This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the February 21, 2013 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            The last time we wrote these Comments we mentioned that it will soon be the anniversary of the terrible tornado that passed through our area on March 2^nd, 2012.  We continue to marvel and be amazed that with so much destruction our county had no serious injuries or deaths connected with this event.  The tornado affected all of us in one way or another, even many of you who live outside the area. We get inquiries about places to stay from out of state visitors who want to visit Magoffin.  Many who write or call us are concerned about the welfare of their family members and friends here.

So many people lost their belongings, their homes and businesses a year ago.  We have heard some of you speak of your experiences and we would like to ask as many of you as will do so to set down in writing a few sentences or even a few pages of your experiences and feelings of that time a year ago.  If you will, send it to us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 or send via email to [email protected].  You may also drop in at our library and leave your comments. We hope to hear from you.

            Back in earlier times, people often kept diaries or notebooks and wrote down events as they happened.  We think this is an important task to do.  So many times our historical society has had the opportunity to see and use some of this early material.  Quite often we have seen such material give someone information that helps add another piece to his or her family tree.  We have also seen instances where recorded dates have helped someone in this generation get markers for gravesites that would otherwise have gone unmarked and unknown.  Even if you choose not to share your recorded memories with our historical society we hope you will make a written record that you and your family will enjoy reading someday.  There is nothing like the written word to give insight into a person’s personality.  Those of us who enjoy history and genealogy know how important it is to find a piece of writing or even see a signature in the handwriting of someone in our family. 

            The end of February is looming and already we see signs of the spring season that is sure to come!  We have seen several patches of crocus flowers in bloom and lots of spring flowers such as daffodils getting ready to flower.  Soon it will be time to think of spring chores that need to be done.  We hope one of these for you will be cleaning that family or neighborhood cemetery. 

            My mother instilled in her children that the family burial grounds were to be kept cleaned up, especially for Decoration Day each year.  She would cut flowers at home, put them in a coffee sack and water them down to keep them looking fresh.  She would then gather up her brood of youngin’s and we would head out through the woods to the Helton Cemetery on the Vanderpool Branch, now known as the Fairchild Branch, where Dad worked in the oilfield as a pumper.

            When we got there, first someone was sent to clean out a spring for water; usually that chore fell on Ole Todd.  This family cemetery was overrun with a vine called Crepe Myrtle and Mom disliked it so intensely that she would dig it out by the roots.  Seems like it would sprout right back out again but she kept trying to keep it from doing so.  When we stopped our work to take short rests Mom would tell us about our family history and about the times she and her family would walk to the Kazee Cemetery on Mash Fork, thence to the Aunt Eliza Powers Cemetery, on to a couple of Prater cemeteries and on downstream to Fairchild Branch to the Conley-Bailey Cemetery. From there they would go up Horsepen to some more Conley family cemeteries and then across the hill to their Burton Fork home.

            Her stories caused us to carry on the work even unto today.  I try to make the trek that she and her siblings first took with her parents and that later she and her children continued.  In addition I try to drive to Paintsville to at least four or more cemeteries connected with my dad’s family, plus go on downstream to Louisa to the Moses Preston Cemetery.

            These last few years I have added the Blue Grass Cemetery to my list where my wife Phyllis and our son Roy Neil are interred and also where my monument sets.

            I owe my respect for keeping burial sites clean to my parents, especially my mother Mollie Jane Helton Preston!

            My older brother, Henry Ford Preston wrote many stories about life on our old home place on Burton Fork.  I’ve never learned exactly why it was called Burton except that my mother told me a Burton baby was buried beside the road a short distance below our log home at the edge of the garden.

            I have a very old picture of a house that I never knew existed that once sat on our little forty acres.  My mother mentioned that a Kimberlin family lived close by and one of the stories she told us was about Wib Kimberlin killing the last wild cat in the area that she knew of. This incident happened right out of an old chestnut tree in our corn and hay field.

            Dad built on to our little home on Burton and kept it in repair. He even had water piped into it from a spring up on the hill.  We had natural gas for heat and lights but we didn’t have a road to travel in winter or during wet weather so we finally moved our parents into the town of Salyersville where they lived out the rest of their lives.