27 June 2010

Service Motor Car Co., Louisa, Lawrence County, Kentucky


Photograph from the collection of John Shouse Martin. Please ask permission to copy this photograph.

From other pictures in the collection I believe this photograph to be in the mid to late 1920's or early 1930's.

Anyone with further information on this company please feel free to leave a comment below.

23 June 2010

An Interview with Ruth Hazlett Faulkner

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber

Ruth Hazlett Faulkner's obituary appeared in the Daily Independent, Ashland, Kentucky, Monday, June 21, 2010. I have mentioned a comment she made concerning Memorial Day in past blogs but never mentioned her by name. As I read her obituary my mind went back to the interview I did at her home in January 2006.

When interviewing anyone for genealogical purposes I always carry a tiny tape recorder and usually transcribe the material when I get home. Checking Family Lineage Investigations files, I found the tape and the transcription.

Ruth was 95 years old when I visited with her at her home on Edgewood in Ashland, Kentucky. While there she gave me several grainy copies of old photographs in her possession.

Ruth grew up on Clay Jack, Boyd County and the picture is of the old Hazlett home that is no longer standing. William R. and Elizabeth Hazlett are in the buggy in the picture.


Ruth had invited me to her home because she wished to talk about the Robert Hazlett Cemetery, also known as Hazel Dale Cemetery on Clay Jack. Ruth thought it would be nice to plant some Walnut trees in the cemetery but was no longer able to visit herself. She provided me with a handwritten list of people she remembered buried in the family cemetery which I later compared with with Boyd County Cemetery Database.

Ruth, one of six children, remembered her brother Wilbur Hazlett born 7 July 1916 when she was only 5 years old. Wilbur died 11 January 1917 and was buried in the cemetery. Talking about her mother and the twins Ruth said "...twins with red hair and she felt like the good Lord was punishing her because she didn't like red hair and she had two boys with red hair. One of them died at six months old with chicken pox."

Ruth reminisced about going to school. "...[Hazel Dale School]... you turn up Clay Jack Road it is land right where you turn. It [is] like an acre or something. ...one of the Hazlett's donated the land for the cemetery and the other donated the land for the school....May Fannin Lockwood she sold it...."

While we talked Ruth's memory would jump around. But during our conversation continued to mention Hazel Dale School. She talked about it being a one room school and when asked about her first teacher she believed it was Junior Fields then Clyde Bolt. " [The boys] were all mean...The girls sat on one side and the boys on the other. We didn't play together."

"And I remember a neighbor lady came and she had her little boy about my age and mom said, she was visiting with the neighbor ...she said take Howse [Harris] out to play...I got up and whispered to mother But he is a boy. She said well that is alright he is used to playing with his sisters you can play with him it will be alright. So I said come on Howse and I took him out in the sand pile and I built a sand castle, built a farm and had people, cattle and had a fence around it. ...I told dad I got everything and I have a garden laid out but I don't have any seeds. Dad said he would give me seeds to put in my garden so he got me some beans..."

She attended high school with Martha Klaiber. The school was at Cannonsburg and both she and Martha stayed with the Eastham family, coming home on Friday for the weekend. It was to far to go to school otherwise.

When she was older Ruth attended Morehead for less than a year and qualified as a teacher but there were more teachers than schools in Boyd County and she did not like being a substitute so begged her parents to go back to school. Ruth then attended Eastern to study business. During WWII she worked at Willow Run near Yipsalaniti and Detroit, Michigan. She helped build radios for B-52's matching up the wiring.

"My family was Baptist. But it kinda fell by the wayside. The Baptist ...my dad...had a little bit of education for an old timer. They got in the church, you know, as leaders, and were not qualified, and he just could not take it so he didn't go anymore...Mt. Olivet. So we didn't go anywhere for a long time and then when I got up in high school and got to know the Hogan's...lived down by the church...So I started going to the Methodist Sunday School and dad's first cousin, a McGlothlin...was the Sunday school teacher...Dova Hazlett married a McGlothlin." [Married John Chapman McGlothlin - tk note.]

