KYGenWeb: Floyd County

Sept. 23, 1954

The move launched here, recently, by the Dewey Lake Improvement Association to seek a change in the name of Dewey Lake State Park to Jenny Wiley State Park was considered dead this week as the Floyd Fiscal Court adopted resolutions, Wednesday, asking that the name of the park remain unchanged. Miss Betty Jean VanHoose, of Allen, was named queen of the 1954 Floyd County Fair which concluded a three-day stand, here, Saturday. The presentation of Floyd County's new bookmobile was made, last Thursday, at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds, Louisville. Sheriff Gorman Collins said, Wednesday, that the identity of persons who set off dynamite blasts at a half-dozen points on Route 80, between Bosco and Garrett, and on Rock Fork, is "pretty well known" but that actual proof was lacking. The announcement that two mllion of the 10 million tons of coal the government will buy for export will come from Kentucky, was hailed by a prominent Floyd County operator, Wednesday, as good news to the coal mining industry, and those employed by it in this section. Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard Francis Jr., of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Helen Ann, at the Paintsville Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Meade, a daughter, Martha Noel, September 11, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville. There died: Mrs. Lena Taylor, 63, formerly of Garrett, last Saturday, at her home in Fairborn, Ohio; Van Martin, 82, of Eastern, last Wednesday, at the home of his brother on Goose Creek; Cpl. Tavis Salisbury, 22, of Printer, Wednesday, of last week, at Fort Lawton, Washington; Mrs. Linda Richmond Cottrell, 80, of Prestonsburg, Wednesday, at Holmes Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio; James Pelfry, 82, father of Russell W. Pelfry, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at his home in Kenova, West Virginia; Homer Lee Hamilton, 17, of Teaberry, last Thursday, in St. Augustine, Florida.

September 2, 1954

Fire gutted the Lincoln-Mercury Sales structure on North Lake Drive, here, early Wednesday morning, causing damage estimated between $60,000 and $70,000. Prestonsburg's schools opened Monday, and by Wednesday noon their enrollment was 95 above that of the last school year. A total of 1,264 pupils had registered. Extensive additions are in the planning for the States Motel here, it was announced this week by H. T. Allen, one of its owners. Farmers of this county were continuing their sheep purchases this week, it was noted, when 14 registered rams were delivered here from Garrard and Shelby counties. Second Lt. Robie Hackworth, formerly of the Middle Creek road, became, Tuesday, the first Floyd Countian to be graduated as a jet fighter pilot from a U.S. Air Force flying training school. There died: Mrs. Virginia Ward, 88, of Lawrence County, Monday, at the home of her daughter at Prestonsburg; William M. Langley, 88, native of this county, Monday, at Ashland; Mrs. Florence Craft, 80, Saturday, at her home here; Mrs. Viola Moore, 59, of Drift, last Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Frank Stewart, 78, of Allen, last Saturday; Mrs. Tine Goble, 93, of Allen, last Thursday, at a Lexington hospital.

August 26, 1954

Rumored as being planned for location, possibly near Maytown, by the Kentucky West Virginia Gas Company or its parent company, the Equitable Gas Company, is a chemical plant for the extraction of certain non-fuel properties of natural gas. The Floyd Fiscal Court indicated that it was down to the "bottom of the barrel" as far as certain budgetary funds are concerned when it "passed the hat" Wednesday afternoon, to aid applicants for county assistance..In a recent letter to Congressman Carl D. Perkins, County Judge Henry Stumbo and County Attorney Hollie Conley, asked for federal aid in financing distribution of commodity foodstuffs to the needy, since many counties, such as Floyd, do not have the financial means of carrying on this work. The Dewey Lake Association, as one of its first matters of business, adopted resolutions urging the State Highway Department to improve three miles of dirt road of Kentucky 304 at Gulnare, to the mouth of Brushy Creek. A shutdown resulting from a proposal to cut off one run, affecting three employees, brought the Sparks Brothers Bus Company to a standstill this week. Showing increasing interest in sheep, Floyd farmers have ordered 260 western ewes to date, with orders for a third carload now being taken. Thomas E. Kaye, 36, owner of the Allen Fruit Market, was flown from Pikeville to Veterans' Hospital, Louisville, for further treatment of injuries suffered in a truck wreck near Jenkins. Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Burns Stephens, of Allen, a son, Sunday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital; to A-2C and Mrs. Seaton Crisp Jr., formerly of Wheelwright, a daughter, Tina Cecilia, July 3, at Warren, Ohio; to Mr. and Mrs. Tommie Tieche, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a daughter, Susan Carol, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; to Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Patton, of David, a son, August 21, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital.

August 19, 1954

Officials of the Division of Parks, Conservation and Highways will visit Dewey Lake, Friday, to make tentative location of a scenic highway route along the lake, from Stratton Branch to the road which connects with Hager Gap, and later will connect with the dam itself. A suit filed by the town of Martin, asking the annexation of extensive territory to the corporate limits, reached the court last Friday, and at least one attorney has been employed by dissenting citizens to fight the move. One-fifth of the more than 130,000 persons in 27 counties who are beneficiaries of the commodity relief program live in Floyd and Pike counties, survey figures released this week show. A suit growing out of a two-truck collision, last November 27, was filed in circuit court, Friday, asking a total of $55,090 for the two plaintiffs, Patsy Jean Osborne and her mother, Mrs. Irene Osborne. The Senate approved, Tuesday, an amendment to the Rivers and Harbors Bill, which directs the Army Corps of Engineers to resurvey the Big Sandy River, and its two forks, for possible canalization. East Kentucky is making, through the cooperation of Senator John Sherman Cooper, a determined bid for a substantial part of the 10 million tons of American gift coal to be shipped to friendly countries, before next June 30. The return to classroom work for pupils of all the county's larger schools will begin, Monday, August 30. Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Artiver, of Detroit, Michigan, a daughter, Glenda Carol, August 15. There died: Thomas Irvin Ford, 79, former peace officer, at home at Lackey, Monday; Felix Milton Allen, 74, at home at Warco, Tuesday; Mrs. Easter Yates Whittaker, 84, at her home on Little Paint, Wednesday; Nelson Moore, 80, of Wayland, at the home of his daughter at Garrett, August 13; Ike Litton, 31, of Rockwood, Virginia, formerly of Buckingham, killed in a car accident in Tennessee, Monday; Sharon Lee Stith, shortly after birth, Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Stanley Mekoliter Jr., 29, of Lima, Ohio, at the home of his mother-in-law, on Middle Creek, Friday; William B. Short, 46, native of Abbott Creek, at the Good Samaritan Hospital, Lexington, Wednesday.

August 5, 1954

The Floyd Fiscal Court waded into the pile of bills before it, Wednesday, and began paying old claims on a pro rata basis, since it did not have more than a fraction of the funds necessary to pay itself clear of debts. Construction on the addition of two rooms to the crowded McDowell school will be begun as soon as possible, the Floyd County Board of Education said Tuesday. Following an incident which saw the Prestonsburg garbage truck on the receiving end of shotgun fire from an irate citizen, the City Council voted to move the city garbage dump from its former location at the mouth of Middle Creek farther up the branch. Six persons have been saved from drowning at the Stratton Branch swimming area on Dewey Lake by Lewis Ford, lifeguard there, Tom Clarke, manager of the Dewey Lake State Park dock and recreation area, said this week. Born: to Pfc. and Mrs. Gene H. Boyd, a son, Gene Howard, July 31, at Petersburg, W.Va.; to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Fairchild, of Prestonsburg, a son, Aug. 3, at the Paintsville Clinic; to Mr. and Mrs. David Reed, formerly of Maytown, a son, Gary Douglas, July 20, at Huntington, W.Va. .There died: George P. Archer, 87-year-old Floyd County banking pioneer, at home at Prestonsburg, Sunday; Mrs. Christine Thompson, 80, at her home on Cow Creek, Tuesday; Mrs. Lula May Horn Burchett, 73, of Bays Branch, Sunday; Mrs. Lula L. Bevins, 67, of Emma, Sunday, here.

March 4, 1954

Heavy snow, Sunday night, snapped power and telephone lines in this and surrounding counties. The snowfall ranged from six to ten inches...The fiscal court, Tuesday, named Greenville R. Spradlin county welfare director, and Ex-Magistrate Glenn C. Burchett, his assistant. They will handle the distribution of surplus commodity floodstuffs which are due to begin arriving here within a week for the aid of the needy...Robert Frazier, of Bonanza, was severely wounded by a knife thrust, Saturday night...Samuel S. Porter, of Lexington, formerly of this county, took the oath of office of U.S. Marshall, Monday. He succeeds J. M. Moore, of Pikeville, who retired...The Mayo Trail home of Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Herndon, near here, was damaged by fire, the night of February 18...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Burke, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Vickie Lee, February 20, at Martin...There died: Woody Osborne, 42, of Martin, Monday, of tetanus; Mrs. Mary Akers, 85, Sunday, at Grethel; Sarah Thacker, 82, of Alphoretta, last Thursday, at a Lexington hospital.

February 25, 1954

The U.S. Corps of Engineers announced, this week, that bids on cabin sites at Dewey Lake will be received till March 22...State Senator Doug Hays has introduced a bill in the State Senate to change the official name of the valley�s largest stream, from the Levisa to the Big Sandy River...Deputy Sheriffs and State Police are patroling the road to David which was blocked, Monday, to out-of-county workers...Voters of the Prestonsburg independent school district will be given the opportunity, soon, to decide if a 35-cent levy on each $100 worth of taxable property shall be made to finance construction of a gymnasium here...James Wine, Pikeville attorney, last Friday, announced he will seek the Democratic nomination for Congress from the Seventh District...Sgt. John J. Bentley, formerly of McDowell, remains unconscious in Camp Campbell Hospital, after suffering a brain injury two weeks ago in his 46th jump as a paratrooper...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Fox Homes at Louisville, February 20, a daughter�Roxanne...There died: Dr. W. J. Fitzpatrick, 77, Prestonsburg dentist, Friday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Melvin Slone, probably the area�s oldest man, at Printer, Wednesday, at the age of 103; John R. �Click� Kelly, 59, formerly of Prestonsburg, killed by an auto in Detroit, February 11; Mrs. Bethany Hale, 73, last Thursday, at Estill; Jerry Hall, 72, Friday, at Banner; Mrs. Ethel Hamilton, 46, of Honaker, Saturday, at a Martin hospital; Mrs. Minnie Goble Sturgill, 39, Sunday, on Little Paint Creek.

