??, D. B. G. d. 6 Jul 1883 at age 22 years (b. 1861?), F. E. b. 1893 d. 20? in old English style writing.  My question is could this be the Edward Collinsworth Cemetery?  If not, where is his burial site?

            We are pleased to be receiving quite a bit of mail from the “Manns Clan”.  This Monday we heard from Alvy Lynn Mann of Knox, IN who is the dau of the Rev. Everett Mann. Everett is a son of Adam Mann and grandson of George Mann. George was a son of William and a grandson of Samuel Mann.

            Vickie Ray wrote that she is descended from the Joseph, Manns and Coldiron families and asks to whom she should send info and pictures.

            Ben Mann wrote that he has a Mann Family email newsletter that he sends out every month and is being bombarded with all sorts of material. He asks if there is anything they could or should do to support the historical society.

            Kathy Manns wrote that she has seen info posted on several family websites about the coming Magoffin County Founders Days celebration for the Mann-Manns family. She has done quite a bit of genealogy on her family and has some photos. She would like to know where and how to send them.

            Mike Horner of Wheelersburg, OH sent a disk of Manns photos for us to use which were very welcome.

            We would appreciate receiving anything pertaining to the Manns family. Our mailing address and other ways of contacting us are listed at the bottom of this column.

            Sam Long ([email protected]) writes he is the son of Raleigh Martin Long b. 1890 d. 1962 in Kingville, OH. Raleigh was the son of Samuel Marion Long b. 1857 and Martha J. Picklesimer. Martha was a dau of Nathaniel Picklesimer, Jr. and his first wife Susannah Trimble. Susannah was a dau of Marcus Trimble and Nancy Subert.

            Samuel M. Long’s 7^th child was Warren M. Long b. Apr 1892 and married in 1916 to Dora Cooper. Dora was born in 1882 and died in 1948, the dau of William G. Cooper and Samantha Jane Pace.

            Warren was a jailer here in 1920, a restaurant proprietor in 1930, and was elected sheriff for a couple of terms.

            Flora Darst ([email protected]) writes she is the dau of Burney Bailey and Plynia Sebastian. Burney was a son of Jackson Bailey (b. 1858) and Nancy V. Puckett. Jackson was a son of William Bailey (b. 1829) and Polly A. Foster.  William was a son of Lemuel Bailey (b. 1792) and Betty Dykes.  Lemuel was a son of Joseph Bailey (b. ca. 1760 d. 1839) and Martha “Patsy” Brashears b. ca. 1765.

            Gary and Janet Cole of Salyersville, KY, Olive Marshall of Salyersville, KY, Paul Bailey of Salyersville, KY, Nancy Tackett of Belcher, KY, Simon Reed of Alliance, OH and Callie Conley of Melbourne, FL are to be commended for aiding our efforts toward preserving the history of Magoffin County.