This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the September 26, 2013 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            Here we are in the last week of September and the weather is getting a little cooler.  It will soon be time to go cemetery exploring. We hope to have some preliminary work done soon to pinpoint land where Archibald and Nancy Rudd lived so that we can plan a marker dedication for them.  We are fairly certain that they lived in the Johnson Fork area of Magoffin County.  This was to be a part of our 35^th Founders Day celebration but we had several possible locations for their burial sites made known to us and there was not enough time to research these locations. We would appreciate any input you may have on a location to use.  We hope to have a memorial marker ready soon and will announce the time and place for the dedication so that any descendants and friends can attend.

            Anyone who has not already done so and would like to send their family info to us for use in the Rudd book of descendants is invited to write us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 or email [email protected]. 

If sending pictures, please have copies made or scan and mail us a disk with identifications.  Please note that regular photocopies of pictures are not usable for our printing purposes as the quality of the photo greatly diminishes with this method.

            We believe we have identified the oldest child of Archibald Rudd and Nancy Woosley or Ousley at this writing.  We had two possibilities.  One was a Martha Rudd who was born about 1824 in Tazewell Co. VA and lived there all her life.  This Martha married Joseph Rudd, a son of John Rudd Sr. and Frances Baskett.  Their children apparently were all born in Tazewell Co. VA.  We find that several of them died before 1870 so there are not as many descendants of this line.  We were very pleased to have come in contact with a descendant of this family from Florida via email and she and her husband were here for our Founders Day celebration.  They were here for the first part of the week but had to return home before the weekend so had to miss the parade and reunion dinner.  It was a pleasure to meet Linda Rudd Miller, her husband and her cousin Rupert L. Rudd of OH. We hope to learn more about this branch of the family.

            Linda’s grandparents were John Robert Rudd who married first to Sarah Rosetta Booth and married 2^nd to Allie Catherine Holmes.  John Robert’s parents were John Riley Rudd and he married first to Harriet Nidy and married second to Nancy Ann Simpson.  John Riley was a son of Joseph and Martha Rudd.

            Linda Rudd Miller tells us that many descendants of this branch of the Rudd family still live in Greenbrier County, WV.  Most are from John Riley Rudd’s line.

            The other Martha Rudd was born 15 Mar 1826 and married in Lawrence Co. KY to John Robert Rose Boggs.  This Martha died in 1908 Elliott Co. KY.  They were the parents of (1) Louisa E. Boggs m. John Wesley Hensley, (2) W. Franklin Boggs m. Martha Jane Phipps, (3) Sarah Boggs m. M. Wesley Hicks, (4) Lydia Boggs m. Isaac “Buck” Hensley, (5) James R. Boggs m. Rebecca Hensley; (6) John Milton Boggs m. Margaret Wheeler and Hattie Pennington, (7) Nelson Boggs m. Florence Montgomery, (8) Robert Boggs m. Alice Rose and (9) David Boggs m. Frances Montgomery.

            We discovered that this Martha Rudd was the daughter of Riley Rudd and his wife Mary who moved from Virginia early on to Lawrence Co. KY where they lived out their lives.  Riley Rudd was a brother to Archibald Rudd and both served in the war of 1812. 

            We would like to hear from some more descendants of this family.  Many of them live right here in Magoffin County as well as in all the neighboring counties.  We have the location of Martha Rudd Boggs gravesite in Elliott County from information given by a descendant and plan to visit it.  We would also like to learn where her husband John Robert Boggs is buried in Lawrence County, KY so perhaps someone has that information and can relay it to us.

            We recently had a letter from Carrie Vercruysse of Harrison, MI who is a granddaughter of Sterling and Ethel (Howard) Craft and also Oscar and Dora (Pitts) Ousley.  She visited us in 2003 and we were able to help her with some names and dates for her family tree.  She has a few more questions that perhaps you can help us with.  Sterling Craft was born in 1918 to Lloyd Craft and Delphia Howard (a dau of Calihan Howard and Sarah Douglas Powers).  She would like info on Lloyd Craft.

            On her grandmother Ethel Howard Craft’s side of the family she needs info on Mary “Polly” Perkins who married Thomas Howard.  Thomas was born in 1819 to Moses Howard and Mary Ann “Polly” Patrick.

            Other questions she has on this branch of the family are: Who were the parents of Matilda Ray b. 1825 who married Andrew Howard, a son of Thomas Howard and Frances Jackson?  Also needs info on John Franklin Reed and Phoebe Harris.  They were the parents of John Franklin Reed, Jr. who married Mary Emma Nickell.  Mary Emma was a daughter of Francis M. Nickell who married Elizabeth Howard but she has no other info on him.  Please write or email if you can help us with this query.

            We will try to do some research on her family and will share her queries on her other grandparents Oscar and Dora Ousley at another time.

            We have lost another of our World War II veterans.  John T. Arnett, husband of the late Josephine Hale and son of the late M. F. and Ella (Wireman) Arnett.  John T. died on September 9, 2013.  He worked in the coal mines of Evanston and later was a storekeeper in the community of Arthurmabel.  He served many terms as school board member.  I was privileged to be a member of that group along with him.  We send our sympathy to his family and friends.

            Back in the 50’s I landed a job as a Conservation Officer and saw the need for getting young people interested in preservation.  I sponsored pie suppers in a few schools and got enough money to buy a movie projector.  I began showing free movies by setting the projector up at the Menifee Arnett store.  People would come from all around, on horses, in wagons, walking, etc. to see the movies.

            It was around that time that I met John T.  Later when we served on the school board we began building consolidated schools as well as getting school buses to bring the children to and from school. It was a big change from the time that I, as a young boy, walked to and from home to the Mash Fork School.

            I was privileged to attend the funeral of John T. Arnett, as well as participate in the DAV salute, then visited his final resting place on the John T. Wireman Cemetery at Fredville.