"Then Trudi Hazlett married Ed Chaffins." I asked her if she was a short lady. "Yes a little dwarf. They had two. They had one that was smaller than Trudi that never married. She died rather young."

Ruth mentioned several times that the girls all wore ribbons in their hair. She showed a picture of the Hazlett reunion on Bear Creek at the L. C. [Tobe] Hazlett farm. The picture included the house in the background which Ruth informed me later burned down. As she remembered the reunion she described the afternoon. "...they killed a fatted calf and cooked all kinds of chicken...they put tables along that fence line...They come in there and cooked. And maybe some of them brought them with them...They killed a beef and anyway I just remember having a lot to eat and having my picture made. And Oh they had ice cream that the boys, the young people, made after we all ate...the boys turned, mostly the crank and made the ice cream. They had a great big ice cream maker...we never did have one...."

The ice cream triggered another memory with Ruth because they did not have the ice cream machine. "...we had such cold, cold winters and we had a lot of rocks on the property. Caves. And the water that was flowing over these would form big icicles so it might be a warm day in March or February and we would take, the kids would take a bucket, a big tub and go up on the hill and get the ice. While we was gone mother would be mixing up the ice cream and we would come down and the way we would do it. She put the ice cream in a gallon syrup bucket then we would put that ice all around it in a bigger container and would just, took that bucket with a bail and went around and around and around and around. And dad said he didn't like it, it was to cold. We all loved it. And Mom was right there with us."

When speaking of her parents Ruth became very lively. "She [her mother] was eight years younger than dad and a little more lively. Dad was anemic part of the time and he just had some problems. Like he just didn't have the energy. But he always had help on the farm...he had a rent house and he kept, I'll tell you what he did. A family man, he give him a dollar a day, free rent, a gallon of milk a day, a garden spot, I forget what else... we had a cellar, a nice cellar and all that concrete from the kitchen door into that cellar and it had shelves in there to keep canned goods. It had a pump right outside that went through and had like a trough built [of] concrete and cold water ran through there. Mom put milk and butter and she could even put set jello in there. It was cold water flowing through there. ...we had another we called the smoke house. Great big, it was originally a old school house. Mother and dad bought it for $100.00 and had it moved. It was the original school house...Hazel Dale. And they built another new school at Hazel Dale...and momma had a cook stove in it [smoke house] and when she was going to can instead of heating up the house she cooked out there in the smoke house...she did her canning out there. ... I guess looking back my family was pretty much up to date. We had a cream separator."

I asked her how many cattle her father ran. "Oh I don't know he sold off every year and that was cash. And he never did raise tobacco for sale. He raised a little for his own use and at one time he raised sheep but the dogs made it very difficult. They killed the sheep."

Asked how many acres the family owned she stated: "360. He bought the extra that was momma's old home. It joined after, I don't know, after I was pretty grown up. I guess. And we had a dairy farm and sold milk. So I milked my way through high school...the worst time was Sunday evening to go milk...you had to get your good clothes off and the day was over {laughing}. You couldn't be dressed up and cleaned up to milk cows... I remember momma sold butter. And she had her own bank account. Maybe a sugar bowl account or something. When she got married her daddy gave her a cow and ten hens and one rooster and that was it I guess. So she claimed that when a cow would have a calf that was hers...."

Ruth remembered the first car the family had. "Boggs the blacksmith came and took my older brother out every day for a week and taught him how to drive. So my dad said he would learn how to drive later. ...He just didn't jump right into anything. He had to think about it awhile. He could figure it all out ahead of time and then done better than he could johnny on the spot. Anyway I remember my brother took us and the family different places. Like homecoming at church and one time we went home with a couple. Mom said we was related, some kind of cousins. We went home to eat and my brother was about 15 or 16. He was driving us and had on a suit of clothes but the knickers were like here and then big fancy socks up here and a cap. The girls were quite a bit older and lived at this house and said you are to old to be dressed like that you need some long pants, you are a man now. So he wouldn't wear those clothes anymore. We came home and he said he had to have new clothes. And I guess they ordered them from Sears Roebuck."