(January 21, 1954

A building development is in the planning stage, here, which would mean the razing of 15 or more old residents owned by the Harkins estate in the North Highland-Trimble-Branch area of Prestonsburg, and replacement of these with modern ranch-style homes...The Martin Waterworks Commission announced, this week, it is considering a $350,000 bond issue to finance the construction, at Martin of a modern high school gymnasium...Negotiations between the state and the federal government for the lease of an area on Dewey Lake for the creation of a new state park have been completed, Henry Ward, commissioner of conservation, announced this week...Inland Steel Company announced, Wednesday, that John T. Parker will become manager of its coal properties at Wheelwright, succeeding E. R. Price, who is retiring...Control of dogs in the Dewey Lake game refuge confronted conservation officials, this week, as the second of 20 deer released there, two months ago, was found dead Monday morning...There died: Landon Martin, 78, last Friday, at his home at Hueysville; William J. Vance, 24, of Melvin, Wednesday, at the Veterans Hospital, Huntington; Mrs. Randy Conley, 96, Tuesday, at the home of a son at Garrett; Mrs. Lizzie Hall Slone, 51, of Lackey, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Julia Dials Skeens, 86, at the home of her daughter at Lancer, Sunday; John Ingram Stepp, 72, last Thursday, at his home on Calf Creek; Thomas Meade, 83, of Hi Hat, last Thursday, at the home of a daughter, at Wayland.

November 4, 1953

In defeating Democratic nominee Bill Hall, of Betsy Layne, in last Tuesday�s election, Gorman Collins, of Lackey, became the first Republican in 16 years to be elected sheriff of Floyd County...Negotiations are underway to procure a court order freeing the Elk Horn Coal Corporation of receivership...The Floyd County Board of Education, in an Election Day meeting, purchased from Roe Fannin, the Betsy Layne threatre building which it will convert into a school lunchroom and kitchen...Billy Carr, race driver from Huntington, received a broken collar bone, Sunday, when his car was one of ten in a pile-up during a heat at the Allen race track...The first earth to be moved, Sunday, in ground breaking ceremonies for the Methodist Church school building, in Prestonsburg, will be shoveled by Dr. C.L. Hutsinpiller, it was announced by the pastor, Rev. Harold Dorsey...Coal production in the Big Sandy-Elkhorn area is above the tonnage mark achieved in the corresponding period last year, with 215,810 more tons having been loaded this year by October 24...There died: S. G. Alley Sr., Floyd native, at Milford, O., October 21; William Leslie Stephens, 56, of Prestonsburg, at the home of his mother in Prestonsburg, Tuesday; Adam Bailey, 34, of Salina, O., former Floyd resident, at Lima, O., Monday; Jimmy Edsel Burchett, 19, of Lancer, at St. Mary�s Hospital, Huntington, Sunday.

October 8, 1953

State Senator Doug Hayes turned the first spadeful of earth, Saturday, as ground was broken for the Miners� Memorial Hospital at McDowell...The Kentucky Department of Conservation is negotiating with the U.S. Corps of Engineers for two leases, one, the west side of Dewey Lake for the founding there of a state park...Recovery of Dr. O.W. Thompson, who was injured last Friday, when a farm tractor overturned on him, is doubtful says a Pikeville report...An estimated 12,000 persons attended the Floyd County Fair here, the last three days of last week, D.S. Nesler, treasurer of the Fair Association, said Monday...Woody, 16-year-old son of County Attorney and Mrs. W.W. Burchett, was seriously injured, Saturday night, in a football game at Shelbyville...There died: James Sherman, 50, Tuesday, at his home on Abbott Creek; Dave M. Hunter, 74, of Ivel, Monday, at a hospital, here; E.L. Johnson, 70, Monday, at Hi Hat; Clinton Fraley, 70, formerly of East Point, Monday, at a Cincinnati hospital of a broken neck, suffered in a fall near his home, at Butler, Fleming County; Robert Elliott Allen, 38, last Thursday, at Needles, California; Bert Fannin, 34, formerly of Drift, victim of an auto wreck near Kendallville, Indiana, Saturday.

August 13, 1953

The latest Floyd servicemen to be released in the Korean War prisoner exchange are Pfc. Fred Obroff, and Wheelwright, and Cpl. Fred Harper, of Wayland...Closed mines, resulting from increasing production costs and a lagging market, have cost the Big Sandy coal field an approximate $2 1/2 million payroll loss in the past two and a half years...Arnold Ratliff, 28, of Danville, West Virginia, formerly of Maytown, was killed, Saturday noon, when his truck left the road, crashing into an embankment on Cheat Mountain, near Kingswood, West Virginia...The Prestonsburg Board of Education decided, Monday evening, to submit to Prestonsburg Independent district voters, at the November election, the question of levying a building tax to raise funds for the construction of a new gymnasium here...In the matter of picturesque precinct names, Floyd County voting places such as John Possum, John Ant, Hen Hall, Rough and Tough and Elder Hiram, prove a rival to Letcher county�s Kingdom Come, UZ, (spelled with capitals) and Democrat Gap (which is a strong Republican precinct)...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Darwin Patton, of Auxier, a daughter, Mary Lee, August 2, at the Paintsville Hospital...There died: Arthur Robinson, 57, at home at Martin, Sunday; Dr. Henry A. Schufflebarger, 64, of McDowell, Wednesday, at St. Joseph�s Hospital, Louisville; Mrs. O. P. Powers, 76, at home at Prestonsburg, Monday; Mrs. G. Combs, 57, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at St. Mary�s Hospital, Huntington; John R. Allen, 83, at his home at Warco, Sunday.

July 23, 1953

The Floyd County Board of Education�s 1953-54 budget of $1,208,532 has been approved by the fiscal court...The Mountain Anglers� casting team composed of Edmund and Bill Baker Burke, Stuart Stephens, Quentin and David W. Allen, won the five-eights-ounce accuracy and skish championships in the Dixie Casting Tournament at St. Petersburg, Florida, last Sunday...Dr. Edwin E. Carleton, formerly of Wheelwright, is the new general medical director for the Inland Steel Company...Wounded in the Korean fighting: Cpl. Homer Akers, of Melvin, and Charles Mitchell, of Craynor...Joe Hatfield, 14, suffered a neck dislocation, Monday, when he dived into Left Beaver Creek, near Hunter...Charles S. Bond, son of Mrs. Katherine Bond and the late Oscar P. Bond, of Prestonsburg, recently took the oath as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland...The death, last Friday, of Russell Hall, 17, of Weeksbury, has been ascribed to rabies, health authorities said Monday...The Rev. L. W. Benedict has resigned the pastorate of Irene Cole Memorial Baptist Church here, effectively, July 31. He plans to retire, and he and Mrs. Benedict will move to Ashland...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. William A. Rose, of Graham Street, their first child, Marilyn Ann...There died: Mrs. Kate Caudill, 70, Grethel, Sunday; Willard Boyd, 44, Sunday, at his home at Betsy Layne; Mrs. Essie Blackburn Stephens, 67, formerly of Prestonsburg, July 18, at an Ashland Hospital; Mrs. Woodie Ellis Seibert, at her home in Newport, Ky., Monday.

June 11, 1953)

Floyd County�s school system, which has been counting heavily on an equalization fund, materially in excess of the current year�s $254,000, may be considerably weakened by the $5 million slash in the coming year�s budget, ordered by Governor Weatherby this week...More destruction from a fire which destroyed the McDowell theatre and an adjacent building at McDowell, early Saturday morning, was prevented by C. and O. Railroad engineer, Belve Turner, who spotted the flames from the theatre, and began blowing his locomotive�s whistle, alerting the town to the blaze...The office of County Judge Henry Stumbo was burglarized last Thursday night, and a state police investigation of the break was underway, this week...Release forms for the procuring of flowage easements to deepen Dewey Lake by five feet have been obtained by E. R. Burke, seventh district conservation supervisor...Coal production, through May, has continued to gain, with an increase of 541.5 cars of 50 tons each over the corresponding period last year...Larry Allen Whittaker, five years old, of Pyramid, is Floyd County�s first polio sufferer of this year...The purchase for $150,000, by a group of Floyd and Perry county citizens, of the Hazard Gas Distribution System was consummated June 1...Married: Miss Lillis Serena DeRossette, of Prestonsburg, to BM 3 Bernard George Jansen, St. Matthews, May 31, at the First Baptist Church, Bremerton, Washington; Miss Roberta Flannery, of Martin, and Johnny Hill, of Prestonsburg, June 9, at the Allen Baptist Church...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Bob Vanhoose, of Cliff, a son, Robert Michael, June 10, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Roy S. Martin, of Garrett, a daughter, Peggy Irene, May 24...There died: William Brown, 61, at home in Prestonsburg, Tuesday; Mrs. Minerva Jane Short, 75, at the home of a daughter, at Russell, June 6; Thomas Joel Martin, 71, former Johns Creek resident, at home at Fallsburg, Friday.

May 28, 1953

Construction of the McDowell Hospital of the United Mine Workers Welfare Fund, is expected soon, as work is scheduled to begin in a few weeks on the Pikeville UMWA hospital...The City of Prestonsburg has purchased an 8-acre tract in the Mayo Addition for a future site of the city water plant and a municipal swimming pool...Two prominent Prestonsburg men�Atty. Edward L. Allen, 63, and Dr. Marvin S. Ransdell, 66�have died within the week. Mr. Allen died here last Friday; Dr. Ransdell at a Louisville hospital...The Princess Elkhorn Coal Company awarded scholarships to five graduating seniors, four going to Prestonsburg High School students: Bonnie Jean Wells, Lowell Hager, Joe Jack Arnett and Mazie Frances Brown...Robert Hayes, 40, of Allen, suffered third degree burns in an explosion at Price, last Thursday...A labor dispute idled 500 miners at David this week...There died: Mrs. Della Hopkins McCown, 54, of Melvin, Monday, at Lackey; Mrs. Belle Burchett Richmond, 89, Tuesday, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mary R. May; James Sparks, 62, of Wayland, Saturday, at Lackey; Tony Slone, 63, May 18, at the home, at Allen, of his daughter, Mrs. Virgil Smith; Mrs. Hester Ann Stephens, 82, May 22, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Fanny Jarrell.

