This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the August 2, 2012 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

             As I have mentioned before, this is the 35^th year of operation for the Magoffin County Historical Society and our 34^th year of sponsoring a Magoffin County Founders Day celebration.  This is no small feat for a small group such as ours and seems like our numbers continue to dwindle as many different happenings have reduced the amount of workers we have.  We are a volunteer group and have been fortunate in retaining as many willing helpers as we have.  We keep our library doors open by printing material that is offered for sale. 

            We have begun printing our 2012 set of quarterlies which we call The Journal of the Magoffin County Historical Society and it has been uplifting to see the renewals and new memberships come in.  Many of those have written comments on their forms that give us that much needed boost to continue the work that we are doing. 

            We are including below just a sampling of some of the nice words we have received. 

Jim Patrick of Kimbolton, OH wrote “Thanks for the excellent work that you do.  Always a real pleasure to receive my Journal.”

Madeline Risner Bishop of Carey, OH wrote: “Love what you are doing!”

Joyce Briggs of Union City, MI says “Love the Journal.  It is always so interesting.”

Bonnie Stone of Tecumseh, MI encourages us to “Keep up the good work!”

Our good friends Jim and Garnet (Cisco) Brammer of Greenfield, OH sends “Thank you for all you do.”

Danny Castle of North Manchester, IN says “The historical society is good for Magoffin County and enjoyed by many.”

William M. Salyer of LaGrange, KY goes a bit farther: “I know that Magoffin County has the BEST Historical Society in the U. S. and maybe the WORLD!”

Those of us who spend our time and effort volunteering for the historical society appreciate the kind words of encouragement.  Our Journal membership has been down the last couple of years and sometimes we wonder if we should keep on printing it.  Those contributing material for printing has dwindled tremendously also but knowing that our members enjoy our work keeps us striving toward “Preserving the past of Magoffin County for the future”.

We had a nice long email from Deb Woolley of Nashville, TN concerning the Vanderpool markers that we set at the Hezekiah Vanderpool Cemetery on the Straight Fork of Licking, Rt. 3336, here in Magoffin County.  These were for Hezekiah Vanderpool, Jr. (1818-1870/80), Elizabeth H. Vanderpool (1817-1887) and Rev. Robert L. Vanderpool (1843-1909).  Raleigh Shepherd, Jr. had ordered these markers and several others for the Moses Hoskins Cemetery but passed away before he could have them set.  In the first part of April in 2007 a small group of us met and delivered the markers to the cemetery.  We went back, cleaned the cemetery and set the markers on Saturday, July 20^th, 2007.  Those helping in this project were Preston Hale, Dorothy Wireman, Betty and Bob Whittaker, Willie Conley and myself. We were pleased to be able to carry out one of the last projects our good friend Raleigh, Jr. had planned.

Ms. Woolley inquired if there was a picture of Robert L. Vanderpool and his wife, Katherine Allen. Thanks to Irene Farmer, a good friend of our historical society for many years, we do have a picture which is found in our Magoffin County Marriage Book One and also in the Vanderpool genealogy books we compiled in 2001.

Another question from Ms. Woolley concerning the identification of Margaret Vanderpool (1860-1903) who is buried in the same cemetery.  According to Fred Vanderpool (a grandson of Jim Buck Vanderpool) Margaret was the daughter of Abel Shepherd and was the wife of Charley B. Vanderpool. 

Another email we received this week came from Tami Goody who tells us she just found out about our 2011 Founders Days in honor of the Joseph Family.  We wish she could have been here but perhaps she can visit and see the Joseph name on our Pioneer Village marker and visit the new markers we set at the gravesites of her ancestors, John and Usley (Salyer) Joseph on the Carpenter Hill Cemetery near the South Magoffin Elementary School just above Royalton.  She may also be interested in the Journals we printed last year; the 4^th Journal has a good pictorial spread on the Founders Days happenings.

This past week has been a sad and poignant one for us as we have lost two people special to our historical society.

Phyllis Arnett May (1937-2012) was the daughter of Sidney and Phoebe Arnett and wife of Homer Dodd May.  Both have been contributors and volunteers in our work for many years.

We also lost the oldest citizen of our county; G. V. Joseph was born February 3, 1908 and lived to celebrate his 104^th birthday, passing away on July 20, 2012.  Our historical society was fortunate to have him and his family participate in all the events during our 2011 Founders Days happenings.  He was a man who loved his family and fellow citizens greatly.  Magoffin County is proud to have been the birthplace and home of such a distinguished and illustrious person.