I asked her if her father ever learned to drive. "Yes he was sorta forced. And my older sister was that way...didn't want to drive. She put it off for a long time ...I couldn't wait to drive. I was always wanting dad to let me. He let me drive when I was ten or eleven years old with him sitting beside me. You didn't have to have any [license] and then later my older sister was teaching. She went away to school when she was 14 and by 18 she was teaching. So you had to live away from home. And my job when I was think I was 15 when I got home from high school every Friday I had to go get my sister and bring her home for the weekend. That was my job. Everybody else was busy. You know farm work. You never get it done."

The complete interview will remain in my office files and eventually will be donated to the library along with the rest of my collection. I enjoyed my visit with Ruth very much and appreciate her sharing memories with me. Ruth was buried yesterday [June 22, 2010] in Rose Hill Cemetery, Ashland, Kentucky. Her obituary stated that she worked for Ashland Asphalt and Paving for many years. At the time of her death she was a member of the First Presbyterian church in Ashland.




19 June 2010

When Paths Meet. A Fathers Day Tribute

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber
2010 Updated Father's Day 2020

Elderly and frail, but sharp of mind, every time I came in the door for a visit with Julina Sexton Klaiber, nearly 100 years of age, she would tell me the same story. "I remember your father. He was just a kid...came out here to doctor the cattle. Why I knew he was just a youngster and couldn't know much. But he saved the cow [chuckle]. He had schoolin and done a real good job."

It was 1950 and thus began a relationship that would entwine both families lives and go on for generations. John Geer Martin was a graduate of the Veterinary School at Ohio State University and had been invited to Boyd County, Kentucky by Henry Riekert to set up a practice. John Henry Klaiber had an established dairy, one of the bigger operations in the county. This compiler was an infant and the Klaiber son, James David was 3 years old.

As a child I always tagged along with my father on his country call rounds. Even when small it was my job to carry his black medical bag and open the many gates that lead up the lanes throughout northeastern Kentucky. Nicknames were and are very popular in our neck of the woods. I was crowned mine by Claude Groves the first time I got on his bus in 7th grade. I was greeted with "Well if it ain't Little Doc." Jim would be dubbed "Brother James" when we attended high school together.

Many country calls were made up Long Branch Road. My father writes in his publication Never a Ho Hum Day about being kicked by a cow and keeping the boot on to continue his day before cutting it off that night and facing a broken foot. That accident happened in the Klaiber barn that stands on our property today. (This portion of the farm was sold since this was written and today, the barn still stands but is now owned by Dr. Pierzala.)

Packing the cattle records away, that were stored in the old milk house, certificates fluttered out that were signed by both my father John Geer Martin and John Henry Klaiber. Among my genealogical treasures I have a Rabies certificate with both names, as well. And that was the bond between our fathers.

John Henry Klaiber took great pride in his farm and was always alert to new technology. He was one of only a handful of farmers that was willing to accept veterinary medicine by letting go of home remedies and witchcraft treatments of animals that was prevalent in the early years of my father's practice. The health of his herd was testament, and a visual that helped Martin Veterinary Practice grow into one of the best in Kentucky at that time.

John Henry Klaiber was the youngest son. He played football at Boyd County High and when the war came he stayed home to care for the family farm. He loved this land and knew every blade of grass.

John Henry fulfilled his childhood dream. The family farm had been splintered by family inheritance. His vision was to make sure the farm stayed intact. Slowly he purchased back the rights from aunts and uncles and built a dairy herd that withstood the diseases seen in other areas. John Henry Klaiber also loved a good joke. He was known for a few tales that are dubbed golly whoopers followed by the Klaiber laugh.


