This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the May 5, 2011 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            The “Tater Wagon” awakened us this Easter Sunday morning as I write this. It seems we have heard a lot of thunder or “tater wagon” in the last weeks and the resulting flooding has taken another big chunk of land from the banks of the river near our Pioneer Village barn.  I have tried to fill it in but it seems Ole Licking likes to take over land.

            All the remaining Preston siblings got together this past week. There are only half of the original ten still living.  We had an enjoyable mini-homecoming even though some of us may not be “on top of the grass” much longer.

            The “Home-Twenty” gang has the first Journal of the year printed and in the mail. It is a bit late but they have been swamped lately as the number of visitors to our facility has been on the upswing.  In addition another volume of the Salute to Veterans book has been completed. This volume begins with the surname of Puckett and continues through Slone. There is one more volume left to finish this series.  I understand that the extra material that has been received after each volume goes into print has been inserted in a file just in case Kay Bentley does an index to these volumes. If so, then the extra material received will be included with the index.  Completing these volumes has been a monumental task and a very satisfying one as well.  We would never have dreamed that our county had as many men and women who served in the military as we have found during our research and we find out daily that there are many we have missed even with our diligent searching.

            As most of you know by now, the Joseph family has been chosen for the honored family for the 2011 Magoffin County Founders Days celebration.  We ask you to send us family information and pictures of any Josephs or relatives as you may have.  We are a bit late this year and we are only two and half people strong – I am the “half” (smile).  So make an extra effort to get that “who begat who” info in to us as soon as possible.

            I grew up as a neighbor to James “Jimmie” Joseph and his wife Maddie Penix, a kinsman of mine.  James Joseph was born in 1913, a son of R. B. Joseph and Roseann Conley. James and Maddie had children Wendell Joseph, Bonnie Joseph and Ida Joseph

Roseann was a daughter of William Conley, Jr. b. 1866. William Jr. was the son of William Conley and Cynthia Baldridge.  Roseann married first R. B. Joseph and then married 2^nd to Eskell Mullins.  Her Mullins children were Vernie Mullins m. Sonny Prater and Charles Richard Mullins m. Edith Blanton.

            Roseann’s father William Conley, Jr. died in 1912.  His father William Conley, Sr. was born in 1827 and died in 1884. He is buried on the Twin Branches.  He married Sarah Patrick.

            When I was a youngster and following Dad to his work, the Fairchild Branch was known as the Vanderpool Branch or “Lease”.  This was where Dad was the oil pumper for the Morebald Development Company of Baltimore, Maryland.  I would go across the hill with him to where he ran the one forty-horsepower engine and two smaller frack engines.  Eck Mullins kept sheep and had a ram that seemed to really enjoy chasing small boys.  I soon learned to outrun him and climb over rail fences to escape.

            By noon Dad and I would come back to the home farm and there he had a larger engine and more oil wells he attended.

            I started work as a teamster in the oil field when I was about thirteen years old and spent most of my life in the oil fields.  I’ve seen oil prices escalate from two dollars a barrel to over a hundred dollars a barrel today.  A new 1937 Chevy cost seven hundred dollars, today they are priced several thousands of dollars…and if a certain foreign country collects all they say we owe them, we would be living under a new flag!

            We were saddened to learn of the deaths of Earl Knight, Jr. and his wife Edith Fay Knight.  Both died last year in 2010, Fay on the 28 of September and Earl on the 9^th of November.  At the beginning of the Sesquicentennial year we had asked the Ani Tsalagi, Cherokee Nation of Ohio to come and help us celebrate Magoffin’s 150^th birthday. They had promised to come if their health permitted.   Those of you who were here when we dedicated the Sizemore marker and also during the grand opening of the Magoffin Pioneer Village will remember this group and the fine ceremony they conducted.  Fay and Earl were the leaders of this Cherokee nation.