May 21, 1953

Every direction he turned on a visit here, Friday, Governor Lawrence Weatherby saw placards reading, �We Want a State Park at Dewey Lake,� but he could not say when such an improvement would be made...The new $475,000 high school building here has been temporarily delayed by failure of bond firms to offer bids on bonds. The bond market was described as �nervous�...A State Department of Education survey group privately expressed the opinion that Floyd County needs $3 million worth of school construction...The Floyd Fiscal Court voted, Wednesday, to issue $230,000 worth of revenue bonds to finance four independent gas distributing systems in the county...Married: Miss Barbara Allen and Mr. John G. Heinze, both of Prestonsburg, May 16, at the First Presbyterian Church here...There died: Willie Frazier, 51, of Dock, Sunday, at the Prestonsburg Hospital; Robert Neal Harris, 74, last Thursday, at the home, here, of his daughter, Mrs. W. O. Goebel Sr.; Mrs. Lula Childers, 44, of Emma, Monday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mrs. Leona B. Oaks, 38, last Thursday, at the home, here, of her mother, Mrs. Lou Baldridge; Mrs. Carolina J. Prater, 65, Friday, at the home, here, of her daughter, Mrs. Dove Vaughan; Miles Gibson, 61, of Langley, Tuesday.

May 14, 1953

The Floyd County Board of Education, this week, asked bids from contractors on the construction of a four-classroom school at Bosco...A report on the school teacher shortage in Kentucky shows that 127 teachers in Floyd County have emergency teaching certificates...The fiscal court at its meeting, Monday, unanimously voted to allow Carl Horn a salary of $1,200 a year as a bookkeeper for his father, Jailer Guy Horn, and to allow this amount as a deductible item in the Jailer�s expenses for the years, 1950 and 1951...Employment in Floyd County has been on the decline since March, the total number of claimants up to 3,365...At his battle station in Korea, Cpl. Charles F. Laferty wrote a letter on the familiar subject, �Mother,� which won for his mother, Mrs. William F. Laferty, of Allen, the 839th Engineers battalion�s award as �Mother of the Year�...Fred Jarrell, 43-year-old Prestonsburg man, was killed early last Saturday, as the result of an accidental gunshot wound...Wilbur R. (Shorty) Jamerson, former backfield star for the University of Kentucky Wildcats, has been named head football coach at Morehead State College...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Miles Gibson Jr., of Maytown, a daughter, Janie Elizabeth...There died: H. L. Goble, of Prestonsburg, Monday, in the Good Samaritan Hospital, Lexington; R.N. (Neal) Harris, 74, of Cow Creek, Thursday, at the home of his daughter, here; John Allen Burchett, 77, at home at Tram, Tuesday; Mrs. Lydia Watkins, 69, of Brainard, Sunday; Mrs. Fanny Smallwood, 51, of Bevinsville, May 6, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mrs. Jane Hall Stumbo, 62, of McDowell, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; William E. Spradlin, 68, of Prestonsburg, at a Lexington hospital, Tuesda.

May 7, 1953

Headed by Gov. Lawrence Weatherby, the eleventh Governors� Tour is scheduled, next week, to inspect tourist facility development at Dewey Lake and the Breaks of the Sandy...The Floyd Fiscal Court, last Thursday, paid the William Cotton Company, Louisville accountants, $6,250 for the audit of county officials� records...A delegation of this section left, Wednesday morning, to lay before State Highway Commissioner W.P. Curlin, an urgent request for action on the Howard Branch road which would link Middle Creek, and the lower section of this county, with Magoffin County, and the route to the coal mining operations at Evanston, Breathitt County...Two Floyd county coal miners, William A. Pack and Robert Finley, both of the Inland Steel Company, at Wheelwright, and three Floyd County mines, No. 1 and No. 2 mines of the Princiess Elkhorn Coal Company, at David, and the Wheelwright mines of the Inland Steel Company, have been cited for Certificates of Honor in recognition of their outstanding safety records...The town of Drift has the Town Meeting as a permanent part of community life, and already, as a result of early sessions, has a working garbage disposal system...There died: Mrs. Mousie Hall, 75, at home at Drift, May 2; Mrs. Gladys Anderson, 33, of McDowell, May 3, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Rev. Guy Kelly Rorrer, 44, of Lancer, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, Sunday; Mrs. Vatie Boyd Blackburn, 51, of Hampton Roads, Virginia, Floyd County native, at a Hampton Roads hospital, April 30.

April 30, 1953

The Floyd Circuit Court grand jury adjourned, Wednesday noon, with a final report, in which it took potshots at �certain officers� of the law, assailing them for a �general effort to cover up the true condition of lawlessness in this county, particularly bootlegging�...A sanitation report of Floyd County schools, made by Galen Brown, state area sanitarian, shows that unsanitary conditions exist to an alarming degree in the county schools, with only 23 percent having a safe water supply, and 57 percent with unsafe sewage disposal systems...For his rescue of a three-year-old child from the path of an oncoming passenger train, Glenn L. McComas, 25, Lima, Ohio, formerly of Eastern, has been awarded the Carnegie Medal for heroism...The firm of Akers & Akers, of Banner, successful bidders on construction of the county high school building here, with a bid of $388,281.47, is expected to begin work on the structure next week...Members of the Big Sandy Valley delegation were highly encouraged, Tuesday, by the tenor of the hearing, held before the senate public works sub-committee, on the matter of river canalization...Fire losses in Floyd County in 1952, for the 45 fires reported, totaled $32,420...There died: Joe Bradley, 50, of Dema, at a Lexington hospital, April 27; Rev. Mack Hall, 71, at home at Drift, April 25; Mrs. Armelda C. Caudill, 76, at home at Dwale, April 23.

April 16, 1953

The grand jury here, Tuesday, indicted two members of the Louisville accounting firm of the W. M. Cotton Company, charging them with falsification of the audit made of Floyd County officials� receipts and expenses...Extensive development of the Stratton Branch area for the convenience of campers and picnickers at Dewey Lake, is being planned by the Huntington district office, U.S. Corps of Engineers...Burtis Wicker, 33, former Floyd Countian, was killed last Wednesday, when a bridge spanning the Big Sandy on a link in the Paintsville-Inez road, collapsed as Wicker was crossing it on a tractor pulling a trailer...The Prestonsburg-West Prestonsburg bridge on which an eight, ton load limit has been placed, will undergo repairs, starting within the next few days...Julia Ann Derossett, 6, died Monday, April 13, at King�s Daughters� hospital, Ashland, of burns received in an accident, February 5, when her clothing caught fire at an open fireplace at the home of her parents, at Dock...Last Thursday night�s windstorm hit Prestonsburg and vicinity with near tornado force, causing damage of several thousand dollars...After being under the water of Beaver Creek for ten minutes, and apparently drowned, Greg Mynhier, six-year-old Martin child, was rescued from the stream and restored to life, minutes after artificial respiration was administered by Red Ison, also of Martin...Two Floyd County high school graduates, members of the Morehead State basketball squad, honored by the Morehead Kiwanis Club recently, are Jim Duff, of Garrett, and Russell Hunley Jr., of Prestonsburg...Married: Miss Alka Lanette Dingus, of Alphoretta, and Mr. Don Smith, April 4...There died: Isham Webster Hughes, 59, formerly of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, in Sacremento, California; Mrs. Dave Prater Hoover, 92, former Garrett resident, at the home of a son at Carlisle, Kentucky, April 14; Wilson H. Halstead, 86, former Prestonsburg man, at the home of a son, at Wales, Pike County, April 11; John Bevins, 40, at his home on Buffalo Creek at Endicott, Friday.

April 9, 1953

Faced with the need of doing something about a variety of city problems, among them sewage disposal, an expanded water system and street repairs, the Prestonsburg City Council voted unanimously, Monday night, to authorize a bond issue of $1,000,000...With no more than $400,000 available for the work to be done, and the lowest bids offered totalling $475,430.66, the Floyd Fiscal Court and Floyd County Board of Education in joint session, Tuesday, were forced to delay awarding of contracts on the proposed 23-classroom county high school building here...John E. Manies, 47, of Detroit, Mich., drowned in Dewey Lake, early Wednesday morning, when his auto dropped from the road leading to the Brandy Keg dock into approximately eight feet of water...Ashland Nelson, 21-year-old Blue River man, was accidentally killed, Thursday, by a blast from his shotgun, while hunting on Buckeye Fork of Middle Creek...There died: Mrs. Bessie Greer Mullins, 37, of Printer, Tuesday morning, when struck by a hit-and-run driver on the highway at Printer; W.I. Myers, 57, of Detroit, Mich., formerly of Drift, Monday, at Detroit; Mrs. Mary Campbell, 91, of Prestonsburg, at the home of a step-daughter, at Lancer, April 2; Mrs. Kate Wallen Hammonds, 39, of Water Gap, last Thursday, at a Paintsville hospital; Dr. Gideon D. Ison, 72, formerly of Blackey, Sunday, at Atlanta, Georgia.

March 12, 1953

Evidence that the floor and floor joists of the Floyd County courthouse are sagging was causing officials concern this week...Prevalence of flu has cut into the Red Cross blood yield in the county...Miners at the Princess Elkhorn Coal Company operation at David resumed work, this week, after a work-stoppage...Bids were asked, this week, by the Floyd County Board of Education on the construction of a high school building here...The Harmon Branch Coal Company mine, near Boldman, was closed, March 4, because of a lack of ventilation, Mine Inspector Elmer Layne said...The Martin Purple Flash won the district basketball tournament, held last week-end, defeating McDowell in the finals...A dog quarantine has been clamped on Prestonsburg, after 40 persons, most of whom are children, have been bitten and have begun anti-rabies treatment...There died: Jack Jarrell, 82, March 9, at Dana; Mrs. Etta Shepherd, 73, March 9, at West Prestonsburg.

