November 2006 Photographs
Scroll down and view just a sample of the many
photos you will see each month
in The Kentucky Explorer magazine.
Dorothy
Blevins, 706 Lanham Trace, Corbin, KY 40701, shares this photo
which was taken at a coal mine in Clay County during the 1920s.
The miners had come outside for dinner break. Dorothy's father,
Matt Spurlock, is the first man on the left. It was customary
for Dorothy's older sister, Mary, to take her father's dinner
bucket to the mine at midday. One day, when Mary was going to
meet her father, two men ended their quarrel with a gunfight,
shooting and killing each other. Mary's father came along and
took her home. The scene stayed with Mary, and she began questioning
her mother. She never took her father's dinner bucket to him
again. Matt Spurlock was born in Clay County, July 10, 1901.
He worked at mines in Clay, Perry, and Harlan counties until
1957. He was the husband of Kitty Hurley and the father of Mary
Ethel McGhee Lewis and Dorothy Blevins. He enjoyed watching boxing
matches and following baseball. He could always tell something
interesting about many of the players. He read newspapers and
was current on world events. Perhaps readers can identify the
other men.
Lowell F. Spurlock, 739 Cox Road, Independence, KY 41051, shares this photo, taken in the 1920s, of the Mt. Vernon Presbyterian School eighth grade students. L-R: Mrs. Hall (instructor), Lelica Mullins, Brilla Johnson, Gertrude Evans, Effie B. Chastein, Sallie Price, Flora Pitman, Julia Landrum, and Linne Spurlock. Lowell would appreciate any information on Linnie Spurlock, pictured far right, who was born in 1932.
The
Bellamy brothers, l-r: John Patton, Jr. (1842-1925); Thomas M.
(1845-1915); and William (1848-1921) were the sons of John Patton
Bellamy, Sr. (1803-1865), and Margaret J. David (1803-1875).
They were born in Scott County, Virginia, in a community called
Bellamytown, located on Cooper Creek. On September 15, 1864,
William married Catherine France in Scott County, Virginia. William
and Catherine had six children in Virginia. The remaining three
children were born in Magoffin County, Kentucky, on or near Rock
House Creek. They were Samuel, 1865; Benjamin, 1867; Margaret,
1869; Sally, 1871; Rena 1873; Daniel, 1875; Viola, 1877; Frank,
1879; and John, 1881. William and Catherine moved from Magoffin
County to Cooks Branch (now HWY 1050) Montgomery County. In the
spring of 1921 William rode a train from Means, Kentucky, to
Pike County, Ohio, to visit with two of his sons and their families.
For this trip he had removed his "winter underwear."
By the time he reached his destination he was ill. He was treated
by Dr. C. H. Wilson, Piketon, Ohio, but due to bronchial pneumonia,
he died April 21, 1921. He was brought by train back to Means
where he was buried in the Chambers Cemetery. His stone is engraved
with the Union Army information; however, they have his named
spelled Bellomy in lieu of Bellamy. A form from the Record and
Pension Office, War Department, mentions the two names. Pension
records indicate that in October 1864 he enlisted with the Union
Army; Co. H, 8th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry, as a private. He
was discharged in the fall of 1865 at Knoxville, Tennessee. On
May 15, 1891, he began the applications to be placed on the pension-roll
of the United States under the provisions of the Act of June
27, 1890. After the death of William, at age 74, his wife, Catherine,
applied for his pension in 1921. Catherine Bellamy died November
1923 and was dropped from the roll, and the last pension payment
was at the rate of $30 per month. William and Catherine were
the great-grandparents of Patti Lewis Isaacs, 2699 Tanner Court,
Lexington, KY 40517; 859/269-9420; ldisaacs@alltel.net, who shares
this photo.
The James Franklin and Mary Craft Reece family gathered for this photo, dressed in their Sunday best at Dorton, Pike County, Kentucky, in 1904. Front row, l-r: John W. Reece (1888-1961), Dorothy Reece Elkins (1904-1996), James Franklin Reece (1867-1906), Mary Craft Reece (1866-1956) and Lillie Reece Spangler (1891-1932). Back row, l-r: Thomas Reece (1896-1914), and Hassell Reece, 1893-1976. Magdalene Sims (daughter of John W. Reece), 2055 Robertstown Road, Kings Mountain, KY 40442, shares this photo with our readers.
Sandi
Britton Suggs, 615 Old Tyler Road, Nacogdoches, TX 75963, shares
this photo with our readers of her grandparents, William Grover
Johnson and Eva Ellen Neely Johnson, taken in 1907 in Pulaski
County, Kentucky. William was born 2/2/1886 in Pulaski County.
He died 2/9/1969 in Clarendon, Donley County, Texas. He was the
son of Martin S. Johnson and Rebecca J. Nicholas and the grandson
of Nimrod Johnson and Amanda Garland. Eva was born 12/24/1889
in Pulaski County. She died 2/11/1979 in Texas. She was the daughter
of Terril Martin Neely and Margaret Flinn.
Tannya Witter, 7378 Auld Road, Bradford, OH 45308; btwitter@bright.net, shares this photo of the Coffee School in Knox County, Kentucky. Date of photo not given. In the first row, first child is Elmer Cooper; third child is Beckham Cooper; and seventh child is Dewey Cooper. Second row, second girl is Alice Cooper. Third row, second girl is Nell Cooper. Tannya would like to know the identities of the other children. Feel free to contact her with any information.
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The Kentucky Explorer Contains Over 100 Photos Each Month.