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  Magoffin County Historical Society 
"Preserving Our Past for the Future"

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This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the OCTOBER 22, 2015 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

The Salyersville Independent 
P. O. Box 29, Salyersville, KY 41465. Telephone (606) 349-2915.  Yearly subscription rates are $24.00 in Kentucky and $32.00 per year out of state.

Lots of times our visitors will tell us they are visiting us on a special occasion in their lives. Last week, Brenda and Charlie Strothman of Louisville, KY came on their 43rd wedding anniversary! They had visited a few years ago working on their Howard ancestry. We were honored to have them with us again on such a significant day. Brenda is a descendant of Preston Howard b. 1810/12.

The 1840 Breathitt Co. KY census shows Preston Howard living as a near neighbor to several of our early ancestors: Hugh Patrick, George Bradley, George Allen, and William Spry, among others.

He gives his birthplace as Tennessee in the 1850 Breathitt Co. KY census. He married about 1835 to Sarah "Sally" McDaniel. In 1850 their children were named: (1) Russell Howard age 15, (2) Miles Howard age 12, (3) S. Howard age 10, (4) Elizabeth Howard age 9, (5) Eliza Howard age 7, (6) Esther Howard age 5 and (7) John Howard age 2. By the time of the 1860 Breathitt Co. KY census the following children were listed: (1) Miles age 24, (2) Elizabeth age 18, (3) Eliza age 16, (4) Esther age 13, (5) John age 11 and (6) Mahala age 3. Brenda’s ancestor is Preston Howard’s son Russell who married Muhulda Young.

1870 finds this Howard family in Jackson Co. KY with an address of Middle Fork, KY. Preston and Sarah both gave their ages as 58. Son John was 21, dau Mahala was 14 and son Jackson was 9. Also in the household is believed to be their daughter Eliza. She was listed as Eliza Cornett age 27, housekeeper, with children Sarah Ann Cornett age 9 and Russell Cornett age 4.

Stephen Bailey of McHenry, Mississippi was a first time visitor but we have had correspondence with him and he has contributed material for our quarterly Journals. The Summer Journal of 2014 has material on his ancestors, Alfred Bailey (b. 1825) and wife Margaret "Peggy" Adams. He descends from Alfred through a son William A. Bailey who married in 1889 to Teda Easter Cole, dau of James Cole and Arminta (Hampton) Montgomery. William A. and Easter had a son Jasper Bailey b. 30 Oct 1892 and d. 1963 in Mingo Co. WV. Jasper married 24 Jul 1910 to Louisa Cole, dau of Charlie Cole and Eliza Ann Perkins Nickles.

Another visitor, Jessie Risner of New Salisbury, IN, who was just passing by saw our genealogy library and stopped in. Jessie Risner is a grandson of Farrish Risner and Caroline Fletcher. Farrish was a son of John White Risner and Amanda Marshall. Farrish’s wife Caroline (b. 1891) was a dau of Buell Fletcher and Louisa Risner.

John White Risner was born in 1858, son of Jacob and Mary Ann (Marshall) Risner. John W. married Amanda Marshall, dau of William "Doby Bill" and America (Bradley) Marshall.

Caroline Fletcher Risner’s grandparents were Isaac Fletcher b. 1821 and wife Susannah Gilbert; also Michael Risner and wife Martha Hamilton. Michael Risner was a Union soldier in the Civil War, Co. F, 14th KY Inf. His parents were James Risner and Margaret Adams.

The family of Acro Castle, including his 88 year-old daughter Bessie, were here recently seeking birth and death dates in order to get a memorial marker for him. Acro Castle was born in October 1894 and lived at Pyramid in Floyd Co. KY. He was the son of Elbert Castle and Rhoda Prater; he was married to Louraney Stephens. Acro was a coal miner and died 27 Mar 1936 in a slate fall while loading coal. We hope the family will keep in touch with us and let us know more about the descendants of Henry and Phoebe Castle and also Samuel and Rebecca (Pitts) Prater.

David F. Conley of Rodney, MI came to visit. His family is interested in knowing the origin of the Conley family known by the nickname "Poody" Conley.

Please contact us with any information by writing to Magoffin County Historical Society, PO Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 or email [email protected].

It was very pleasant to have some of our out-of-state regular visitors stop to see us on their visit to Magoffin County this month. Ralph, Shirley and Burns, part of the "Wiley Clan" came in to say hello. All are children of Frank Wiley and Susie Whitaker. Frank was the son of William Elsey Wiley and Elizabeth Wheatley. Susie was a dau of Henry Clay Whitaker and Gardia Preston.

Our Fall Journal has been sent out to members and we have gotten some much appreciated notes and phone calls from our readers. It lets us know our work has been of help and interest to our members.

A friend of the historical society died this week. Fonzie Howard, a constable of District 2, died October 12th. Fonzie had brought in two very large notebooks containing memorial cards from the many funeral processions he had escorted down through the years. This material is a valuable addition to our collection of family history items. We appreciate Fonzie’s service and his gift to the historical society.

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Last modified:      Saturday, October 24, 2015