Our Magoffin County Historical Society has spent the years
since 1978 in gathering and assimilating genealogical and historical
information about our area and the people who have lived here. Our Labor
Day Founders Days each year focused on a family name and we concentrated
on finding all the family history we could on the chosen family name and
printing it in book form. The May family was the focus of our attention
back in 1992.
This week we had Jon Klossterhouse of Milford, Wisconsin
visiting searching for info on his mother’s family. Thanks to Larry K.
Blanton of Lucasville, OH, Lela Johnson, B. David May of TX, Julia Basham
and all the others who shared info for the May family book, we were able
to find Jon’s family rather quickly. His mother was Lela Fairchild,
daughter of Emmons Blaine Fairchild and Celia Rebecca May.
Emmons Blaine Fairchild was a son of Henry Frank Fairchild
(1865-1955) and Nannie Lee Johnston (1873-1939). Henry Frank was a son of
John Henry Fairchild (b. 1835 Floyd Co. KY d. 1890 Johnson Co. KY) and
Clarinda May (b. 1835 Floyd Co. KY d. 1891 Lakeville, Magoffin Co. KY).
John H. Fairchild (b. 16 Oct 1835-d. 5 Oct 1890 of typhoid)
was a son of Asa J. Fairchild (b. 1800 NC d. 1855 Johnson Co. KY) and
Nancy Conley (b. 1813 NC d. 1896 Johnson Co. KY). Asa was a son of
Revolutionary War soldier Abiud Fairchild (1762-1848) and Rebecca
Jackson.
Abiud Fairchild was born in North Carolina and died in Johnson
County, KY. He is buried in the Patty Flat Cemetery, Flat Gap, Johnson Co.
KY. His name is also on the DAR Memorial Marker for Revolutionary
Soldiers located on the lawn of the Johnson County, KY courthouse. He is
said to be the son of Ebenezer Fairchild and Salome Goble.
Abiud’s grandson John H. Fairchild’s wife, Clarinda May was
born 21 Dec 1835 and died 2 Jan 1891 of typhoid. She was a daughter of
David May and Nancy Power.
John H. and Clarinda (May) Fairchild are buried in the
Fairchild Cemetery on Lakeville Road, Salyersville, KY.
David May was born in 1806 Virginia and died in 1855 Floyd Co.
KY. He was a son of Caleb May and Margaretta Patrick. David’s wife Nancy
Power was born in 1810 and died in 1889. She was a daughter of Lewis
Power and Elizabeth Prater.
According to info supplied by Anna Clay Lacy Preston who got
her info from the Bible of her grandmother Rhoda Ellen May Lacy, Caleb May
was born in 1781 and died in 1827 Floyd Co. KY. He had married in 1801
Russell Co. VA to Margaretta Patrick. She was born in 1783 Lee Co.
Virginia and died in 1861 Magoffin County, KY after a fall from a horse;
she was a daughter of William Patrick.
The family of Caleb May had first settled on Shelby Creek in
Pike County, KY after moving from Virginia. From there the family moved
to Hager Hill in Johnson County, KY then lived for a while at the head of
Burning Fork where Ivyton is now located. About 1820 Caleb and Margaretta
moved their family two miles west of present day Salyersville, He owned a
large boundary of land there and it is where he built his home and it is
where his youngest son, Caleb May, Jr. was born.
Caleb and Margaretta May were among the 1810 charter members
of the Burning Springs Church. Church services are still being held today
in the church’s present location near the mouth of Coal Branch here in
Salyersville.
At his death Caleb May, Sr. was buried on his farm, sometimes known as the
Henry May Cemetery and by others as simply the May Cemetery. This is the
location of the burials of many descendants of Caleb May and of James
May. The area was a part of Floyd County, KY at that time. Jon and his
wife Vicki were going to visit the Caleb May Cemetery here in Magoffin and
continue on to Johnson County to find the Abiud Fairchild gravesite after
leaving our historical society.
Our visitor Jon’s maternal grandmother Celia Rebecca May was born in 1896
and died in 1970. She was a daughter of Henry Clay May (1860-1948) and his
first wife Mary Angeline Wilson. Mary Angeline was born in 1862 Wolfe Co.
KY and died in 1925 Boyd Co. KY. They are buried in the Magoffin County
May Cemetery.
Henry Clay May was also a descendant of Caleb and Margaretta May through
their son Samuel L. May. Samuel was born in 1815 and died in 1888. His
wife was Celia Powers, daughter of Captain Lewis Power and Elizabeth
Prater.
Henry Clay’s wife Mary Angeline was a daughter of John Floyd Wilson (b.
1834 d. 1919) and Rebecca Prater (b. 1839-d. 1880).
Here we see that Jon has another line of descendancy from Revolutionary
War soldier Archibald Prater as John Floyd Wilson’s wife was Rebecca
Prater, a daughter of John Prater II (1814-1901) and Jemima Auxier. John
II was a son of John Prater and Mary Brenton. John Prater I was a son of
Archibald Prater and Sally Fugate.
John Prater, Jr.’s wife Jemima Auxier was born in 1818 and died in 1903, a
daughter of Samuel Lewis Auxier and Rebecca Phillips.
Some of the information in this article came from Dr. Dave Auxier of TN
who contributed it for our Prater book revision that we have been working
on.
It
is always a pleasure to learn of the extended history of the early
settlers of our area and to hear of the many places in the world where
they have located. We invite you to send your family history story to us
at Magoffin County Historical Society, PO Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465,
or email
[email protected].
Magoffin County Historical
Society