February 26, 1953

Acting on behalf of the Floyd County Good Government Taxpayers League, Dr. Edward B. Leslie and John Warrix this week filed with the Floyd Circuit Court an appeal asking the court to avoid three orders of the Floyd Fiscal Court fixing the salaries and numbers of deputies the various officials may have, and the pay officials� assistants may receive...On the Jack Arnett Branch on Middle Creek, Floyd County has at least one bed of shale clay, which geologists have declared of industrial worth...With 26 suspected cases now receiving treatment, Dr. Marvin Ransdell, county health officer, said Wednesday, the recent rabies epidemic in Floyd County is the worst he has ever seen...Henry Ward, Kentucky Commissioner of Conservation, will confer here, March 3, with representatives of the Huntington office, U. S. Corps of Engineers, to consider the founding of a state park at Dewey Lake...Employees of the Inland Steel Company at Wheelwright, and Princess Elkhorn Coal Company, at David, resumed work this week, after brief lay-offs described as sympathy strikes in support of striking Kentucky & West Virginia Power Company employees at Pikeville...A reward of $2,000 has been posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who caused a shutdown of the Buck�s Branch Coal Company at Martin, recently, by cutting a conveyor belt and attempting the sabotage of other mining machinery...The average home value in Prestonsburg according to 1950 census reports, is $4,950...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Byrel Fraley, of Prestonsburg, a son, Byrel Douglas II, Feb. 14, at the Paintsville Hospital...There died: Vernice Moore, 16, of Price, at home, February 22; John D. (Dick) Mayo, 70, at his home near Prestonsburg, Thursday.

February 19, 1953

U.S. Senator John Sherman Cooper told Prestonsburg Mayor Curtis Clark, last week, that new hope has risen for the canalization of the Big Sandy River...The ailing coal industry of the Big Sandy valley lost a market for approximately 899,000 tons of coal last year as the result of importation of cheap foreign residual oil...The body of Pfc. Clyde D. Spradlin, 22,. of Spradlin�s Branch, who was killed in action in Korea, arrived here this week...Higher gas rates, which will add $96,000 to fuel bills, are foreseen for residents of eastern Kentucky communities served by United Fuel Gas Company...Kentucky�s biggest experiment with Northern pike began Friday, with the release in Dewey Lake of 500 of that species...Floyd County�s tax assessment, in comparison to market, value is next to the bottom of the list of Kentucky�s 120 counties... L. B. Brashear, of Manton, again will head the Floyd County Red Cross fund drive this year...Born to Mr. and Mrs. Billy Hale, a daughter, Mary Ann, February 11, at Maryville, Tenn.; to Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Lafferty, of Martin, a daughter, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin...There died: Ernest Bradley, 51, formerly of Eastern, at Stockdale, O., Tuesday; Henry Reffett, 33, of Blue River, Feb. 11, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Elsie May Crisp, 49, of Allen, Friday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Jack Adkins, 58, of Brush Creek, Monday, at the Stumbo Memorial Hospital, Lackey; Mrs. Opal Moore, 28, of Langley, Feb. 13, at Stumbo Memorial; Adam Allen, 88, formerly of Hueysville, Sunday, at Oldtown, Ky.; Mrs. Cora Music Foley, 37, of Lancer, Wednesday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mrs. Oma Gibson, 83, of Emma, Tuesday, at the home of a daughter; Mrs. Sarah Ann Keathley, 82, Feb. 17, at home at Amba; Mrs. Jonathon Preston, 82, of Lackey, Feb. 10, at the home of a daughter.

(February 5, 1953

Floyd County�s teacher shortage was described by County Superintendent Virgil O. Turner, this week, as �desperate,� with nine, schools either closed or reopening after having been closed for lack of instructors...The Floyd County Board of Education asked, at its Tuesday meeting, the Floyd Fiscal Court to act as its financial agent, and to advertise for bids on the construction here of the long-delayed high school building; and, at the same meeting, the board approved preliminary plans on school buildings at Bosco and Ligon...A strike of the Inland Steel Company�s plant at Indiana Harbor, Indiana, resulted in a halt of all coal shipments from the Inland Steel Company at Wheelwright, idling approximately 1,200 miners there...The Foreman�s Club at Wheelwright is working to give the community top standing in blood-giving for 1953, by meeting the full 125-pint quota, when the Red Cross bloodmobile visits there, next Tuesday...There died: Samuel L. Isbell, 47, of Prestonsburg, former Floyd County agricultural agent and widely known veterinarian, Wednesday, at Staffordsville, Johnson County; Mrs. Alma Branham Elliott, 29, formerly of Martin, at home in Wilmington, Illinois, January 27; Mrs. Satch King, 66, at home on Mare Creek, Tuesday; Mrs. Ella S. Richardson, 80, Thursday, at home on Middle Creek; Turner R. Prater, 74, of Bonanza, former Floyd County magistrate, at home, Wednesday; Cynthia Rose Riddle, 70, of Lick�s Branch, February 1, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Henry Bowe, 84, at home at Auxier, Saturday; Cary N. Martin, 60, at home at Allen, Monday; Mrs. Bessie Arnett, 61, of Howard Branch, near David, Tuesday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital.

January 29, 1953

The Prestonsburg Board of Education, at a special meeting, Monday evening, took the first steps toward merger of the Prestonsburg Independent School District with the county system...In a case appealed from the Floyd Circuit Court by the Olan Mills Company, photographers, the Court of Appeals ruled that Prestonsburg does not have the right to levy a business-license tax on out-of-state individuals or companies operating here...The body of Denver Lee Wells, Prestonsburg soldier, who was killed in Korea, October 14, last, will arrive here, Saturday, at the Arnold Funeral Home...The Eastern Kentucky Industrial Foundation, an organization with the specific purpose of revitalizing the threatened economy of this area, was founded Tuesday at a meeting at the Paintsville Country Club...The grand jury of the Floyd Circuit Court expressed in its final report to Circuit Judge Edward P. Hill, doubt that crime in the county is, as has been stated, on the decline...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Halbert Jr., of Maytown, a son, January 24, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin...There died: Ivan Lovely, 17, of Hueysville, in a truck wreck near Reed Branch; Wess Campbell, former resident of Cow Creek, Monday, at his home at Jackson, Ohio; William R. Younce, 79, of Water Gap, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville, Wednesday; Henry McKenzie, 56, West Prestonsburg, Monday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Daisy Prater Stambaugh, 39, of David, Saturday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mrs. Virgie Salisbury Likens, 49, of Hunter, Friday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin.

January 15, 1953

The city council here, last Friday, voted final steps for the purchase of the First National Bank building, here, and financing of the $40,000 purchase price...Representatives of this area, attending a meeting called in Ashland, Saturday, by the Kentucky Agricultural and Industrial Development Board, took preliminary steps toward getting things done in a hurry for this section of Kentucky, hoping eventually to attract new industries to this region of declining coal business...At the Prestonsburg Board of Education meeting, Monday night, there was mounting sentiment for merger of the Prestonsburg Independent School District with the county system...Exactly 773 petitions to the U.S. Corps of Engineers, asking for the deepening of Dewey Lake by five feet, had been returned to the Floyd County Times office by Wednesday afternoon...Senators Clements and Cooper are, in a non-partisan effort to aid Big Sandy Valley and the Green River watershed, co-sponsoring legislation in the Senate that will provide funds for the development of the rivers...Prestonsburg�s City Council, last week, named the Rev. M. Robert Regan collector of delinquent taxes...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Brown, of Allen, a daughter, Diana Mae, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin...There died: Granville Hyden, January 9, at home at West Prestonsburg; William A. Vance, 77, of Ligon, January 10, at the home of George Tackett, Melvin; Mary Alice Bush, 71, of Hi Hat, at home, January 11; Liza Prater, 70, of Hueysville, January 13, at her home on Salt Lick.

January 8, 1953

An order, voted on recommendation of County Judge Henry Stumbo, will require every elective official in Floyd County, from Circuit Judge to Constable, to file with the fiscal court, on or before April 1, a statement showing his total income and expenditures for the year 1952...Response to The Times� invitation of last week to its readers, to sign a petition carried in the newspaper, and asking the Corps of Engineers to increase depth of the lake by at least five feet, was immediate...Improvement of U.S. 23 will be the No. 3 road project in Kentucky this year, with a total of $1,325,000 to be spent on the work...Prestonsburg�s City Council at its meeting, Monday night, drew a step nearer to purchase of the First National Bank building...Floyd Chapter National Foundation for Infantile Parlaysis, must raise more money during the March of Dimes campaign now in progress than ever before, if it is to meet the obligations it incurred as the result of a record number of polio patients from this county last year...The Floyd County Board of Education, at its first meeting of the new year Tuesday afternoon, followed the procedure necessary to procure, through the issue of bonds, funds necessary for the construction of a county high school building here...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. William Shepherd, of Lexington, a daughter, Dec. 31; to Lt. and Mrs. Charles Tackett, a daughter, Dana Elaine, at Ft. Benning Hospital, Columbus, Georgia, Dec. 12; to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Simpson, of Drift, a son, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; to Prof. and Mrs. Z.S. Dickerson Jr., of Florence, Alabama, a daughter, Dec. 19...There died; Mrs. Beulah Conley, 59, of Wheelwright, Jan. 1, at the Stumbo Memorial Hospital, Lackey; Sallie Crum, 75, of Cliff, Saturday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Gerald Howell, six, at Frasure�s Creek, January 3; Melvin Frasure, 60, of Langley, January 4, at the Wilson Memorial Hospital, Sidney, Ohio.

December 18, 1952

The Prestonsburg City Council this week considered a plan to buy the First National Bank building on First Avenue as a future Municipal building...County Judge Henry Stumbo was elected chairman of the Floyd County Democratic organization Saturday, virtually without opposition, but a scrap developed between Johnny Hall, of McDowell, and County Clerk DuRan Moore for the secretary post. State Senator Doug Hayes was named secretary by way of compromise...John Delmar Hughes, Prestonsburg high school grid star, has been named quarterback of The Courier-Journal�s all-state eleven...Fred Mullins, 30, auto body shop operator, died Wednesday, six hours after suffering a broken neck in a motorcycle wreck here...Detroit police are probing the possibility of foul play in the death Thursday of Ernest B. Harris, 42, Floyd native, of a skull fracture...Destruction by fire within the week of Callison�s Big-Y Restaurant at Allen and the home of Orbie Hamilton at Tram caused damage estimated at $14,000...Kentucky�s famed basketball coach, Adolph Rupp, was the speaker last Thursday at the annual football banquet sponsored here by the Kiwanis Club...There died: Tom Wright, 51, formerly of Martin, Monday, at Ashland; Charlie Conn, 36, at his home at Allen, Tuesday; Bill Damron, 58, at Hi Hat, December 13; Alonzo Frasure, 37, of Wayland, at St. Mary�s Hospital, Huntington, December 10, of slatefall injuries; Lou S. Price, 79, at her Glo home, December 11; Robert Mulkey, 64, of Harold, at a Pikeville hospital, December 11.