John Geer Martin also had a dream. He always loved animals, especially a horse. He volunteered during World War II and flew cargo over the Hump. Even while in flight animals were on his mind as he saw the mules shipped over to help build the roads. He fulfilled his childhood dream to become a veterinarian when the war was over. His love of an aircraft would continue throughout his life. He became an Instrument instructor. I inherited his love of writing. He would write four books before his death that chronicle his dreams and life. With a gruff exterior and a heart of gold the man loved every small and large creature that God created.


Both men worked from before sunup until sundown and sometimes by the light of lanterns. Both men instilled their work ethics and the need for goals in their grandsons. Neither met their great grandchildren but would have adored them. As I write this I know these children and future children will have those values and  will grow and learn from the stories these two wonderful men left behind. A little golly whooper and Klaiber laugh won't hurt either.

John Henry Powell Sexton Klaiber 1911-1995
John Geer Martin 1924-1999
James David Klaiber married Teresa Lynn Martin April 1968

15 June 2010

Garner, Boyd County, KY 1923 Diary Entries

Transcribed and annotated by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2010

Diaries come in many shapes and forms. This particular diary is simply one, moth eaten sheet of paper, written in blue ink on the back of a NeedleCraft Magazine form letter.

The author is not cited nor is the year cited. However, with a little sleuthing this compiler has been able to ascertain that the compiler was Julina Leota Sexton Horton Klaiber. Besides the entry that President Harding has died, other entries concerning deaths have been confirmed as 1923 as well.

This flimsy, fragile, tattered sheet is just one of many treasured items discovered in the smoke house on property that has been in the Sexton and Klaiber family for 125 years.

The area is known as Big Garner and over the years the road has had several names including Poor House Fork and finally Long Branch Road. The smoke house and cellar still stand beside the well as a testament of days gone by.

Original entries are in bold. Annotations in brackets.


Jan. 23 Ruth Fannins baby died buried...[Hattie May Fannin daughter of Thomas & Ruth Stapleton Fannin. Buried in Sexton Cemetery on Pigeon Roost, Boyd County, KY. Death certificate 217.]

Feb. 7 School closed.

Feb. 19 Mrs. Fannin died buried the... [Samantha Jane Fannin born 20 June 1839. A widow, died at Coalton and buried at Fannin aka Sexton Cemetery. Death certificate 6755.]

March 3 Lelia [Horton Meeks, daughter of Julina and first husband William Horton] and Wilmont [Meeks son of Lelia] came out home went back. [Went back to Ironton, Lawrence County, OH where resided.]

March 5 Mrs. Lambert died buried 8, Thurs. [Marrieta,as spelled on the death certificate, born September 25, 1848, widowed. Daughter of Aaron and Miriam Eastham Davis. Burial was in Sexton Cemetery. The certificate says the death occurred on the 6th. Certificate 6756.]

March 20 Lizzie Sexton baby borned. [Juanita Catherine daughter of John Milton Sexton and Elizabeth - Lizzie- Mae Klaiber Sexton.]

March 31 Goldia and Mattie were out home.

April 1 Mr. Pinkins died buried Tue 3 [? very difficult to read.]

April 2 Ed Harris died at 5:30 buried -- 5 pm.

--- I did my first washing machine.

April 22 Sunday. Cynthia, Arthur and Martha [Klaiber would later marry 1. Zachary Jones 2. Fred Cox] went to Mrs. --

April 28. Saturday. Nick cat kittens born 3 Sat 12

May 1. Sunday. Martha went to Millards K. [Klaiber] I went to Lelia's.

May 19. Saturday Lelia, Wilmont and myself came home.

May 21. Tuesday. Millard [Klaiber] moved to Detroit.

June 5. Tom Kitten died.

--- Alice Kittens were borned.

June 22 Sunday. Mrs. Selbee died at 4:40. [Kate born 1866 wife of W. R. Selbee, buried in Banfield Cemetery.]

