This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the December 6, 2012 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            Ms. Clyle J. Alt traveled all the way from Monterey Park, CA to visit Magoffin County and the historical society last week!  She began membership in our historical society back in 2003 and has contributed several items for publication through the years.  Our last Journal with the article on the Wygal family by Sharroll Minix of Lexington, KY got her really interested in her Patrick and Prater family lines again so she made plans to visit our area of the country where her ancestors lived.

            Sharroll’s article ties the Wygal (there are several different spellings of surname) family into the ancestry of Mollie Reins Patrick. One John Weigel had a daughter Mary who married Meredith Raines (again there are several different spellings possible for this surname).  Mary and Meredith had a daughter named Mary who was called “Mollie”.  Mollie married William Patrick, son of Jeremiah Patrick and Sally Blair.

            During Ms. Alt’s visit we explored the area of the old John Prater farm, visiting the cemetery where the local DAR had set a memorial marker for Archibald Prater many years ago.  We also viewed the remnants of the old Prater log barn.  We came back down to the Cheyenne section of Salyersville and walked around where the old Magoffin Baptist Institute was located.  Archibald Prater and family members are said to have been buried there according to family stories told down though the generations.  I have talked with people who went to school there and they told there were large flat stones set up on the grounds.  This was where they would sit and eat their lunches.  These students told that the large rocks were later moved down near the Licking River and made into a spring house. 

            My brother Ralph Preston went to high school there and he told how he and some of the other older boys at the school were asked to go under the old rock building and dig out an area so as to make room for a classroom.  The boys, while digging, found human bones and were ordered immediately to fill that area back in.

            The old rock building that was formerly the Magoffin Institute burned and a new brick school building was built in its place.  Belsey Connelley, who lived next door, told that human bones were found when the footers were being dug. 

            A few years ago the Magoffin County Historical Society purchased and set a monument and accompanying bench in honor of Archibald Prater and his family. This was placed in the Bluegrass Cemetery in the area where Irvin and Polly Ann (Brown) Prater are buried. This area for the memorial was provided through the kindness of the members of the Clay Prater family.  Irvin Prater was a son of James Prater and Nancy Patrick.  James was the 7^th child of Archibald Prater and Sarah Fugate.

            The March 2^nd tornado that destroyed parts of Magoffin County did a lot of damage to the Bluegrass Cemetery but through a lot of work by many people, it has been restored.  The old cedar tree that shaded the marker and seat was lost to the storm but the markers are intact. 

            After our trip to the Bluegrass Cemetery, Ms. Alt and I went up Burning Fork and walked up a steep hill behind the Bradley Church to a cemetery.  Ms. Alt inquired as to why people were buried way up on the hills when there was level land close by.  I explained that one reason was they looked for a well drained area for a cemetery and also used untillable land as farming was a necessity to provide food for the family and the animals they kept for farm work. Clyle’s next question was to ask how the coffins were transported up the steep hills. Back in those days before funeral homes were in business and before roads made the cemetery accessible with some type of means of transportation, all the family members and neighbors would pitch in and lend a hand with all the work that needed to be done.   We descend from a strong and resourceful line of ancestors who took care of their family’s and neighbor’s needs as well as they could.

            Before returning to the Pioneer Village, I took Ms. Alt down to the Ben and Ruth Gardner farm which was all decorated for the season and is a remarkable sight! We traveled from there over to Middle Fork where Jeremiah Patrick is buried, another of her ancestors.  We were met there and accompanied by Ms. Jean Owens Arnett.  We had a good visit and enjoyed talking together.  Back at the Pioneer Village, I took her through our cabins so as to give her an idea of life back in the early days. 

            Once again this week, death has taken from us one of our valued friends and early workers of the Magoffin County Historical Society.  Delena Conley was born 19 July 1924 and died 24 November 2012, the daughter of John Blaine Caudill and Ella Jane Collett.  She was the widow of Mitchell Conley.  Delena and Mitchell were two of our early members of the historical society and could be counted on whenever there was a “working” in progress.  Back in our early days, we compiled our genealogy books from material that was sent in by many descendants, this material was typed onto stencils which were printed on the old-time mimeograph machines.  The stacks and stacks of printed pages were then placed on tables that had been placed end to end so that workers could walk around, picking up pages as they went, ending with a complete book ready to be bound.  A lot of good conversation and companionship was enjoyed during these occasions.  Delena and Mitchell were always on hand to help during our Founders Days events also, as well as their children and their families.