December 11, 1952

Radio Station WPRT, Prestonsburg, went on the air, last Friday noon...An interest saving of 1.50 to 1.75 on a $44,000 county debt was effected Monday, it was said, through the sale of refunding bonds in that amount...The Prestonsburg Kiwanis Club has asked the State Conservation Service to make a study of the Dewey Lake area with a view of founding a state park there...The Bank Josephine plans to remodel its banking department, at an estimated cost of $75,000, Joseph D. Harkins, Sr., chairman of the bank�s board of directors, said this week...Gomer R. Martin Jr., commander of the 10th district American Legion, and Mrs. Virginia A. Draughn, president of the 10th district American Legion Auxiliary, announced plans this week for a two-day joint gathering of Posts and Units of the district at Martin this weekend...Biggest item on the $3,630 budget of the Floyd County Fish & Game Club for the coming year was $1,000, earmarked for restocking of Dewey Lake with bass and walleye...Born: To Mr. and Mrs. Bobie Slone, of David, a son, Carl Gregory, December 5; to Mr. and Mrs. Franklin W. Moore, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Laura Ellen, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, December 9; to A-2C and Mrs. Clinton E. Porter, of Luke AFB, Phoenix, Arizona, a son, Clinton E. Porter, III, November 27, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania...There died: Ishmael Worth Patton, 49, of Glo, at St. Joseph�s Hospital, Lexington, December 5; Henry Allen, 54, of Lackey, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin, Wednesday; Lewis Cooper, 41, December 9, at Lexington.

November 13, 1952

Rumor persisted here this week that a federal probe of the conduct of the November election in three Floyd County precincts will be made, the three precincts under suspicion being Toler Creek Antioch and Drift...Work on the Prater Creek-Mud Creek highway will be started within the next few days, the Winston Ford Company, contractors on the job, assured County Judge Henry Stumbo, Wednesday...Bobby Gene Quillen, 22-year-old employee of the Inland Steel Company, was instantly killed, late Tuesday afternoon, when he was caught by a coal car, at Price, and rolled beneath it on the tracks...Virgil O. Turner, superintendent of Floyd County schools, was elected, Saturday, without opposition as president of the Eastern Ky. Education Association...The Big Sandy Coal Operators Association will assist in the sampling of coal to find rare geranium, C.W. Davis, secretary of the Association, has advised Hansford May, chairman of the Prestonsburg Chamber of Commerce committee on geranium...Melvin Hughes, 27 years old, former Hueysville miner, was fatally injured, Saturday night, in an auto wreck near LaPorte, Indiana...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hughes, formerly of Martin, a daughter, Maria Jean, October 8...There died: Willie Hall, 63, of Water Gap, at his home, November 7; Elbert S. Dotson, 76, former Floyd Countian, at his home in Oak Hills, Ohio, November 7; Mrs. Evalene Owens, 19, at St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington, November 10; Mrs. Sophia Patton Gearheart, 86 years old, at her home on Salt Lick Creek, Wednesday; Add Inman, 79, at his home on the Rock Fork section of Garrett, November 3; Henry Daniel Hall, 63, of Bevinsville, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, Sunday; Dinas Lynn Crum, three-months-old, of Wayland, at St. Mary�s Hospital in Huntington, November 11.

October 30, 1952

The Floyd County Good Government Taxpayers League this week had $1,100 already pledged to use as rewards for the conviction of vote violators in the federal election, next Tuesday...Radio station WPRT should go on the air shortly after November 16, the station owner, D.C. Stephens, and Rex Osborne, manager, said this week...Three Floyd County truck mines on Big Mud Creek have been ordered closed by the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals because of illegal use of blackpowder, a violation of the safety provisions of the mining laws...The week-long mine strike which followed the Wage Stabilization Board�s refusal to approve the $1.90-a-day pay increase granted the miners in the new coal contract, ended, Monday night, as John L. Lewis, UMW president, requested the men to return to work...In donating blood for the wounded in Korea, Wheelwright fell just shy of the 100-pint mark when the bloodmobile visited that community, last Wednesday...Hundreds of acres of forest land in Floyd County were swept by fire, last week, during one of the worst droughts to afflict this season...Sportsmen of the area heard, last Sunday, informal talks by Senators Thomas Underwood and Earl C. Clements, concerning the possible deepening of Dewey Lake...The Prestonsburg Chamber of Commerce, Monday evening, voted funds to carry on prospecting for a �mystery metal��geranium, worth $350 a pound, and found in coal...There died; Susie Elta Francis, 4, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, October 24; Cpl. Carl Whitaker, 22, of Abbott Creek, October 21; Judy Green, three-months-old, last Thursday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Daniel Webster Blackburn, 65, at his home, at Lancer, October 25; Polly Sparkman Collins, 72, former Floyd Countian, last Friday; Mrs. Isabelle Terry, 37, at home on Turkey Creek near Maytown, Monday; Georgia Inis Oney, four months, at home at Wayland, October 24; Dorothy Layne Gibson, of Toledo, Ohio, Floyd County native, at Mercy Hospital, Toledo, October 27; Frank Anderson, 85, of the Abbott road, Tuesday evening, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Patricia Ann Newsome, one-month-old, of Craynor, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, October 28; Margie Harmon Burchett, of Bays Branch, October 29, at the Paintsville Clinic; Thomas Wilson Crisp, 72, at his home at Martin, October 24.

October 23, 1952

Floyd County coal mines were shut down, solid, this week, and will probably remain so until the $1.90 pay increase allowed the miners by the new coal contract is approved by the Wage Stabilization Board, or until other means of getting the men back to work are devised...Two Floyd County soldiers have lost their lives recently. One, Henry E. Gibson, of Prestonsburg, was a victim of fighting in Korea, October 4, and the other Cpl. Carl Whittaker, of Abbott Creek, was killed Tuesday in a motor wreck near White Sands Proving Grounds, Los Cruses, New Mexico...Floyd County is suffering the effects of the worst drought to hit this area since 1930...The Floyd County Good Government Taxpayer�s League, and one individual, Bill Pettrey, each posted a $100 reward for each person convicted of vote fraud at the November elections...Sandra Gale Crisp, two-year-old daughter of Billy J. and Catherine Crisp, formerly of Martin, was the victim of carbon monoxide fumes escaping from a coal burner, October 17, at Munith, Michigan...Dr. R. M. Sirkle, of Prestonsburg, was installed, Thursday, as the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky Masons, the first resident of the Big Sandy Valley ever to hold that post...Floyd County Democratic women will participate in the current political campaign, it was said, after the Floyd County Women�s Democratic Club was organized here, Tuesday night...Floyd, Johnson, and Magoffin counties were consolidated into one Scout district, at the district Scout meeting, here, Tuesday night, and the area was named the Jenny Wiley district...John D. Robinson, 33, and Charlie Blanton, 44, both of Printer, were killed in a car wreck, this week, at Waynesfield, Ohio, and Frank Boyd, 48, of Arkansas Creek, also was fatally injured in an auto accident near Munith, Michigan...Born: to Dr. and Mrs. R. M. Wilhite Jr., a son, Robert Montgomery Wilhite III, at Paintsville, October 9; to Mr. and Mrs. Keith Alley, a daughter, Dianne Keith, at the Paintsville Hospital, October 19...There died: William Dingus, 95, former State Senator and Floyd County attorney, Tuesday, at his home in Prestonsburg; Opal Kidd McKinney, 37, of Amba, at her home October 19; Louise Belcher Wells, 74, of Auxier, at Paintsville, October 8.

October 16, 1952

Walter S. Franklin, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, presented the road�s heroic service medal to Glenn L. McComas, baggageman, native of Eastern, who rescued three-year-old Tommy Schoonover from the path of a moving passenger train after sprinting the distance of two city blocks near the Lima, Ohio, station...Mrs. A. H. Mandt, of Manton, was elected to the board of directors of the Kentucky Society for Crippled Children last Saturday...The Prestonsburg Blackcats and the Lynch Bulldogs have been selected to play in the second Big Sandy Bowl football game at Paintsville, Thursday, November 13...�Blue� Childers, former Prestonsburg southpaw, has won 16 and lost two for the Johnson Air Force Base of the Far East League in Japan...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Martin, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Mary Lou; to Mr. and Mrs. Elza Bowling, at Martin, twin daughters, Annalee and Vernalee...There died: H. H. Moore, 46, of Wayland, October 12, at the Stumbo Memorial Hospital, Lackey; Leander Grim, 78, of Hite, October 11; Mrs. Thelma Conley Howard, 41, at the home at Estill, Friday; William Wallace, 71, of Betsy Layne, October 10, in Berwine, West Virginia; Robert Hall, 72, at his son�s home at Wayland; Emmett K. Howell, 67, Wednesday, in a Lexington hospital; Richard Baker, 49, of Lancer, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin, October 13; Donna Gay Williams, nine-months-old daughter of John and Christine McDonald Williamson, of Drift, October 2; Anna Laura Case, nine-months-old daughter of Andy and Mary Fife Case, of Amba, October 4.

October 2, 1952

September 18, 1952

The 19th known Floyd County polio sufferer is 14-year-old Bill Hall Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hall, of Melvin, who was stricken Monday, and is reported in critical condition...A deal, completed last Thursday after several weeks� negotiations, transferred ownership of the Utilities Elkhorn Coal Company holding at Martin, and gave promise that the idle workings will be in operation again. The transaction involved purchase by C.D. and B. F. Reed, of Drift, and P.B. Swing, Cleveland, O., of the equipment and supplies of the coal company...Six hundred persons were guests of Dr. George P. Archer and Dr. John G. Archer, Sunday afternoon, as the two doctors threw open the doors of their new Prestonsburg General Hospital...There died: Mrs. Lula Webb, 61, of Harold, in a two-car accident, Saturday night, at Hampton, W.Va.; Patricia Von See, eight-year-old daughter of Carl and Judy Von See, and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Hager, of Little Paint, Wednesday, at a Huntington hospital; Rev. William Jackson Setser, 87, at his home on Long Branch of Johns Creek, September 12; Zella Collins Hicks, 59, of Minnie, at a Martin hospital, September 12; Alpha Fields, 72, at the home of her son-in-law, Jerd Harvey, of Honaker, September 12; Joe Tackett, 40, of Martin, Monday, at a Martin hospital; George W. Allen, 66, Minnie merchant, and former teacher, Friday, at a Martin hospital; Alex Martin Osborne, 76, of Honaker, Monday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital.

