This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the November 5, 2009 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

The Salyersville Independent  is a weekly newspaper published and edited by Michael David Prater, P. O. Box 29, Salyersville, KY 41465. Telephone (606) 349-2915.  Yearly subscription rates are $24.00 in Kentucky and $30.00 per year out of state.

Members of the Magoffin County Sesquicentennial committee are still exploring ideas for activities to commemorate our 150^th birthday.  These are some of my own personal thoughts.  First, we should not copy what took place on our 100^th birthday except plant a time capsule.  I would like to see a full-fledged Civil War battle Re-enactment and I would still like to see a giant flagpole in Magoffin.

We have copies of the book “Magoffin’s First Century 1860-1960” compiled by then Salyersville Independent editor Albert K. Moore with much additional information added by the Magoffin County Historical Society mainly about what happened during that year’s celebration.  The main events of the Centennial Celebration were held at the Connelley Farm during the 4^th of July.  The 4^th of July celebration was conducted mainly by the Sportsman/Coon Hunter’s Club which is now defunct.

County Judge Hardin and Salyersville Mayor Howard have a preliminary board and they are attempting to get every civic, church, business, fraternal, school, medical, or any other group or individual involved whose aim is to preserve and advance the growth of our county.  Our county has made much advancement since the 1960s, such as the Mountain Parkway, the Licking River Cut-Through, etc.  Also sections of our county did not get mentioned in the First Century book, such as the Tip Top coal industry, Royalton’s heyday as a lumber and railroad “head”, strip-mining, secondary oil production by water flooding and the more recent natural gas drilling industry.  We have many beautiful and historic areas of the county such as the spring where Ol’ Licking begins.  There were also some destructive events such as the massive ice and wind storms of this year.  The loss of strip-mining permits and its effects on the coal industry and, in turn, the Continental Conveyer company has had a great effect on our area.

On the brighter side, we have three new grade school buildings, improvements are being made to the Magoffin County High School and the football field, city and county water line distribution has reached nearly all parts of the county, we have a new Justice center and county courthouse, as well as a new Magoffin County Health Department building and a new County Extension Office.  The list could go on and on! 

How are all these plans to come about - by everyone getting into the planning and helping as this depends on you, Mr. and Mrs. Citizen of Ol’ Magoffin.  Those who have moved away from Magoffin County can also get in on the search for historical pictures and stories.

Magoffin County was officially formed as a Kentucky county on 22 February 1860 from portions of Johnson, Morgan and Floyd Counties.  Our Sesquicentennial celebration should begin no later than February 2010 with several events throughout the year.

The monument for “Granny Fannie” Shavers has been set.  I was assisted by my son Toddie and his wife Lisa.  Descendants of Ambrose Lemaster want to get a monument for him also so we are holding up on dedicating this monument until that marker is obtained. Doug Tackett called and wants to attend the dedication when the time is set.

Another monument recently installed is the one for Jesse Gullett and Elizabeth Coffee. Descendants of this couple joined together back in 2003 and collected funds to pay for this marker.  We are waiting for word as to when they would like to have a memorial ceremony.

Randall Risner, Jack Sizemore and I visited the burial site of the unknown Union soldier and we would like to obtain a Union monument to set there.

Connie “sacked up” about four hundred candy treat bags to be handed out to the little ghosts and goblins that usually show up at our place celebrating Halloween.  It is a treat for us to see these young people of our county.

Connie and Dorothy, with the help of Wilma Rimer and Brenda Kaye Howard, are busy getting the Fall Journal printed, stapled and ready for mailing.  Ol’ Todd helps out a wee bit, every now and then!

James Albert Bradburn of Phoenix, AZ wrote to inquire about his Tackett family and sent some very interesting family charts.  He is the son of Freida Fay Tackett who was born in 1935 in Salyersville. She is a daughter of Harlan Tackett b. 15 Dec 1903 in Salyersville and died in 1960 in Phoenix, Arizona.  Harlan was a son of Ben Franklin Tackett b. 22 Sep 1879 Pikeville, KY and married around 1901 to Cresa Howard b. 1881.

Ben was a son of W. J. Tackett who married Susan Howard b. 1845 in the area that became Salyersville.  Is this the Susan who was a daughter of Reuben Howard and Nancy Arnett?  If so, Nancy was the daughter of Reuben Arnett and Susan Kilgore.

My problem is that I can’t find parents of W. J. Tackett who was probably born in the 1840s.  Any help would be appreciated.

Mr. Bradburn sent several pedigree charts, one being on Daniel Williams’ wife, Rebecca Violet Crouch b. 1765 d. 1830.  According to Mr. Bradburn’s chart she was the daughter of Daniel Crouch (b. 1739) and Sarah Howes (b. 1744 d. 1821).  Sarah was the daughter of Prince Howes b. 1700 in Massachusetts and his wife Abigail H. Hallett b. 1720.  Daniel Crouch was the son of Ebenezer Crouch b. 1709 d. 1797.