June 24 Lelia and Wilmont came out.

--- School at East View started. Mrs. Te--- [East View located on Garner on RR 854 facing the junction of Jacks Fork.]

---Willa S. baby borned and buried 31. [Willa Sexton. Infant death certificate 19880.]

---Thursday. Uncle Walter Reece, Bird and Paul Ambs were here. Went home from here Aug. 8. [Bird is Virginia the daughter of Walter and Martha Sexton Reece who married Paul Ambs.]

August 3. Friday. President Harding died buried the 10. None Charged.

August 4. Saturday. Gladys baby borned. [Gladys Klaiber married Richard Otworth, baby is Elizabeth Jane.]

August 6. Monday Fred Elzwick baby died buried 7. [Fred Elswick Jr. born at Normal, Boyd County, son of Fred and Melissa Boggs Elswick. Buried at Seed Tick in Lawrence County, Kentucky. Death certificate 19881.]

August 10. Friday. Ollia Church baby born. [The child was Virginia Evans born in Boyd County, certificate 39821. The index spells mother's given name as Ola.]

August 17. The horse fell on me.

--- Monday school began.

September 3. Aunt Miriam, Alle, Frank, Wren, John, Ethel come and we went ---

--- Saturday Goldia and Mattie married.

---Thursday Esther married.

September 17. Wednesday. Mr. John Lambert died buried the 20. [Death certificate states he died on the 18th. He was the son of Cal and Anna Hogan Lambert. Buried in Ashland Cemetery. Death certificate 27172.]

September 19. Friday Mrs. Hubert died buried 21.

September 21. Sunday. Martha Lucas burned died the 22. [Born 23 June1919. Her full name was Martha Edith. The certificate states she died on the 22nd. Her clothing caught fire. She was the daughter of Frank and Nancy Perkins Lucas. Burial was in Klaiber Cemetery.]

On the form letter side there are several entries written over the printed heading which are very hard to read:

--- Lewis Combs got killed. [The tombstone says 1923 with no month or day. A train hit his automobile. He was killed at Frazeysburg, Muskingum County, Ohio November 15, 1923. His usual residence was Columbus, Ohio. The certificate says he was to be buried in Ironton, Ohio. He is buried in Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky.]

---Louise Carmack [??? very hard to read.]

--- Mrs. Kounse died buried 11.

---18. Harry Church

--- [unreadable]

--- [unreadable] Wilmont came out.

--- 24. Mrs. Bell Job died buried 26. Preacher stayed here one night. [Belle Jobe died 24 December 1923. She was born 28 Sep 1872 the daughter of James Stanley and Sarah Clark. She was a widow buried at Garner, Kentucky. Death Certificate 29604. Other siblings of Belle say their mother was a McGuire. Further research is suggested by anyone working on this line.]


END


Julina Leota Sexton Horton Klaiber


The author of this sheet of paper with so much genealogical information, Julina Leota Sexton Horton Klaiber was born 30 June 1877. She was the daughter of Henry Powell Sexton and Julina McCormack. She married 28 October 1896 William Henry Horton and for a short time resided in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio. Horton died in a gas explosion in the saloon he ran in Ironton. Julina married 2nd James Matthew Klaiber 2 April 1905. She lived for 101 years and died 20 May 1978. She is buried in Klaiber Cemetery on the property where she spent most of her life. Her flowers still grace my gardens.






11 June 2010

Sandy Furnace And It's People

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2010

For many years I have collected tidbits about Sandy Furnace. During a conversation with Ann Sutherland the other day, she mentioned she could recall standing at the John D. Ross Cemetery, and possibly see Sandy Furnace when she was a child. I closed my eyes to visualize the scene and together we decided if you climbed to the highest point just beyond the cemetery and looked down into the bottom lands, with the foliage gone, you probably could see remains of Sandy Furnace.