September 4, 1952

Auto insurance rates, locally, jumped 22 to 29 percent...The county purgation board was prepared for the possible purging of as many as 4,000 names from the voting lists, but Chairman German Vance announced, this week, that none would be purged...A U.S. Bureau of Mines report says this week that Knott County has 263 million tons of recoverable coal...A hydraulic lift for mowing machines, invented by Richard Newman, Hi Hat electrician, has been granted a patent. And a patent has been applied for by Ernest Maynard, of Cow Creek, on a calf-weaner which he invented...Six hundred attended the opening here of Leva�s Style Shop...Married: Miss Nelle Hamilton, of Harold, and Mr. James E. Payne, of Flat Gap, at the Salyersville Methodist Church, August 23...There died: John B. Risner, 67, former Floyd man, Saturday, as the auto in which he was speeding to the scene of a fire was wrecked; Edmund A. Smith, 63, Floyd mining engineer, Saturday, at his home here; Thomas P. Carlton, 63, August 17, as he was being taken from this county to a Huntington hospital; Homer Wright, 34, of Drift, August 28, at a Huntington hospital; Effie Risner, 42, of Estill, August 30, at a Lexington hospital; Rev. James A. Garfield Hall, 69, of Honaker, August 29, at a Martin hospital; Tom Turner, 72, September 1, at Wayland.

August 14, 1952

The county purgation board estimated it will clear 3,500 names from the voter registration lists; says that in one precinct, Prestonsburg No. 1, names of 18 persons who are dead remain on the list...The number of Floyd polio cases has risen to 12 within the week...Two men arrested in Charleston, West Virginia, have confessed breaks into the Harold and Betsy Layne businesses of Magistrate Edgar Howell, Bill Hall and John Hall...Ed Hicks, 44, Martin store owner, was shot and critically wounded, Tuesday evening...The draft board here has called for the induction of 13 men...There died: Oscar Pitts, 62, formerly of Middle Creek, Tuesday, at his farm near Kensington, Ohio; Mrs. Annie McKenzie, 48, of West Prestonsburg, August 6, at the hospital here; Sarah Bentley, 68, of Topmost, Tuesday, at a Martin hospital; Will Webb, 59, of Langley, Tuesday, at a Martin hospital.

August 7, 1952

July 31, 1952

The First National Bank has procured an option on the Mrs. W. H. Jones property at the corner of Broadway and Court street, as a site for its future bank building...W. & W.�s �On the Village Green� program, last Sunday, saluted the town of Martin...Thirteen Masonic lodges of this district sent approximately 100 representatives to the Saturday night meeting at Wayland...The State Highway Department is studying original plans of the weakened West Prestonsburg bridge with a view to repairing it...Although Floyd County has had seven polio cases this summer, and is fourth in the state in the severity of its epidemic, health offficials this week expressed the relief that incidence of the disease is waning...Mr. and Mrs. James Stephens, of Cliff, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, August 17...Mr. and Mrs. N. D. Howard, of Wayland, observed their silver wedding anniversary, last Wednesday...There died: Tilden Martin, 74, of Dema, Sunday, at a Paintsville hospital; Samuel T. Bingham Jr., 66, last Thursday, at his home on Bull Creek; Sid Frasure, 36, of Langley, Sunday, at a Martin hospital; Oscar Lee Vanderpool, 34, McDowell merchant, Wednesday, at a Martin hospital.

July 24, 1952)

Floyd County is apparently suffering a polio epidemic. Seven children are reported ill of the disease...Normal traffic loads were permitted on the West Prestonsburg bridge, this week, after it had been repaired...The new Federal Mine Safety Act, applying to mines employing 14 or more, is in effect...Names of Bennie Blackburn for Coroner and Charlie Laffferty for Constable must remain on the ballot, and the ballot, originally printed, must be used in the coming primary election, the attorney general�s office ruled this week...Councilman Paul C. Combs has been named mayor pro-tem by the City Council, to permit Mayor Curtis Clark to give fuller attention to his campaign for Congress...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Stumbo Jr., a son, July 22, at a Martin hospital...There died: James R. Hurt, Prestonsburg business leader, Tuesday, near West Liberty, of a heart attack; Ward Beech Bailey, 49, of Garrett, Tuesday, of injuries suffered when hit by a train; Arnold Conn, 44, of Arkansas Creek, July 18, at a Martin hospital; James V. Rickman, 24, of Tram, Monday, killed by a train; Russell G. Rice, 50, Garrett, Wednesday, at Martin; Mrs. Newt Stephens, 77, of Martin, Tuesday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Liza Mayo, 52, Floyd native, Saturday, at Pinsonfork, Pike County; Mrs. Ollie Roop, formerly of Tram, last week in a Williamson, W.Va. hospital.

July 17, 1952

The bridge spanning the Big Sandy, and connecting Prestonsburg and West Prestonsburg, was closed today to all heavy trucks...James Tackett, 19, of Salyersville, Tuesday afternoon, became the fifth victim of Dewey Lake since its impoundment two years ago...The Boy Scout camp on Dewey Lake was dedicated Friday...U.S. 23 relocation via Auxier was being studied this week...Hollie Conley, of Eastern, and a graduate of Duke, will begin the practice of law here this week; he will be in the office of Ex-Congressman, A.J. May for the present...There died: Samuel G. Ousley, 91, former Floyd Tax Commissioner, Saturday, at his home at Dock; Mrs. Mollie Adams Clay, 63, Friday, at her home in West Prestonsburg; Mrs. Hester Scalf Hunter, 69, at Pikeville, July 10; Mrs. Clara Jones Hall, 19, Friday, at her home at Beaver.

June 26, 1952

A 40-room frame building, owned by Cluett Messer, which was originally the Wells-Elkhorn Coal Company clubhouse, was destroyed by fire, Sunday night...Four from this county entered the state bar examination this week: Miss Mary Louise Osborne, of Bypro, who was Miss Kentucky of 1950, Charles Tackett, Jarvis Allen and Barkley Sturgill, all of Prestonsburg...A coroner�s jury has held that Worley Hobert Evans, of Melvin, whose body was found early Wednesday in Abner Fork of Left Beaver Creek, was a victim of drowning...Norma, two-year-old daughter of Astor Woods, of Cow Creek, was severely burned, when the one match in the box with which she was playing, ignited...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. John Allen, June 17, a son, Stephen Reynolds, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital...There died: Lucy Turner Jones, 71, June 18, at McDowell; William H. Stanley, 29, native of Cliff, June 19, at Riverview, Kentucky; John Hall, 75, Friday, at Honaker. 

June 19, 1952

Paul E. Hayes, Prestonsburg attorney, became chairman of the State Workmen�s Compensation Board, Tuesday...The Boy Scout Camp at German, on Dewey Lake, was ready this week, to receive its first contingent of campers...I.M. Cassidy, of the Consolidation Coal Co., Jenkins, Friday, was elected president of the Big Sandy-Elkhorn Coal Operators Association to succeed B. F. Reed, of Drift...Dropping the 20-cent levy for the War Memorial Hospital, which never materialized, the Floyd Fiscal Court adopted one of the lowest tax rates in the state...Pete Grigsby Jr., of Martin, last week was elected Commonwealth�s Attorney of the American Legion-sponsored Boys State at Danville...Clyde Hall, 30, died last Thursday night at the home of his father at East McDowell, three hours after arrival there from Cleveland, Ohio...Jarvis Allen, former Floyd County Clerk, was graduated, June 9, from the University of Miami with the degree of bachelor of laws...Barkley J. Sturgill received the same degree, June 6, upon his graduation from Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Va...Married: Miss Betty Jean Layne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Layne, of Betsy Layne, and Mr. John E. Vaughan, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Vaughan, of Prestonsburg, on March 28...Born to Mr. and Mrs. Church Nunley, on May 23, at Frankfort, a daughter, Susan Davis; to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Bowling, formerly of Prestonsburg, at Oceola, Indiana, June 6, a son, Terrance Allen...There died: Delcie Childers, 49, of Garrett, at Pikeville, June 13; Diana K. Tackett, one-year-old, June 14, at Hi Hat.

June 12, 1952

It was said this week that the new state law restricting all voting precincts to not more than 350 voters could make necessary, 92 precincts for Floyd County...Floyd County�s tax assessment total is up to $350,000 this year, Tax Commissioner Clive Akers said...Twelve-year-old Bobby Greer, of Burdine, drowned in Dewey Lake last Thursday afternoon...William O. Goebel Jr., of Prestonsburg, has signed a contract to play baseball with the Spartansburg (S.C.) club of the Tri-State league after his graduation at the end of this year�s work at Morehead State College. In college ball this year he has won four games as a pitcher, and as an outfielder has hit .301 and has stolen 16 bases...Married: Miss Mary Deadrick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Deadrick, and Mr. Gene Howard Boyd, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Boyd, of Prestonsburg, on May 31...There died: Emory Boyd Chase, 76, at Wayland; Joe Vanderpool, 78, at McDowell; Walter Tackett, 14 months, of Beaver; Dr. Harvey G. Hazelrigg, 63, Paintsville dentist.

June 5, 1952

Floyd mines felt the pinch, this week, as the nation�s steel mills were closed by a strike...It was announced, this week, that the new Boy Scout camp on Dewey Lake will be opened, June 15...County Judge Henry Stumbo announced, Tuesday, he will personally pay a reward of $50 for the arrest and conviction of those who caused the partial burning of a county-owned grader at Branham�s Creek, Sunday night...J. M. Stumbo, assistant sanitary inspector for the Floyd County Health Department, said this week, he is beginning a campaign against garbage dumping...Eight-year-old Patty Linn Smith was seriously injured, Monday night, when Irvin Combs� car in which she was a passenger was hit by a train at Drift...Four Prestonsburg men�W. A. Wills, Clabe Bingham, Grover Lowe and Otis Cooley�suffered burns, Wednesday, when a gas well they were drilling on Bull Creek burst into flame...Dr. John J. Sherman, Huntington surgeon, will join the staff of Our Lady of the Way Hospital at Martin, June 9, to replace Dr. H. B. Stratton for the summer...The Princess Elkhorn Coal Company announced these scholarship winners: Opal June Hopson, Janet Jean Wells, Bill Perry Hall, Alvin Akers and Arnold Lee Horn...There died: Ellis Morrison, 50, of Bypro, May 27, of mine injuries; Mary Wireman Spradlin, 85, last Thursday, at Auxier; Mrs. Dicie Meade Bentley, 77, of Glo, Monday, at a Williamson hospital; Jerry Allen, 81, Wednesday, at Cliff.

