We had an enjoyable time at the regular meeting of the Magoffin County Historical Society on the 16th, the third Sunday in October.

Meeting with us again were Tom and Gloria (Lykins) Hill of Staffordsville, KY. We reported on one of their earlier visits and noted that Gloria was especially interested in locating the gravesite of Kate Marshall who married in 1897 Magoffin County to Miles Cole, a son of Dial Cole and Rebecca Fletcher. Miles’ and Kate’s daughter Polly Cole had married Jasper Miller, Gloria’s ancestors.

Along with our other visitors were Dallas and Kay Bentley, Jimmie Allen, Dorothy Wireman, Jessica Howard and Todd Preston. Kay and Gloria found they were related through the Penix family. Jimmie knew several members of Gloria’s Lykins family.

We learned via our Facebook page that Ed Cooper of Tennessee was at our historical society on Saturday, October 16^th. Unfortunately our library was closed that day but we understand that Ed got to visit several locations in Magoffin, including our Pioneer Village and the Mouth of Buffalo Cemetery.

As it happens quite often we learn more about our eastern Kentucky family while helping visitors at our library. Louise Prater Martin of West Liberty, KY is a granddaughter of John Reece and Edna (Bailey) Prater and of Park and Reva (Spencer) Oney.

We will work on some of Louise’s genealogy for this column. We were fortunate to have the help of Martha Heinemann of Memphis, TN, Anna Harris of Hilliard, OH, Jane Turner Hamm of Louisville, KY and Chester Donald Prater of Ashland, KY in helping us compile the early genealogy of this Prater line. There is still much that needs to be added to the later generations in our Prater manuscript that is still being worked on.

Louise descends from Jonathan Prater, the Revolutionary War soldier who was a brother to Archibald Prater, also a Revolutionary War soldier. Jonathan Prater and his wife Elizabeth Musick were both born in Virginia.

There are many Prater’s with the same given names in various generations so it is difficult at times to determine the correct family for each ancestor. Any corrected and/or additional information would be very helpful. Please write to us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41454 (our email address is [email protected])

One of Jonathan and Elizabeth’s children was James Wesley Prater who was born in 1782 VA and died in 1855 Morgan Co. KY. James Wesley served in the War of 1812 and received a pension for his service with his widow also receiving a pension after his death.

James Wesley Prater’s wife was Phoebe Griffith born about 1796. They married in 1813 in Tazewell Co. VA at the home of John Griffith. They moved from Virginia to Caney Creek on the Licking River in Morgan County, KY about 1845.

James Wesley and Phoebe appear in the Morgan County census of 1850; at that time James was age 65 and his wife was age 54. They had their three youngest children in their household.

The Prater info from those listed above has ten children born to James Wesley and Phoebe Prater. They are (1) George Washington Prater b. 1813 m. Sarah Jane Pruitt/Prewitt and lived in Lewis Co. KY, (2) Elizabeth "Betsy" Prater b. 1816 m. Aaron Quicksell, (3) Sarah Prater b. 1817 m. 1^st to Quinton Pursell and m. 2^nd to James Neff, (4) John G. Prater b. 1818 m. Mahala -?-, (5) Dorcas Prater b. 1822 m. 1^st William King and m. 2^nd Harmon Lewis, (6) William C. Prater b. 1828 m. Margaret Gillmore, (7) James Wesley "J. W." Prater, Jr. b. 1828 m. Lucinda Lykins, (8) Elihu Prater b. 1830 m. Frances E. Wilson, (9) Harvey Leander Prater b. 1835 m. Melford Ratliff and (10) Louisa Prater b. 1838 m. William Jackson Nickell.

Our visitor’s paternal Prater ancestor’s names were Elihu and Frances (Wilson) Prater whose son James C. Prater married Printhia Reed, a daughter of Aronton Reed and Mary "Polly" Whitt.

Elihu "Eli" Prater and his wife Frances Wilson b. 1835 d. 1897, a dau of Andrew Wilson and Betty Fugett, were married in Morgan County, KY in 1853. They were the parents of (1) Isaac N. Prater b. in December of 1853 and died 11 months later; (2) Sarah E. Prater b. 1856, (3) James C. Prater (our visitor’s ancestor), (4) John Prater b. 1861, (5) William Prater b. 1863, (6) Margaret Prater b. 1865 m. Rance Oney and (7) Shelby Prater b. 1867. This family is listed in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 Morgan County census records.

Elihu Prater’s death certificate gives his dates as b. 20 Sep 1830 and d. 4 May 1916, buried at the R. W. Davis Cemetery at Insko, KY. We have not yet found him in the 1900 and 1910 census records and will continue looking.

Louise’s maternal Prater line goes back to James Wesley and Phoebe Prater’s son Harvey Leander Prater. Harvey was a 16 year-old "laborer" in the home William and Prudence Lykins in 1850 Morgan County. Harvey married Melford Ratliff in 1856 Morgan Co. KY by William Lykins. The 1860 Morgan census lists his mother Phoebe (Griffith) Prater at age 65 in Harvey and Melford’s household.

Harvey Leander Prater apparently died sometime between 1870 and 1880. His wife Melford lived with their son James Prater and wife Sarah at Bloomington in Magoffin County in 1900. Melford was in the home of a son William Jackson Prater in the 1910 and 1920 Morgan County census records.

Our visitor’s main research question concerns a son of Harvey and Melford. The son James "Jim" A. Prater first marriage was in 1875 Magoffin County to one Nancy Jane Patrick. Nancy died after the birth of two daughters. Who was Nancy Jane Patrick?