With the sun gleaming, today, I decided to see just how far the old Furnace was from John D. Ross Cemetery, located on Route 773, more commonly known as Bolts Fork Road to us locals, at the edge of Boyd County. By the road it is exactly 2.8 miles from the cemetery gate to Sandy Furnace located at 23330 Bolts Fork Road. While standing in the sun and humidity my mind began mulling over why the Kentucky Historical Marker was over 3 miles away from the actual furnace. I turned around and drove the meandering beautiful bottom farm land of Bolts Fork to Route #3 where the historical marker has been placed on the main thoroughfare. I am sure they meant well by putting it where most traffic would pass. Over the years I have practically memorized the wording knowing that besides placement of the sign, there was a much larger story.

Furnaces were prevalent in Greenup County and the northern edge of Boyd County and scattered in Carter County. But Sandy Furnace is tucked on the southern edge of the county far from the other producing furnaces. When built it was still in Lawrence County, Kentucky. Much has been written about area furnaces but very little has been compiled on Sandy Furnace. The longest general description was written in Donald Rist's publication Iron Furnaces of the Hanging Rock Iron Region in 1974. Rist had done a little more research than is posted on the Historical marker but gives the same simple basic information that the furnace was built in 1853 by Young, Foster and Company which included Dan and John Young, William Foster and Irwin Gilruth.

Interestingly both the historical marker and Rist lead one to believe that Sandy Furnace ceased operation in 1854 or shortly thereafter. This was not the case. Nor do these tiny blurbs give the general reader the feeling of just how many people in the community were involved or benefited from the Furnace. I can stand on the ridge of our farm nearly 5 miles away and see the indentations in the woods where ore was dug out. If I close my eyes I can imagine the oxen sledding the ore over the ridge, following the creek, struggling up and over Jack and finally arriving at the furnace.

The Geological Survey of 1856 talks about the ore beds being one hundred and five feet higher in the hills. It does not talk about the distance or the many farms that were tapped for the ore. According to the Survey Sandy Furnace was producing seven tons of iron in twenty-four hours and was then hauled to a depot at Catlettsburg and was "twenty-two miles, by the course of the stream, above the mouth of the East Fork of Little Sandy."

The planning and building of Sandy Furnace began in 1848. When John and Daniel Young of Hamilton County, Ohio began with mortgages on the tract of lands on Bolts Fork. William A. Foster and his son Henry were witness to the transactions. William A. Foster along with Theodore Royer began the task of buying up right of ways, timber and ore for the execution of an iron furnace. The deeds are a roll call of those families living at what would shortly be called Sandy Furnace, complete with its own post office. Lawrence County deeds were executed with Henry Morris, Thomas Coburn, William Messer, Madison Stewart, William McCormack, Ellis Taylor, William Brumfield, John D. Ross, James Prichard, William Webb and James Stanley.

John Foster had six sixteenth, Dan two sixteenth, William A. Foster three sixteenth and Irwin Gilruth three sixteenth interest in the furnace.

William A. Foster was already settled in Lawrence County and is not to be confused with William Foster, just several years his elder, who was working at the furnaces in Greenup County. Both were from Pennsylvania.

William A. Foster was settled in Lawrence County prior to the formation of Sandy Furnace. He ran for town trustee in May 1846 in Louisa but appears to not have stayed in town long. William Ely writes about William A. Foster in his Big Sandy Valley. Ely stated that William A. Foster had come to the area with a Pennsylvania Company and is "favorably known in Catlettburg" and had "first made his appearance in Sandy as store keeper for the company." The 1850 Lawrence County, Kentucky census shows William A. as a merchant along with his family including Henry who is listed as clerk and Irwin Gilruth giving occupation as a merchant from Ohio.

Theodore Royer was living in Hamilton County, Ohio in 1850 having married Elizabeth Young. He gave his occupation as a merchant and was also born in Pennsylvania. They migrated to Ann Arbor Michigan and in 1880 he gave his occupation as a retired manufacturer. Mrs. Louie Lovett [DAR #15022], Elizabeth Royer Slauson [DAR 14364], and Adaline Katharine Gross [DAR 14363] were all lineal descendants from the Royer and Young family.

