This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the May 6, 2010 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            It is with a sad heart that I try to write my feelings this week.  You might think I should be on Cloud Nine, what with having just gone through one of the most enjoyable and successful Civil War Reenactments here in Magoffin County and being able to view it again on Ritt’s cable television.

            I will begin with the time I became acquainted with Hawes Fork of Breathitt County, a creek that many families once called home but now has become a wild pristine forest where beavers make dams and ATV’s roam.  A railroad spur was tunneled through the hill from Tip Top to the “deep” mine in Evanston and after that the village sprang up where my uncle Robert “Bob” Hudson worked and cousin Clarence Copley was one of the engineers of the tunnel.

            Long after the coal mining slowed, the rails were taken up and then one could travel through the tunnel and see the remnants of what remained of Evanston and Hawes Fork.  This became a super ATV trail with visitors coming from all over to see the spectacle.

            Now, Ol’ Todd never learned to operate an ATV so he mostly walked in his exploration.  This was the most beautiful valley in all Kentucky, especially in the spring when the early daffodils were in bloom, you could see where every home had set along the creek banks.

            Some time later Bob Whittaker obtained a monument for his Civil War ancestor Ambrose Mullins and with Herley Manns as a guide, about two dozen of us went up 542 to the Breathitt County line and then down the “head” of Hawes Fork and found the Mullins Cemetery and set the marker.  I found another cemetery close by, plus I had heard there was an Indian graveyard close by and I longed to find it.  I did find all or most of the other cemeteries in the area and with the help of Herley Manns, Melvin Minix and others, we cleaned up most of the cemeteries and set new monuments, etc. and by this time Hawes Fork almost became “my” fork, I enjoyed it so well.

            When it came time to select a name to honor for Founders Days that year, I threw in the name of the Mann family, a name associated with early Breathitt County, and the Manns Clan came out of the “cracks and creeks” sort of like leaves falling after the first big frost.

            Right in the middle of our big celebration, the Tip Top Tunnel was burned and the coal seam is still burning.  Melvin and Herley got the active coal company to open up an old roadway so that we could follow through with our plans to honor some of the early Manns with memorial markers.

            Now, Burl Manns of Indiana comes into the picture. It seems he had become the “Jumping Bean” entertainer of Betty Brown’s and Goldia Shepherd’s crowd and we like to have never torn him away from their clutches but he got away long enough to build a log cabin on Hawes Fork with the help of Melvin, Herley and others. 

            Then a few things began to happen, the Manns cemetery nearby began to be vandalized and now the William Manns-Rhoda Howard Cemetery where we put monuments last year has been completely torn, ripped up, destroyed, and yes, we are all heartbroken.

            I should let it go as it is but when I remember all the fine people who worked so hard it is difficult to do so.  I remember the family of Ted Manns, Sr., his daughters told of being raised a short distance downstream at the trestle.  They told of sitting on an incline above the tracks and waving at the conductor as the train passed by.  The conductor would pitch them some goodies as he passed and even sent word to the family he would like to adopt them and give them a college education. 

            We enjoyed the Manns Clan so much and feel we have ties to Hawes Fork, much like you and I do to our own old home places.  This recent happening is very sad and we hope it gets reconciled soon.

            We’ve received some letters and personal contacts by local people who enjoyed the reenactment of the Battle of Puncheon/Half Mountain and would like to see it made into an annual event.

            Now, first, the school board, the county and the city came together to stage a super celebration for the 150^th birthday of our county and were supported by the historical society, Muzzleloaders and other non-profit organizations, especially the South Magoffin School staff and even “Old Man Weather” was extra kind.

            The re-enactors were the core to the success of the show. They traveled many miles from several different states, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, etc.  Since we have seen evidence of interest in some local people of becoming re-enactors, we want to say there are several camps that would welcome you as a member. There is our own camp, Licking Station Camp No. 1797, as well as the Friends of Middle Creek at Prestonsburg. There could be a team of members from Morgan, Johnson and Magoffin forming a tri-county group.  If interested, let us know.