May 29, 1952

The C.&O. Railroad Company announced, Friday, that it has applied for L.C.C. permission to abandon the operation of its 1.6-mile subdivision from Wheelwright Junction to Wheelwright...William Crawford has been elected to the posts of vice-president and general manager of the Princess-Elkhorn Coal Company at David...Miss Marion Salisbury has been named clerk of Draft Board No. 25, here, to succeed Elbert Collins, who resigned recently...Thomas Harris, 74, of Emma, was instantly killed, Sunday morning, when hit by an auto near his home..County Attorney W. W. Burchett suffered severe burns on his hand, Tuesday, when an outboard motor caught fire on Dewey Lake...Kenneth Killen, of Martin, won the district 4-H championship at Salyersville, with his electric wire splicing demonstration. He will represent the district at Junior Week in Lexington. County champions who will enter the state contests are Mary Alice Hicks, Reba Joyce Salyers, James Franklin Stephens and Carl Little...Born: a daughter, Belinda, to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Chaffins, May 14...There died: George Page, 77, May 23, at Wayland; Bill Stover, of Harold, May 26�a week after the death of his wife; Flora Howell Smith, 60, Floyd native, at Big Shoals, Pike County, last Wednesday.

May 1, 1952

Nine school bands and their 200 instrumentalists will escort the reigning beauties of their respective schools in the parade here Saturday, one of the colorful events of the seventh annual Floyd County Music Festival...14-year-old Morris Edmund Maggard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Maggard, of Langley, was fatally injured in a fall from a cliff before daybreak, Saturday, while on a camping trip with other members of his Boy Scout troop at Maytown...David L. Francis, Huntington, W. Va., president of the Princess Elkhorn Coal Company at David, was injured in a plane crash near Paducah, early Saturday...The Floyd County Good Government Taxpayers League, envisoning the need of legal aid, employed Robert S. Wellman as attorney in a meeting of the board of directors, Tuesday night...From now on municipalities and industries emptying wastes into Kentucky�s streams and rivers will be granted new permits, only if they can show that they have adequate waste treatment facilities...Ensign Edmund A. Smith Jr., and Mrs. Smith, recently concluded a ten-day visit at the home here of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Smith...Marine Cpl. Harry G. Dempsey, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Dempsey, of Wheelwright, on April 29, witnessed an atomic explosion and then took part in an assault on an objective near the center of the atomic impact area...There died: John Warren, 71, of Tram, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, last Tuesday; Mrs. Alice Smith Nichols, 84, of Lancer, April 29, at her home.

April 19, 1952

The Passion Pageant, at Martin, was halted by rain Sunday (Easter), and the event has been rescheduled for May 4...The Moore Funeral Home opened here Wednesday...Charles Adkins and Mrs. N.D. Howard were elected Wayland�s Man and Woman of the Year at the Lions Club meeting at Wayland, April 10...Ebenezer Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church elected at its closing sesson here, Wednesday morning, the Rev. Philip Bembower as its moderator...Jimmy Davis Clark, Auxier high school senior, last Tuesday, won the Floyd County oratorical contest for the second year in a row...There died: Wallace Gray Thornsbury, 75, last Thursday, at Sloan; T-Sgt. Harry Huff, formerly of Hueysville, March 1 on Okinawa; Rev. Silas Bayes, former Floyd Countian, April 8, at Adrian, Michigan; Mrs. Julian Carroll, 87, at Martin, April 14; Ben H. Cox, 62, owner of the Valley Motor Company here, Tuesday, in a Paintsville hospital; Evan Case, 49, of Jump, April 14, in a Lexington hospital; Former County Clerk Ivory A. Smiley, today (Thursday), at a Martin hospital; Cordelia M. Williamson, 77, of Coal Run, April 14, at a Martin hospital.

April 3, 1952

The squabble over control of the municipal-owned water system of the town of Martin, took a new turn, Tuesday, as the City Council there enacted two ordinances�one abolishing the Waterworks Commission in its entirety, the other, creating a Waterworks Committee, and providing for the operation of the latter...Naming of Pete Grigsby, 17-year-old star of the Martin High School basketball team, to the Courier-Journal�s all-state net squad, brought to Floyd County, last week-end, for the second time this school year, such statewide athletic recognition...Damage reported here as $2000 or more, was caused, Monday night, by fire which destroyed the postoffice at Dony, and the nearby home of the postmaster, Mrs. Haley Jones...Although gates of Dewey Dam were never completely closed during the recent heavy rains, the reservoir stored up, during the flood period, March 22 to Friday of last week, 13.28 feet of water at maximum stage...Two veterans of Korea met instant death, shortly before midnight, Friday, at Alger, Ohio, as their auto and an eastbound Erie passenger train met at a rail crossing. They are Smith Junior Hicks, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. Grover Hicks, of Goodloe, and Cpl. Gailen Howard, 22, native of Knott County...Seven-year-old Robert Perry Friend was struck and almost instantly killed by a truck on the Mayo Trail here, early Monday morning. He was a son of Mrs. Violet Friend Hyden and the late Edward C. Friend...Barkley J. Sturgill, of Prestonsburg, will be the chairman of the Kansas delegation of 22 students, to the mock Republican convention to be held at Washington & Lee University, April 28-29...You could buy a washing machine for $118.95; a pair of shoes for $4.95; a suit for $16.95, or a sweeper for $29.95...There died; Mrs. Frank Stumbo, 53, formerly of McDowell, Friday in Waverly, Ohio; Stanley Brown, 72, of Drift, March 30, at a Martin hospital; Maudie Hall Mitchell, 58, of Grethel, Thursday, March 26.

March 27, 1952

The sudden down pouring of rain that descended upon this section last Friday night, left Floyd County�s rural roads in a state requiring extensive repairs, according to Judge Henry Stumbo...Two men were wounded, one seriously, early Sunday night on Abner Fork, near Melvin, as an aftermath, authorities said, to previous trouble between two of the four men involved in the shooting...Floyd County�s goal in the 1952 Cancer Crusade has been set at $1,092, the same figure set for last year...An advertisement for Jeep Motor Sales here proclaimed, �W-i-l-l-y-s spells �Wonderful,� and listed the advantages of the new Aero Willys, while Hunter Motor Sales at Martin advertised the Hudson automobiles including the Hornet, Wasp, Commodore and Pacemaker...El-Do Tonic was also advertised this week with the catchy line, �What El-Do Sells�Sells El-Do...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Jim Dixon, formerly of Maytown, a daughter, last week in Miami, Florida...There died: William Reed, 74, janitor at the Auxier School, March 25 at Auxier; Jerry Gayheart, 67, of Orkney, March 21; Diane Flanery, 51, March 20, at her home at Martin; W. H. Irvin, of Paintsville, father of Mrs. James Carter of Prestonsburg, Wednesday at St. Petersburg, Fla.; Charley Edward Gwynn, 68, Friday, at Wheelwright; Mrs. Fanny May, 59, of Allen, Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Okley Williams, 39, of Printer, Friday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Carlena Hughes, 57, Tuesday, at her home at Garrett; Mrs. Alice Gearheart Turner, 85, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital; Mrs. Mae Combs Campbell, 45, Sunday, at her home here. 

March 20, 1952

Big Sandy canalization, last Thursday, lost its case in the court of last resort, as President Truman in a letter to Congressman Carl D. Perkins declined to override recommendations of the Corps of Engineers and classify the project as a defense work. The Arnold Funeral Home here, oldest business of its kind in Floyd County, this week passed to new ownership in the settlement of the estate of its founder, the late E. P. Arnold...Eastern Kentucky�s most impressive Easter observance is planned by the community of Martin, for Easter Sunday, April 13, it was learned here this week...At Dewey Sammons and Sons, mechanics, a Ford truck owner could get brakes reworked, including rivets, lining and labor, for a flat $10...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Jim Durham, of David, a daughter, March 17, at the Beaver Valley Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Earl Rudder, of Wilmington, N.C., a son, March 6; to Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Fridley, of Arlington, Va., a son, Patrick Stephen, March 15...There died: Elizabeth Woods Setser, 75, of Endicott, March 3, at the home of a daughter; Sarah Gillespie, 76, of Grethel, March 14, at home; Lilly May Reffett, 25, of Alphoretta, March 15, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; John Salyers, 79, March 13, at his home at Wayland; George F. Neel, 72, Prestonsburg native, Saturday, at Berea.

March 13, 1952

County Judge Henry Stumbo said, this week, that a recent conference with Dr. Bruce Underwood, state health commissioner, have convinced him that the only possibility of construction of the proposed, and much argued, Floyd County War Memorial Hospital rests on selection of a site at or near Martin, and he is not certain even agreement on that location will result in the hospital being built...Lexia Potter and Ira Fields, Jr., assumed charge, Tuesday, of the Grapette Bottling Company plant here which they purchased from Orville Howard, Harlan, and H. K. Howard, of Prestonsburg...Approximately 75 persons were busy this week as volunteer workers, soliciting funds from Floyd Countians in an all-out drive to reach the county�s $8,730 Red Cross quota this year, L.B. Breashear, Fund chairman said Tuesday...Among the new shows billed at the Martin Theatre in coming days is �Stage to Blue River,� with Whip Wilson and Fuzzy Knight...There died: Russell Smith, 56, Glo miner, following a mining accident last week in which his leg was mangled by a coal-cutting machine; Martha Newsome Tackett, 40, Monday, at her home at Dony; Joe Cole, janitor at Eastern Gas & Fuel Associates (Koppers), Sunday afternoon.

March 6, 1952

The General Assembly, last week, approved a bill co-sponsored by Representatives Henry C. Hale, of this county, and Ray Holbrook, of Magoffin county, to require gas companies to sell natural gas to landowners over whose land their pipelines cross...Eighteen hours after the death in an Ashland hospital, yesterday (Wednesday), of the small daughter of Glenn Harold Hall, he and five family members were found unconscious in the home of his father, John Hall, at Wayland. They were overcome by fumes from a gas floor furnace...Dr. Marvin Ransdell, director of the Floyd County Health Department, has ordered four meat processors to halt the use of sodium sulphite as a preservative...Joseph D. Harkins Jr., has been elected a member of the State Bar Commissioners from the Seventh District...There died: Lee Yates, 73, March 3, at his home at Bonanza; Ruth Hicks Goble, 30, Feb. 29, at her home at Langley; Samuel Ratliff, 47, formerly of the Langley area, Feb. 29, at Sidney, Ohio; Gary Porter Brown, infant, March 2, at Dwale.

