"March is a restless month", is a quote from the first chapter of the book Out In The Woods, A Bird Watcher’s Year by author Ora E. Anderson, and is certainly filled with truth. This chapter ends with the observation "…this changing of the guard between the dusting of snow that came last evening and the reluctant sun that is promised for tomorrow" is much what we have in the way of weather this month of March 2015.

Ora E. Anderson’s book covers the seasons of the year with poems and essays of his life-long observations of nature. Anderson was a journalist, conservationist, naturalist and artist of much renown and Magoffin County is proud to be the birthplace of such an amazing man.

Ora Eaton "Andy" Anderson was born 5 Oct 1911 in a log cabin on Mill Branch of Middle Fork, Hendricks, KY. His parents were Proctor Anderson and Martha Ann Green.

This family has deep roots in Magoffin and surrounding counties. Many of you will be able to find a connection with the family of Ora Anderson.

Ora’s father Proctor was a son of George Washington Anderson and Francis Jackson. G. W. Anderson was a son of James Anderson and Sarah Causby Horton. Francis Jackson was a daughter of John Jackson and Mary Ann "Polly" Minix. Polly Minix was a daughter of James Minix and his second wife Fanny Adams. James Minix was a son of Charles Minix and Fanny Rickmond.

Proctor Anderson’s wife Martha Ann was a daughter of Daniel Boone Green and Queen Victoria Gose (1854-1932). Daniel Boone Green was a son of Benjamin Franklin Green and Rhoda Howard. Rhoda was a daughter of Benjamin Howard and Nancy Adams. Benjamin was a son of William Howard and Mary "Polly Salyer.

This Benjamin Franklin Green was a Civil War soldier, born in 1835, parents believed to be Elijah Green. He entered the Confederate army during the Civil War and served in Co. B, 10^th KY Cav. He was killed at age 28 on 22 Oct 1863 in Magoffin County.

Daniel B. Green’s wife Queen Victoria Gose was a daughter of Phillip Gose (1825-1902) and Mary "Polly" Arnett. Phillip Gose was a son of Stephen Gose, Jr. b. 1825 in the area of Middle Fork that is now Magoffin County and where he +died in 1902. Polly Arnett, wife of Phillip Gose, was a daughter of Reuben Arnett and Susan Kilgore. Reuben was a son of David and Leticia Arnett of Harlan Co. KY. Susan Kilgore is said to be a daughter of Hiram Kilgore.

The Proctor Anderson family moved to "the onion fields" in northwestern Ohio in search of work when Ora was a very young child. They moved back to Magoffin County in 1913 but two years later relocated in Catlettsburg, KY where they remained until 1929. We find them there in the 1920 census of Boyd County. Proctor Anderson was age 34, wife Martha was age 32 and in the household were three children (1) Nelda Anderson age 13, (2) Ora Anderson age 10 and (3) Delores Anderson age 8.

By 1930 the family lived in Jackson Co. OH, Scioto Township. Daughter Nelda had married Henry A. Biederman and had two children, still living in her parent’s household. Proctor and Martha’s son Ora E. Anderson was age 18 at this time.

By 1940 Ora Anderson had married Harriet Jacoby and lived in Perry Township of Columbus, OH where his occupation was listed as Editor. They had one daughter, Jane Anderson, age 1.

Anderson was editor of the Jackson Herald newspaper for a period of time and later became editor of a farm newspaper, Farm and Dairy in northeastern Ohio. A banking career followed and Ora retired in 1972 as executive manager of the Ohio Bankers Association.

After retiring he and his wife bought her childhood family farm in Athens County, Ohio which they converted into a nature preserve. He received many honors as a naturalist, among them he was a recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Award for Arts in 1999 and inducted in 2006 into the Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame.

Ora E. Anderson died at the age of ninety-four on 16^th of August, 2006 at The Plains, Athens, Ohio. His legacy lives on in the nature trail named in his honor in the Rutherford Wetland, Athens District of the Wayne National Forest, Nelsonville, Ohio and the Ora E. Anderson Scholarship. This scholarship is available to high school seniors or GED graduates who live in one of the 32 Appalachian Ohio counties.

Ora Anderson’s book was printed by the Ohio University Press and is available at many books stores and locations on-line.

We are honored to have one of the wonderful wooden bird carvings done my Ora Anderson.

Ora visited us here at the Magoffin County Historical Society when we were working on our Life Along the Licking River series of books. He contributed several Magoffin County related stories and pictures for volume four of this set of our books.