Foster sold most of his interest to Young in 1850 and by 1860 was comfortably living in Catlettsburg listing his occupation as a clerk, owning property. By 1870 he lists his occupation as a retired dry goods clerk.

John Young and his wife Caroline never lived in eastern Kentucky. In 1850 They sold all their interest in Sandy Furnace to William Moore Patton which gave Patton controlling interest. Patton was born in 1803 in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. He had been involved in Vesuvius Furnace in Lawrence County, Ohio and Pennsylvania Furnace in Greenup County. He settled in Catlettsburg and the Patton's went on to own many varied concerns in the area.

Rist tells of the fall of the furnace stack in the summer of 1853 and advertisements in the Ironton Register for 25/26 stone cutters at the furnace. The 1856 Geological Survey talks of coarse sandstone which was over lower limestone "employed as hearth-stones for the furnace." By the time of WPA days there is only one known actual rock quarry in Boyd County located on this compiler's farm. Driving along the bottom land of Bolts Fork I am sure there are many hidden areas that were chiseled out and now overgrown.

By the time of the 1856 survey Patton had sold his controlling interest to William Wurts then of Hamilton County, Ohio. William along with several brothers were also from Pennsylvania and had interest in several area furnaces. A biography of William Wurts was published in Kentucky, A History of the State in 1888. Wurts lived until 1876 and died in Mason County, Kentucky.

The furnace was still active in 1859 when The Iron Manufacturers Guide to Furnaces and Forges...was written by Lesley. Lesley describes that Sandy Furnace makes a very liquid iron from the ores and that the bed was about 5 feet under sandstone "high in the hills" regarded as the "highest workable bed in Carter and Lawrence."

My active mind understands that these powerful manufacturers came into our area and created a living beyond the small poor farming interests. Some stayed like Foster and Patton. Some left legacies in our area and across the river in the iron region of Ohio.

It was hard labor intensive work from the cutting of timber to the digging of ore. The feat of hauling the raw goods to the furnace and the final product taken to the terminals had to be grueling. Stone masons were needed and furnace hands were in demand, animals had to be maintained, all of which helped put food on the table in the Bolts Fork area. A community was created and the deeds that purchased the timber and ore rights are more descriptive than any other historical local document of the time.

The furnace is fallen in now, hidden by a modern home built directly in front of it. Standing in the sun in the middle of Bolts Fork Road, quiet all around, not a person in sight, yet the history is so loud I can hear it. Close your eyes maybe you can share the view with me.








07 June 2010

Dear Diary - diaries of Eastern Kentucky

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber

I have kept a journal for many years. No, I don't write in it every day but it does include important moments in my life including deaths of loved ones, marriages and births. I call it a journal because every time I use the word diary I conjure up a 1950's little book with key and lock. The journal is on the computer and has been transferred numerous times to upgrade to the latest word processing program. It is backed up and hopefully someday my family will appreciate reading how thrilled I was during their special moments.

The William Lewis Geiger diaries are well known in Boyd County, Kentucky. Boyd County was formed in 1860 and Geiger's diaries begin on 1 January 1860 and continue to 1894. The original diaries are housed at the Boyd County Library and are microfilmed as well. Evelyn Jackson extracted the hard to read entries and a few years ago I indexed her extractions to make them more useful. So I was flabbergasted when I heard a library patron complain about the entries being boring when appearing in The Tree Shaker. Actually she was probably sorry she ever said it, as I explained to her that while we had no county history those diaries served as a day by day history of the development of our area. How lucky we are that they were donated to the library and had been so carefully preserved.

