This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the JULY 17, 2014 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            Another Journal is in the mail to members!  We have finished the Summer Journal of 2014 and it is a good one in our estimation (smile).  We always try to find material that will interest our readers and this one has a good mix of genealogy, history and human interest stories.  Included are articles by Patty Auxier, Betty Jo Lykins, Dan Castle, Jimmie Allen, Rick Marshall, Elsie Beiswanger, Sheila Marple, Pamela Bandy Douglas and several others.  We are already compiling material for the Fall issue of the Journal and invite our readers to send us articles (stories, genealogy, history, pictures) for printing in that issue.  You may also send any family history question you may have about your ancestors.  One of our readers could have the answers you have been searching for.

            A reader here in Kentucky is working on the Pace and Helton families.  She wrote that her grandparents were Harmon Toy Pace and Louisa Helton who were married in 1901 in Salyersville, KY. Harmon was a son of John Calhoun Pace and Nancy Jane Bailey.  Louisa was a daughter of William A. Helton and Nancy Jane Jackson.  Harmon died in 1942 Cabell Co. WV; this is also where Louisa died in 1952.  Louisa’s father William A. Helton died there in 1940 and all three are buried in the Springfield Cemetery in Huntington, WV.  We would like to locate someone who knows about this family; perhaps relatives who remained in Magoffin County.

            We had an interesting query from Doris Cornelius of Wagoner, OK about the family of Nettie Leona Brown.  Doris says Net’s brothers were musicians and they were the children of one Amos Brown and his wife Goldie.  We did a little searching and found that Amos and Goldie Brown were listed in the Greenup Co. KY census records of 1910 and 1920 and were in the 1930 Lawrence Co. census.  The names of their children were (1) Sarah Brown b. 1907, (2) Andrew Brown b. 1909, (3) Jasper Brown b. 1913, (4) Nettie Brown b. 1914 d. 1979 in Tulsa OK, (5) Henry Brown b. 1919, (6) Ida Brown b. 1925 and (7) Alberta Brown b. 1927.  We could find no connection to Magoffin County but the given names used in the family are similar to those used by the Brown family in our area. We could not find parents for Amos Brown or the maiden name of his wife Goldie.  Perhaps a reader will be able to help us find more information.

            Dorothy Neeley of Florida has visited the historical society in recent years.  She writes she is looking for info on the family of Brack Howard who married Delaney Shepherd.  Their children were Della Howard b. 1905, Jackson Howard b. 1907, James Howard b. 1913, Green Howard b. 1916 and Sallie Howard b. 1918.  Brack Howard was born in 1885 Magoffin Co. KY and died in 1935.  His wife Delaney was a daughter of Green and Farisee Shepherd.  She was born in 1886 Magoffin Co. KY and died in 1951.  This family appears in the 1910 Floyd Co. KY census and in the Allen, KY area of Floyd County in 1920. 

            School group pictures are always interesting to many people and we would like to add to our collection if anyone would like to share theirs.   All school pictures of any age or area of Magoffin County would be very welcome.

Helen W. Tackett of Ohio has asked if anyone has pictures of the Flat Fork School back in the pre-1910 era.  Her mother was Virgie Hensley and she and her brothers Clarence Hensley, Demmie Hensley and her sisters Bertha Hensley and Felcie Hensley attended school there.

            Patricia A. Easterday of Indiana inquired about information on Minerva Joseph who was born in the late 1800’s in Breathitt County, KY.  She was a daughter of John Joseph, Jr.  She would like to find a date of death for her and a burial site.  From info turned in by Brenda Jenkins for the Mann family book we find that Minerva Joseph and one Silvester Howard were the parents of a daughter Margaret Ann Howard who was born in 1885 and died in 1948.  She married Silvester “Buck” Howard b. 7 Sep 1882 Breathitt Co. KY d. 11 Jan 1950 (buried in Tyra Cemetery, Breathitt Co. KY), a son of William Howard and Lee Esther Mann.  Patricia mentioned that her Minerva Joseph had children with a Silvester Howard who in later years lived with Elizabeth Blanton.

Any additional info on this family would be of help to us in adding to what we have in the Mann family book and the Joseph family book. 

            We recently received some info on the descendants of Kennis Mann and Polly Arnett, from Glen and Sissy Howard of Romulus, MI.  One of their children was Olen Mann.  Olen was born 30 Mar 1924 in Magoffin County, a son of Keenis Mann and Polly Arnett.  Olen married Sally Stepp.  He died 31 Jan 1982 in Richland, OH.  Another of Keenis’s children was Elva Mann who married Arden Howard.  Elva was one of our Grand Marshals during the Mann Founders Day in 2009 and her family has provided a good record of their family. 

The material on the families of Elijah Mann and the family of Wile & Minnie Mann Howard provided by Glen and Sissy will be typed into our Mann family manuscript. 

             Please write to us at Magoffin County Historical Society, PO Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 or email ([email protected]).