Trick Photography

Michelle sent me this photo of the Schell Family recently.  It is supposed to be from 50 years or more ago.  What I can't figure out is...how did Justin get right there in the middle of the photo?

Click on the photo to view a larger version.

Michelle will have to let us know who everyone is in the picture.

Family Resemblance

In a previous post I mentioned Randy Ratliff's ancestor, Winright Adkins 1837 and how he was related to Jennie's ancestor, another Winright Adkins 1825.  The following is information on the family of Randy's ancestor:

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Winright ADKINS was born 1837  in Pike County, Kentucky, and died 1918.  He was buried in Winright Adkins Cemetery, Pike Co, Kentucky. He was the son of Winston ADKINS and Hannah COLEMAN.
Louisa EPLING was born 10 JAN 1845 in Pike County, Kentucky, and died 1 FEB 1927  in Pike County, Kentucky. She was buried in Winright Adkins Cemetery, Pike Co, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Zebekiah EPLING.

Children of Louisa EPLING and Winright ADKINS are:   

1. Perry ADKINS. He married Mero ABSHIRE. 
2. Tom ADKINS. He married Lillie BARTLEY. 
3. Floy ADKINS. He married Laura BARTLEY. 
4. John H. ADKINS. He married Libbie COLEMAN. 
5. Jim ADKINS. He married Bessie THORNSBURY. (Randy Ratliff's Great Grandparents) 
6. Alcie ADKINS. She married David COX, son of John COX and Amanda Judy ADKINS. He was born 1863 in Pike County, Kentucky. 
7. Clarinda Addie ADKINS was born 1871 in Pike County, Kentucky, and died 14 DEC 1897 in Pike County, Kentucky. She married William Drayton KENDRICK 10 DEC 1891 in Pike Co, Ky, son of Joseph Browning KENDRICK and Charity HART. He was born 5 DEC 1865 in Russell Co, Virginia, and died 4 AUG 1945 in Greasy Creek, Pike Co, KY. 
8. Laura ADKINS died 1910 in Pike County, Kentucky. She married McCelland JUSTICE. 
9. Ida ADKINS. She married Ol COLEMAN 21 APR 1898 in Pike Co, KY. He was born 7 OCT 1876  in Pike County, Kentucky, and died 14 JUL 1955 in Pike County, Kentucky. 
10. Hannah ADKINS. She married Andy LONG. 
11. Dulcie ADKINS. She married Crit MAY. He was born 3 MAY 1886, and died 9 JAN 1968.
12. Meshac ADKINS.

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While searching around the Internet for more information on this family, I ran across a page with Dulcie Adkins and Crit May's Family Photos. Dulcie was the younger sister of Jim Adkins and would have been Randy's Great Aunt.  Here are a few of the photos from that web-page:
This is Dulcie at age eight.  Does she remind you of any of the guinea girls or guinea grandkids?

Here is Dulcie four years later.  Any resemblance now to anyone you know?

One more before we quit.  This is a gathering of Crit May's family in 1930.  Does the young lady in the upper left look like anyone you know?

Interesting Reading

If you've never tried Google Book Search you really should check it out.  I've found lots of good stuff using it.  I recently found a very interesting report from the U.S. Geological Service published in 1908.   It is titled...

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BULLETIN 348

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COAL RESOURCES

OF THE

RUSSELL FORK BASIN

IN KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA

I know what you are thinking, "Clyde has lost his freakin' mind!  How can a century old government report about coal possibly be interesting?" 

I must admit it isn't bestseller material and it is kinda' boring reading in stretches.  It is a government report after all.  But sprinkled here and there are familiar place names.  Here are places listed in the Table of Contents;

Powell Creek and Millard	Biggs Branch
Daniels Creek	Harless Creek
Jimmie Creek	Road Creek
Ferrell Creek	Beaver Creek
Grassy Creek	Marrowbone Creek
Pond and Jesse Creeks	Little Creek and Moores Branch
Elkhorn Creek

I know what you are thinking, "Yeah, yeah, that's where many of us grew up.  We've heard those names all our lives.  But I still don't want to waste my time reading about a 21 inch seam of coal on Daniels Creek located at an elevation of 975 feet. Blah, blah, blaaah, blah, blah."

OK, I admitted it was kinda' dry reading in places, but consider the following entry from the bottom of Page 43 about coal deposits on Road Creek...

No, that isn't the Joe Looney you knew.  Remember this was published in 1908.  It is based on field work done in 1906.  The Joe Looney mentioned here is Great-Grandpa Joe Looney.

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A little farther up Road Creek we find on Page 44...

That name may not be familiar to some of you.  Marshall Farmer was a brother to our Great- Grandmother Mary Farmer who married George Stalker.  Dad says they pronounced his name MASH' ul.

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Farther up the river is Pond Creek and Jesse Branch.  On the bottom of Page  62 we find...

John Hawkins was a brother of Martha (Hawkins) Bailey, our Great-Great-Grandmother.   Grant Hawkins was John's son and Martha's nephew. 

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In the discussion of coal in the head of Elkhorn Creek we find the following on Page 68...

The Levi Potter and Ben Potter mentioned here are most likely uncles or cousins of Ted Potter's Great-Grandfather William.  The John Wright mentioned is almost certainly the famous 'Bad John Wright'.
There are lots of other names mentioned that could be related to us in some way.  George Belcher mentioned several times in the discussion of Ferrells Creek may be Squire George that married Martha Bailey's daughter Mary Alice, but I don't know for sure.   The many Coleman, Ratliff, Mullins and other names mentioned are, quite likely, distant relatives.  

Interesting isn't it, all that coal under land owned or worked by our forefathers, and the only coal money we got is what Dad earned working in the mines for Republic Steel. 

See, I told you it was interesting.

Dangerous Neighborhood

Looking over the 1920 Census for Letcher County, KY the other day, I ran across something I found interesting.  Here is a portion of one of the sheets for the Jenkins Precinct...

On line 3 of the list is John Wright residing in household number 583 with his wife Mattie and a son Carlos.    About five households farther down the page on line 20 is Sam Potter, his wife Belle, and their large family.  On line 28 we find five-year-old Ira Potter (Ted's father).

The John Wright on line 3 is better known as "Bad John Wright" to most and "Devil John Wright" to others. 

"Bad John" was one of the most famous, or infamous, men of the Kentucky mountains at the start of the 1900's.  The number of men he was said to have killed (25 to 30), the number of women he kept (?), and the number of children he fathered (31) are the stuff of legend.  A number of books have been written about "Bad John".   This Google Search lists several.

I just finished reading Bad John Wright: The Law of Pine Mountain By Phillip K Epling.  (Mr. Epling was from Elkhorn City.  His son Allan Epling was a science teacher at ECHS for a while.)  Mr. Epling's book is a somewhat sanitized account of the life of "Bad John", covering his Civil War experiences, his detective work after the war, and the Wright-Jones Feud.

Getting back to what I found interesting about that census page, I wonder of old "Bad John Wright" knew how dangerous it could be, living there so close to "Bad Ira Potter".

Mary (Farmer) Stalker Obituary 1949