I remember being extremely excited when Col. John Paul Jones diaries were temporarily loaned to the the genealogy room by Robert Pogue De Benedictus of Newark, Licking County, Ohio. Jones was an early Ashland resident. These diaries began prior to the formation of Boyd County while still considered Greenup County. The gentleman had loaned them, short term, for a research project.

The library had an extraction of some religious entries in the vertical files. We are "assuming" the author was the diary owner, but the typed pages are not signed. I noticed that while the notations began in January 1858 they said simply "Revival," "To M. E. Church," or "Mr. T. preached." As I carefully turned the pages of the original diaries, I quickly realized they contained entries of slaves, deaths, births and historical notations that were not listed in the filed extraction.

With pad and pencil in hand I began to extract notations, over the next few days, as I read page by page. Sadly time ran out before I could complete my project and the final entry of 22 pages of extractions reads: "1877 books continue but extractions by Teresa Klaiber discontinued due to lack of availability." The diaries were returned to the owner. My extractions were typed and tucked away for another day.

During a recent project I pulled my extraction. Entries flowed and I again thought of the value of these type of records. "14 July 1858 Delaware Sands buried." "4 September 1858 C. C. Chinn died last night." "15 March 1859 Henry Stotts funeral." Entry after entry of valued genealogical information extracted in 2003. What had become of the original diaries?

Time after time I have seen valued original source material lost and years of genealogical research tossed to the wind. Records from one location end up thousands of miles away from home. I quickly contacted James Powers, who had been director of the library at the time we had the borrowed valued diaries. Powers located Robert Pogue De Benedictus obituary. My heart sank. De Benedictus died 23 May 2008. According to Powers his children were adopted. He had two sisters, Roberta, not married and Anotinette Newman and a niece Felicia A. Andrecht. When Powers had last spoken to "Bob" he had mentioned that he had not decided where the diaries would go.

The extractions are filed at the Boyd County Library. Hopefully the original diaries will resurface. There is a wonderful genealogy society in Licking County, Ohio. Maybe they will be instrumental in seeing that the diaries are returned to Boyd County, Kentucky if they are located.

I am sure neither Geiger nor Jones gave any thought to the historical value of their entries as they did their day to day business. I write in my journal and wonder if my grand daughter will enjoy the memories some day. I joke with computer son to not hit the delete key at my death. I also have told family, friends and library my wishes concerning my genealogical records.

We make history with every moment and every breath. I think I will post this in my journal.





02 June 2010

Pike County, Kentucky War Heros

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2010

Memorial weekend 2010 is now a memory and I am back at my desk with another tidbit.

The National Daughters of the American Revolution do remarkable tributes and is a society I have always held dear to my heart for all the things they do beyond being a lineage society.

May 30, 1929, The DAR dedicated a bronze tablet containing the names of sixteen Revolutionary soldiers at Pikeville in the public square. Both the National Guard and American Legion assisted the ladies at the unveiling. School children sang America the Beautiful and the address was given by A. F. Childress of the Sons of the American Revolution.

The 16 names inscribed on the tablet were:

John May
[ From NC died 1813]

Moses Stepp
[ From VA died Floyd County, KY 1856]

Joseph Ford
[From NC]

Robert Mimms
[Not on DAR nor SAR rolls at this writing.]

Rodden Hall
[Is not on DAR or SAR rolls at this writing.]

John Johnson
[From VA d 1850 Pike County, KY]

Dennis Dailey
[1820 Pension transferred from OH to Kentucky Pension Rolls is on roll 1835 listed Preble Co.]

James Jackson

Abram Potter
[From NC d 1837 Pike County, KY]

James Atkinson

James Maynard
[1850 is listed as 107 years of age in Wayne Co., VA]

Christian Trout
[Ashland paper 1929 calls him Christopher. He died 1847 Pike County, KY]

Thomas Stewart

Meredith Collins
[From VA died before 1841 Pike County, KY]

Pleasant Childress
[From NC died 1839 Pike County, KY]

William Blankenship
[From VA died before 1835 Pike County, KY]