Membership renewals for the year 2017 to our quarterly Journal of the Magoffin County Historical Society are continuing to come in and several people have taken a moment to write a personal note on their forms. These have given us much encouragement and uplifted our spirits. We noted quite a few people also included gift memberships to friends and family and we are very thankful for that. Many hours and days of work go into getting an issue of the Journal ready to send out and our volunteers appreciate knowing their efforts are enjoyed.

For a few years now we have devoted our first column of the new year in remembrance of those whom we lost in the previous year. In our incoming mail were a few notices of some of our departed Magoffin County citizens who lived elsewhere and whose funeral announcements did not appear in our Salyersville Independent. Two of these came from Lena Edwards: (1) World War II Veteran Roy Gullett b. 22 Jan 1924 Tick Lick, Magoffin Co. d. 31 Jul 2016 Fairborn, OH, son of Leander "Lee" Gullett and Manda Hill, and (2) Kenneth B. Hunley b. 15 Sep 1935 Twin Lick, Magoffin Co. d. 25 Aug 2016 Dayton, OH, son of Beecher Hunley and Mollie Hale.

Another notice came from Linda Cromey for: (3) Ocie Rowe b. 5 Mar 1929 Tip Top, Magoffin Co. KY d. 30 Dec 2016 Valparaiso, IN, son of John Rowe and Myrtle Montgomery. The 4^th notice was received from Helen Lou Johnson for her sister Juanita Hazel Brashear b. 16 Aug 1932 Salyersville, KY d. 12 Nov 2016 Lexington, KY, dau of James Madison "Matt" Patrick and Esther Meadows.

We value these notices and highly respect those who sent them to help preserve their connections to Magoffin County, the place of their birth.

Judy Wireman Salyer of Gypsy, KY occasionally sends us genealogy material and we were intrigued by her latest contribution. She found a news item from The Daily Republican newspaper, dated 11 Apr 1896.

The 1896 article reads: "It is generally supposed that family resemblances are confined to the animal world," said J. L. Hagans of Salyersville, KY, at the Metropolitan. "But on the outskirts of Salyersville is an oak tree which as soon as a person sees it recalls the famous charter oak. It is frequently commented upon, and now that the original charter oak is broken, men who have seen pictures of what it used to be and then look at the Kentucky tree instantly recognize that it is an exact counterpart of the old tree. It is the child of the original charter oak. Sixty years ago Judge Smith, who is still living, at a very advanced age, in Cincinnati, visited Hartford and brought home a pocketful of acorns from the charter oak. These were planted, and the result is the tree that is a counterpart of its famous parent." - Washington Star

Anyone who has seen the Connecticut state quarter is familiar with the "Charter Oak" which is depicted on the back of the quarter. The large white oak in Hartford, CT lived many years until 1856 when a storm felled the tree. A legend tells that it was so named because the Charter of 1662 was hidden in the tree and so the tree became a symbol of American Independence.

The 1662 Charter was a document secured from Charles II of England that gave the people of Connecticut legal basis for their colony.

We did not completely locate the "J. L. Hagans" mentioned in the article but a search of the Hagans/Higgins families shows several possibilities for his identity.

One William R. Hagins was a Revolutionary War soldier. His wife was Polly Linville. They were the parents of (1) Gilbert Hagins b. 1795 NC, (2) John Hagins m. Luraney Polly, (3) Elisha Hagins of Perry Co. KY, (4) Abbie Hagins married in Perry Co. KY to Allen Christian, (5) Susannah Hagins m. 1818 Floyd Co. KY to John Craft; (6) Daniel Hagins m. 1822 Letcher Co. KY to Elizabeth Stamper, (7) Thomas Hagins m. 1819 Floyd Co. KY to Rebecca Walters, (8) Sarah Hagins m. Curt Trusty and (9) David Hagins m. Susannah Combs.

We have descendants of the Susannah & John Craft family in Magoffin as well as several of William R. Hagins children.

Perhaps most with a Hagins/Higgins ancestor will connect with Thomas and Rebecca (Walters) Hagins. Their children were (1) Elizabeth Hagins m. W. S. Allen, (2) John Hagins b. 2 Nov 1822 d. 17 Jan 1911 Breathitt Co. KY (buried Hendricks, KY) m. Phoebe Howard, (3) Mahala Hagins, (4) Louraney Hagins, (5) Eliza J. Hagins, (6) Nancy Hagins m. Andrew Jackson May, (7) Delila Hagins and (8) Fannie Hagins m. Joseph Alley.

Their son John Hagins and wife Phoebe Howard were the parents of (1) Branch Higgins m. Cornelia "Nelis" Howard, (2) Amanda Higgins b. 1853 Quicksand, Breathitt Co. KY m. Amos "Monk" Patrick, (3) Rebecca Higgins m. Harrison Gregory Arnett, (4) B. Howard Higgins b. 1858, (5) Nancy "Nannie" Higgins m. Russell Arnett and Irvin Bill Patrick, (6) Joseph G. Higgins m. Sarah Gose, dau of Phillip Gose, (7) John Thomas Higgins b. 1869 d. 1903, (8) Leslie Higgins b. 1873 m. Verna Arnett and (9) George Higgins b. 1874 m. Mauda Risner.

It would be very interesting to learn more about the Salyersville Charter Oak replica, the J. L. Hagins who spoke to the reporter in 1896 and the "Judge Smith" who lived in Cincinnati in 1896 and who was credited with planting the acorn from the original tree.

Write us at Magoffin County Historical Society, PO Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 (email: [email protected])