We have the Spring Journal of the Magoffin County Historical Society in the mail! It has been a busy week with printing chores and spring clean-up. The weather has been topsy-turvy but has finally settled into what we believe is truly spring (smile).

Robin Collins Garcia of South Carolina was one of our visitors this week and we worked with her to complete her ancestor chart to give her a basis to continue with family research. Her lineage connects with a lot of people in our area so we are sharing some of our findings through this column that may be of help to others. As always, we would appreciate hearing from you with any additions and/or corrections to what you find here. Please contact us by writing Magoffin County Historical Society, PO Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 or email [email protected]. Our genealogy library is located at 191 South Church Street in Salyersville, next door to the Hall Community Center, if you would like to come in to visit.

Robin’s paternal grandparents were Daniel Boone Collins and Lola Perkins who were married in 1913 Magoffin County. They lived in the Ivyton area of Magoffin County. Daniel Boone was the youngest child of Benjamin Collins and Mary Jane. His brothers were (1) Harvey Collins b. 1889, (2) Buddy Collins b. 1893 m. Golda Perkins and (3) Flem Collins b. 1895 m. Teeny Adams. Benjamin Collins was born 10 Oct 1870 and died 14 Mar 1935 at Ivyton. The person who gave info on his death certificate was Berry Collins of Swampton, KY. He named Fairline Cole as the mother of Ben but all census records have her name as Mary Jane.

We have found no definite information on Ben’s wife Mary Jane to determine her parentage. We did find a marriage of a Benjamin F. Collins to a Jane Brown in 1880 Magoffin County. It appears to be the same family. We do not know if Brown was Jane’s maiden name or if she had been previously married.

In 1900 Magoffin census, Mary Jane reported having 7 children born with 4 living (those are named above). The 1910 census reports that she has been twice married. By 1920 all the children of Ben and Mary Jane are gone from their household.

Ben Collins was a son of John Collins b. 1834, son of Shepherd Collins and Polly. By 1860 Breathitt Co. KY John at age 26 was married to Louisa Cole age 20. They had two children Fielden Collins age 4 and Polly Ann Collins age 2. All gave Perry Co. KY as their birthplaces. The 1870 Breathitt Co. KY census lists additional children for John and Louisa. They were Polly Ann Collins b. 1860, Shepherd Collins b. 1863, Jane Collins b. 1865, Wallace Collins b. 1866 and Benjamin Collins b. 1869. John’s parents Shepherd and Mary Ann "Polly" Collins lived next door.

By 1880 John and Louisa were listed as living in Morehead, Rowan Co. KY. Their son Shepherd Collins had married Elizabeth and lived in his parent’s household. Also at home were Fielden, Wallace, Mary Ann, and Benjamin. Additionally listed as daughters of John and Louisa were Mahala Collins age 6, Franky Collins age 4 and Lourena Collins age 3.

Robin’s maternal grandmother Lola, wife of Daniel Boone Collins, was the daughter of William R. Perkins and Barbara Wadkins. William R. was a son of George Washington Perkins b. 1842. He married Biddy on 19 Aug 1861 in Magoffin Co. KY. Biddy was born in 1840, dau of William Anderson Cole and Rebecca Wadkins.

We hope to get some feedback on the above genealogy and then we will delve into the other part of Robin’s paternal line.

Robin was particularly interested in her ancestor Charles R. Stone b. 1821 d. 1894. He married in 1844 to Zelphia Adams, dau of Stephen Adams. Zelphia was a sister to William "Uncle Billy" Adams, town founder of Adamsville which was renamed Salyersville when Magoffin County was formed in 1860.

Zelphia was first married to Randolph Holbrook who died in 1840. The children of Zelphia and Randolph were (1) Kelsey Holbrook m. Rutha Mullins, (2) Nancy Holbrook m. Richard Lee Spradlin, (3) Benjamin "Preacher Ben" Holbrook m. Rhoda Spradlin, (4) Randolph Holbrook, Jr. m. Mary Hamilton, (5) Mary Holbrook m. James Stone and (6) Elizabeth Holbrook m. Randolph Hargis Holbrook.

The children of Zelphia and Charles R. Stone were (7) Stephen Stone b. 1848 m. 1^st Mary Crace, m. 2^nd Emily Jane Risner and m. 3^rd Lula Click; (8) Margaret Stone b. 1850 m. -?- Kendall, (9) Sirilda Francis Stone b. 1851 m. Henry Crace, (10) Rebecca Stone b. 1853 m. Anthony Hackworth, (11) George M. D. Stone b. 1855 m. 1^st Amanda Marshall and m. 2^nd -?-, and (12) Sarah Parthena Stone b. 1859 m. Wesley Prater.

Our friend Bernice Moore whom we lost in December of 2015 was very knowledgeable of the families in the Ivyton area. In 1993 she wrote an article for our quarterly Journal in which she gave an account of the life of Steve Stone. She said Steve Stone was buried in the old Doc Miller Cemetery, along with his 2^nd wife Emily Jane Risner and other family members. Emily Jane was a daughter of Civil War soldier Meredith Risner and Betty Whitaker. Emily Jane has a large marker but there was none at the gravesite of Steve Stone when the article was written. Bernice believed that Steve’s parents, Charles R. Stone and Zelphia Adams Holbrook Stone were also buried there.

We would like to hear from any descendants or researchers of the above mentioned families.