July 22, 2021Lost Daughter of a Entertaining Kentucky Politician This is the biography of Mary “Polly” Salyer (1842-1915) was the bastard daughter of Samuel Salyer, who lived most of her life in Breathitt County, Kentucky.
July 20, 2021Genealogy Challenges: Searching for the Right Thomas Watkins There were multiple Thomas Watkins roaming North Carolina around 1800. Here is part of the genealogy for the Rowan County one.
July 19, 2021Private Thomas Watkins Role in Defeating the Elite Tory Army Ancestor Bio: Thomas Watkins (1751-1854) This Kentucky family story actually begins in North Carolina during the American Revolution. My sixth great-grandfather, Thomas Watkins, served…
July 6, 2021Appalachian Hero: Story of Audacious “Bad Amos” Fugate Most family stories in Kentucky are interesting because of multiple characters. This story centers on one particularly curious character, Amos Fugate (1899-1926). His impact…
July 1, 2021Last Will for North Carolina Thomas Watkins (d 1815) Transcription of Last Will and Testament from Thomas Watkins who lived in Rowan County, NC.
June 21, 2021WWI Vet’s Toothache Results in Odd Moonshiner’s Death In 1925, Jailer Joseph Lovely tried to calm Will Turner’s effort to clean out the Breathitt County jailhouse. Moonshiner Wayne Grigsby pays the price.
April 30, 2021Sensational Courtroom Drama: Mountain Woman Assassinates Son’s Killer In 1936, Viola Wickline makes national headlines for shooting Johnny Shepherd and 3 others in a Breathitt County Courtroom.
