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Editor's Note:
Readers of The Kentucky Explorer have been introduced to the
Rev. John J. Dickey in past issues. Remember that he was a traveling
preacher throughout the eastern part of the state during the
years between 1880 and 1925. He helped to establish numerous
churches and at least two colleges. He was also a teacher and
a newspaper editor. However, his most enduring gift to us today
may well be his diary that he kept faithfully during some 50
years of his later life beginning in the 1880s. In all, over
6,000 pages written in his own hand make up this interesting
digest.
In this journal of his, Dickey often wrote down accounts of events
daily. Much of the material concerns his day to day life. However,
during the late 1890s he began to gather family history on various
families he met in his travels. We are offering these interviews
to our readers in the hope that they will be appreciated in the
sense that Rev. Dickey intended. These interviews were written
word for word as they were given to Rev. Dickey. Nothing has
been changed.
Andrew Hensley
Manchester, Kentucky
January 27, 1898
I was born in Buncombe County, Bald Mountain Creek, North Carolina,
March 1932. My father's name was Levi. He removed first to Tennessee
where he stayed two years then came to Clay County in 1842. My
grandfather, James Hensley, came a few years later. My great-grand-father's
name was James, and I have heard him say that his father, whose
name was Harry Hensley, came from England. He was accompanied
by his brother, Isom Hensley, whose location he never knew. They
parted to meet no more. The descendants of James Hensley are
numerous. They are all through the Kentucky mountains, especially
in Harlan County and in West Virginia. I cannot tell anything
of Isom Hensley's descendants. Harry H., James H., and Andrew
H. was born 1832.
John Eversole
Manchester, Kentucky
January 31, 1898
I was born in Clay County, Kentucky, February 27, 1815. My father's
name was Abraham Eversole. He was born in Ashe County, North
Carolina. He died of small pox about the close of the war. My
brothers came from the war on furlough and took small pox after
they came home. From him they took the disease. They had been
vaccinated and recovered. I was the second child, and he was
21 or 22 years old when I was born. This would make him 71 or
72 years old when he died in 1965 or 1966 and would fix his birth
at 1794 or 1795. My grandfather, Jacob Eversole, came from Ashe
County, North Carolina, on New River to the mouth of Cutshin,
now Leslie County. My father and his brother, Woolery, helped
him to grub cane and burnt it near the mouth of Cutshin. They
told how the cane would pop when they burned it. I think my father
was 16 or 17 years old at that time. If this be true, it would
put their removal to Kentucky about 1810. The country was new.
John Amis (or Amy) was the first settler about the mouth of Cutshin,
but I cannot tell when. John Amis was killed at the first term
of court held in Clay County which was in 1807.
My grandfather later settled about two and one-half miles above
the mouth of Grapevine on the North Fork. My grandfather, Jacob
Eversole, was born in Pennsylvania. He was a wagoner in the Revolutionary
War. In the service, he contracted white swelling from a bruise.
He recovered from it but always halted a little in his walk.
He was not grown at the time, just a youth. His father came from
Germany to the United States prior to the American Revolution.
He came to escape the persecution of the Roman Catholics. I suppose
he settled in Pennsylvania. My Grandmother Ever-sole's name was
Mary Kessler. Her father was a weaver, and he learned his trade
in Germany. He could weave almost any kind of warp. He took his
loom with him wherever he went. He probably brought it with him
from Germany. My grandfather, Jacob Ever-sole, had brothers,
John and Peter, who were older than he; also, Chrisly who was
a great wit. He was in demand at various gatherings to make fun
for the crowd. My grandfather used to tell of a little incident
that occurred in his boyhood. In the entry of the barn, they
threshed their wheat and rye with flails. One of the boys, perhaps
John, fell from the loft onto the floor of the entry and struck
his forehead. He sprang up and rubbed the grains of wheat off
his forehead that were sticking in the flesh and exclaimed, "Peter,
do you think my neck is broken?" I do not know how many
children my great-grandfather had. Some of my ancestors either
the Kesslers or the Eversoles or both worked for their passage
to America. My grandfather and grandmother read and spoke the
German language. They both spoke bad English. They lived with
my father part of the time. They learned English after they came.
Their children spoke German. They would upbraid each other for
speaking improperly. At first they would tell their children
that they were too proud to speak their mother tongue. When they
were old, living with Father, I heard them talk a great deal.
They had a German Bible. He was accustomed to conduct the family
devotions at my father's during his residence there. I have heard
him preach several times, but his language was so broken that
it provoked snides. I have heard men say they would as soon hear
him preach as anybody. My grandmother was a Christian, also.
They both were members of the Baptist church. My grandfather
was a Dunkard Baptist and wore his beard. He was the only man
I ever saw wear a beard during his lifetime.
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