This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the August 18, 2011 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            We are sadly announcing the passing of two of our faithful members and workers. 

Wilma Lemaster Rimer (31 Mar 1938-4 Aug 2011), daughter of Mitchell and Una Borders Lemaster was so good to come in almost daily and see if there was any work she could do and work she did – from helping get our Journals in the mail to folding tee-shirts.  We will miss her kind spirit and willing hands.  We were not the only recipients of her help and support as she visited the Senior Citizen Center and the local nursing home regularly. She spent much time helping with patients at the nursing home.

            Back in the spring I helped Wilma clean up the cemetery where her parents are buried. This is where the great white pine settled back into its place after having its top branches cut off, a small miracle.

            Wilma was interred in the new section of the Bluegrass Cemetery here in Salyersville, somewhat near where my final resting place will be.

            Paul Aaron Bailey (24 Mar 1939-2 Aug 2011) of Wheatfield, IN was always a welcome visitor to any and all of our events.  He would pitch right in and do all that he could to make every event enjoyable and memorable for everyone attending.  We always depended on him during Founders Days and with any special project we got involved in.

            We salute Paul and Wilma!  They made our lives brighter and happier with their presence.

            We continue being very busy around the “home-twenty” as many projects are continuously being worked on.  On the front-burner is our 33^rd Magoffin County Founders Days celebration being held in honor of the Joseph family.  We are striving to get everything in place for this yearly event. This year we begin on Tuesday, August 30^th and our events continue through September 5^th. We hope many of you will be able to visit our county during that time.

            We enjoy getting phone calls from folks as well as regular mail and emails but actual visits from people generally help us garner more information and knowledge of our people and the history of our area.  Generally the emails are a little too brief in explaining the needs of the writer, at least for this senior citizen.  We would like to request that you give more particulars when writing such as dates or approximations, areas lived, names of siblings, etc.  Any known info about the individual you are researching will help us identify them. Some families use the same names from generation to generation which makes it a bit harder to research.

            We enjoyed the visit of Karl and Winnie Thacker, 5370 State Route 160, Bidwell, OH 45614. They were tracing the Hicks, Thacker and Allen families of our area. While they were here Jimmie Allen and Belsey Connelley happened to drop in so you can imagine what a “round-table” discussion ensued!  The Thackers were thankful for all the help received and promised to make another visit.

            Karl is the son of Ervin Thacker and Grace Allen.  Ervin was a son of Bunyon Thacker and Martha Oney.  Grace was a daughter of Samuel D. Allen and Cynthia Hicks.  Cynthia was a daughter of William Hicks and Oma or Naomi Reffitt.  We know a lot of you can identify with these families. Samuel D. Allen’s information was not included in our Allen family books.  He was born in Perry Co. KY.

            Kim Arnette-Marcy, 91 Fannon Farm Lane, Casslton, VA 22716 wrote that she was interested in visiting Magoffin County during this year’s Founders Days.  Her father was William Ellis Arnett, a son of Seward Arnett and a Risner.

            Our Risner book on page 179 lists Seward Risner b. ca. 1867/68, a son of Stephen M. Arnett and Mary J. Risner.  Mary Jane Risner was a daughter of James Risner and Margaret Adams. Margaret was born in 1846 and married Stephen M. “Nat” Arnett b. about 1840/41, a son of Reuben Arnett and Sally Mann.  Incidentally, this is also the line of descent of Paul Aaron Bailey from the Arnett-Mann family.

            Stephen is listed as a school teacher in the 1860 Magoffin County KY census.

            James Risner was born in 1809 Harlan Co. KY and died 30 June 1899.  He married on 28 June 1828 in Morgan Co. KY to Margaret “Peggy” Adams. She was born in 1809 VA and died 19 Jan 1890.

            James Risner was a son of Michael Risner b. 1790 VA and died about 1866.  Michael’s wife was Sarah Howard, a daughter of James Howard and Elizabeth Green.

            Reuben Arnett was born in 1810 and married first to Sally Mann and secondly to Louraney Jones.  Reuben was a son of Stephen Arnett and Elizabeth Howard. Elizabeth is believed to be a daughter of James Howard and Elizabeth Green.