This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the March 17, 2011 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            The beautiful spring flowers make us think spring is surely here but we woke up to a dusting of snow on them this morning.  The blue skies hold the promise of a sunshiny day so we are looking forward to that!

            2011 is the Sesquicentennial year of the Civil War in the state of Kentucky.  Our Magoffin County Civil War Reenactors group coupled with our Floyd County fellow reenactors held a road block a couple of Saturdays ago to take donations to fund our South Magoffin/Puncheon Camp/Half Mountain reenactment site. Our Reenactment committee would like to thank all of you who donated to this cause; we hope to have another outstanding reenactment for your entertainment.  It is an educational opportunity for your children also as well as a way of preserving the past for the future.  We envision a permanent park in that area in the near future so again, many, many thanks for helping us keep this dream alive!        

            Another great event was the Magoffin County Muzzleloaders Club wild game supper. Here is another group that shares our goal of saving the past for the future as they continue the tradition of making guns, knives, powder horns, clothing, etc. in the way of our pioneers.  They are among the older organizations in our area as well as one of the most active.  They take part in our Civil War reenactments as well as many other civic and community activities.  Several of their members help by going in to our schools when we have old time demonstrations; they participate in parades and help wherever they see a need.

            Here at the historical society we sometimes find ourselves sort of overworked and understaffed. We have chosen the Joseph family for our 2011 Founders Day family to be honored and we are looking for your help and ideas to plan this event. Let us hear from you on this as plans need to be put into place as soon as possible. Our monthly meeting will be March 20^th at 2 p.m. here at our library. We hope you can attend. Founders Days are for everyone.

            Spring-like weather is bringing in more family researchers to our facility.  Judy Swartz, 3595 Hidden River Rd., Sarasota, FL 34240 and her mother Eunice Beam were visiting recently researching for info on Luanna Cole’s daughter Margaret who was born in 1837 in KY and married Jacob Miller.  Their children were Nancy Miller, Clarinda Miller and Jacob Miller, Jr.  They were searching for Margaret’s father’s name.  Luanna Cole was first married to Wilson Musgrove then married secondly to Robert Parl and there was a third marriage to William Campbell.  They have decided that Margaret was a child of the second marriage to Robert Parl. 

            This is a very difficult family to research and we only have Richard Carlson’s book “Who’s Your People” for reference.  He labels this family as Saponia Indians who migrated from the Carolinas to the Greasy Rock Indian Community on the Kentucky and Tennessee line.  We are led to believe the “Greasy Rock” name came from a rock located at a spring where people would lie down to get a drink and the rock became greasy from their buckskin clothing.  Perhaps this is an imaginative story that has been perpetuated.

            Leastways, the Cole family settled in the Cole and Bear Branches of Magoffin County and in Cole Branch of Floyd County.  The major burial site for them is on the dividing ridge between the two counties.  The first cemetery has no readable stones.  Another burying ground was started in a lower gap between Bear Branch of Magoffin and Cole Branch in Floyd County that was fenced.  I was once advised by a Cole Branch resident not to step on the “witch’s graves” just outside the fence!

            One can still see evidence of chimney stones of homes of yesterday in the area and I have pictures of caves said by today’s residents to have been used as shelters by earlier people.

            I have a great respect for these people and have always been interested in gathering the local folklore of these citizens, many of whom migrated to the onion fields of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan in order to find work to support their families.

            The sad part is these people didn’t leave much of a paper trail of their early origins and life.  Thus we can’t trace their ancestry as well as we would like except for what is found through Richard Carlson’s work.  His book would have to be classed a masterpiece. 

            Some major work has been going on around here in researching, organizing and typing material for the next volume of the Veteran’s book, the Sesquicentennial volumes as well as the first Journal for Spring 2011.  We are hoping to get some of our printing projects completed and there is much to be done.