February 28, 1952

At least two Floyd County mines did not work Monday, because a large number of their workers being in Leslie County, to ally themselves with the United Mine Workers� move to unionize that coal field, it was reported here, Wednesday...There will be two pre-induction calls for the army from Floyd County during the month of March, local board number 25 said here this week...The United Fuel Gas Company has brought in, on the Meathouse Fork of Johns Creek, a natural gas well that is producing about 17,000,000 cubic feet a day...The new Seventh Congressional district, as proposed in a bill introduced in the General Assembly by Harry King Lowman, of Ashland, House majority leader, will contain 13 counties instead of eight...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Woodie Stumbo, of Minnie, a son, Feb. 24, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin...There died: Hi Prater, 93, Wednesday, at his home at Blue River; Mary Ellen Flanary Robinson, 82, Feb. 20, at her home at Martin; Mrs. Anna Hubbard Potter, 50, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at Praise, Kentucky.

February 21, 1952

The Floyd Fiscal Court indicated, at its meeting Monday, that it is planning a common home for the indigents who are charges of the county...Disapproval of the Breaks of Sandy as a national park site will not discourage the Breaks Park Association in its efforts to promote a bistate or interstate park in the scenic area, the organization�s president said this week...One UMW hospital in eastern Kentucky became a certainty this week with the presentation of a $32,000 check for real estate at Whitesburg, and another hospital site was nearing purchase in Floyd County, with acceptance and survey of a Beaver Creek parcel of land...Floyd County, was flu-ridden this week, with every section of the county reporting numerous cases. But for sulfa drugs and penicillin which makes home treatment possible for physicians, hospitals would have been taxed to capacity, it was said...An advertisement in this week�s Times expressed interest in dead stock! �Get cash for horses, cattle, mules,� read the ad of Darling & Company...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Israel Addington, of Drift, a daughter, Feb. 10, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin...There died: Laura Minnie Hatfield, 81, last Thursday, at her home at East Point; Wesley Hale, 75, Sunday, at his home at Hueysville; Adam Prater, of Pyramid, Monday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Malinda Frances Laferty, 58, Thursday, at her home at Allen; James Bentley, 65, native of Brush Creek, Friday, at Logan, Ohio.

February 14, 1972

What was described by company officials as an �illegal strike� idled parts of this week and last, the operation of the Inland Steel Company�s mines at Wheelwright, its huge coal preparation plant at Price, and also numerous small truck mines which depend on the Price plant for preparation of their product...Wince Trimble, of Paintsville, revenue agent, and Floyd County deputy Sheriff Sanford Reffitt found and destroyed two moonshine stills operated twin-fashion in the Quicksand section of Knott County, a short distance across the mountain from the head of Salt Lick...�Any increase in tobacco growing over the present acreage for Floyd County looks discouraging,� said the Production Marketing Administration, here, this week...Each leaving behind cryptic messages, two 16-year-old Floyd County youths ended their lives in widely separate sections of the county, late Sunday...More than 300 Boy Scouts and parents gathered here, Monday night, at Irene Cole Memorial Baptist Church, for one of the largest Courts of Honor scouts in this county have ever held...There died: E. G. Curnutte, 62, Tuesday, at his home at Auxier; Rosa Slone Waddell, 79, February 6, at her home at Eastern; Mrs. Alice Lynch Slone, 68, Feb. 5, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Johnny Robinson, 72, of Martin, Feb. 13, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Will Johnson, 56, Feb. 12, at his home at Bevinsville.

February 7, 1952

The proposed legislative, state senatorial and Congressional redistricting plan offered by the University of Kentucky�s Department of Political Science is already under attack in Eastern Kentucky...The Floyd County Board of Education rescinded at its meeting here Tuesday its previous decision to allow Sheriff A. B. Meade 1 percent commission for the collection of school taxes. It agreed, instead, to allow a commission of 2 percent...A goal of $41,000 to bring Scouting to 3,000 boys will be the objective for the finance campaign now under way in Lonesome Pine Council, Boy Scouts of America, B.F. Reed, chairman of the Council finance committee, said this week...Showing at the Blackburn Theatre at Wheelwright Junction, Saturday��Superman and the Mole Men,� with George Reeves, and �Blazing Bullets,� with Johnny Mack Brown...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Denver Baldridge, of Allen, a daughter, Thursday, at Beaver Valley Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Haywood, of West Prestonsburg, a daughter, Rebecca Margaret, Feb. 1, at Prestonsburg General Hospital...There died: Emmitt Hamilton, Sr., 75, last week at his home at Teaberry; Albert Ratliff, 64, Jan. 24, at his home at Lancer; Roy Earl Williams, 17, Feb. 3; Amos �Sonny� Napier, 92, of Abbott Creek, Feb. 6, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Manuel Adkins, 69, Tuesday, at his home at Allen; James Edgle Campbell, 24, of Risner, last Thursday, at a Huntington, W. Va. hospital.

January 31, 1952

Faced with evidence which included laboratory tests of their shotgun shells, and a ballistics expert�s statement which identified their guns in the case, four Middle Creek men entered pleas of guilty Friday, to the shooting and wounding, January 16, of three miners of the Floyd Elkhorn Coal Company on the Caney Fork of Middle Creek, and each was given a penitentiary term totaling six years...Floyd County has its second rape case within as many weeks, The Times learned Wednesday afternoon, and today authorities were launching a full-scale investigation of this latest sex offense...Floyd County taxpayers will be required to pay out approximately $10,483,000 in federal taxes as their share of the federal budget of $85.4 billion proposed by President Truman for the fiscal year, 1952-53...Salient points of an Administration mine-safety bill were disclosed, last Saturday, by the author of the bill, Ad. D. Sisk, chief of the State Department of Mines and Minerals, during an address at the annual safety meeting of the Princess Elkhorn Coal Company at David...Marked progress on the development campaign to build a Scout camp at Dewey Lake was reported this week by E.R. Price, Wheelwright, who is serving as general chairman of the development committee on the campaign...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. William E. Miller, of Prestonsburg, a son, Mark Edward, January 23; to Mr. and Mrs. Don Hewlett, of Drift, a daughter, Mary Constance, Jan. 22...There died: Mrs. Frances Howell Tackett, 26, of Hi Hat, Saturday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Pete Dimitri, 60, retired Wheelwright miner and a native of Bulgaria, last Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Roberta Thornsbury, of Wayland, Friday, at the home of her father at Bypro.

January 24, 1952

A 58-year-old Branham�s Creek man, accused of the torture and rape of an orphaned girl, remained a fugitive this week, hidden in some mountain vastness in the vicinity of his Branham�s Creek home, or sheltered by relatives elsewhere...To the mounting number of slot machines confiscated over Kentucky within the week by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, were added Tuesday, 22 from Floyd County...The Mothers March in Floyd County will be launched in two sectors�Prestonsburg and Maytown�at 6:30 p.m., next Tuesday in the war on polio as a dramatic climax to the month-long March of Dimes...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stumbo, of Minnie, a son, Tommy Devain, January 17; Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Boyd, of Tram, a daughter, January 16...There died: Mrs. Mertie S. Hicks, 54, Floyd County native, Sunday, during funeral services for her sister-in-law at Mousie; Mrs. Margaret Hicks Tackett, 73, at her home at Dony; Mrs. Polkie Halbert Barnett, 74, last Thursday, at home on Buck�s Branch; Fred Gearheart, 32, Sunday, at his home at Price; George Stanford, 71, Monday, at his home at Wheelwright; Thomas A. Spradlin, 75, Friday, at home at Bonanza.

January 17, 1952

Construction projects costing approximately $1,312,500 are scheduled for Highways KY 80 and U.S. 23 in Floyd County, in a proposed five-year program announced by State Highway Commissioner W.P. Curlin...During the past year, $489,188 went to residents of Floyd County in public assistance payments...Enforcement of the law requiring purchase of licenses for dogs was urged by the grand jury of the Floyd Circuit Court in its final report to Judge Edward P. Hill, made on adjournment Wednesday afternoon...The U.S. Corps of Engineers last week again rejected arguments presented by Congressman Carl D. Perkins and local interests, contending that canalization of the Big Sandy River, its Levisa and Tug tributaries, would be a justifiable outlay of money...William Crawford, general manager of the Princess Elkhorn Coal Company at David, has announced that James R. Camicia, of Prestonsburg, will assume the position of auditor of the company...L.B. Brashear of Manton, will head the Floyd County drive for Red Cross funds to launch in March...The Blackburn brothers, Tommy and Adrian, have been members of the VFW basketball team, the Ramblers, during the three consecutive years in which the team has won the state VFW basketball championship. Tommy currently is the leading scorer for the team, with Adrian in the runnerup spot...There died: James A. Goble, 64, native of Prestonsburg, at his home in Matewan, W. Va., Saturday; Mrs. Millie F. Watkins, 67, January 11, at her home on the Left Fork of Abbott Creek; Mrs. Molly Belcher, 62, at the home here of her daughter, Mrs. Clyde Smith, Tuesday; Willie Walter Whitaker, 56, of East Point, Saturday, at the home of his sister, Mrs. Eva Collins, of Little Paint; Rev. A.D. Blackburn, of Yeager, Saturday, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George Tackett, at Pikeville; Mrs. Martha Jane Hamilton, 61, of Beaver, January 13, at a hospital here; Shade Combs, 45, native of Knott County, Saturday, in Clarksville, Ind.; Kennard Clark, 24, of Maysville, formerly of this county, Sunday, in an auto accident at Maysville; Mitch T. Scalf, former Floyd County resident, January 8, at his home in Pikeville; J. A. Straughan, 78, former superintendent of the Elkhorn Piney Coal Co. at Weeksbury, last Thursday, in Montgomery, W. Va.; Gabe Crum, 47, Tuesday, at the home of his parents, Wilce and Liza Lewis Crum, of West Prestonsburg.

January 10, 1942

State Senator Doug Hays, of McDowell, was elected Senate Democratic caucus chairman; Ex-Sheriff Troy B. Sturgill was elected chief clerk of the Senate, and Floyd county Representatives Henry C. Hale and E. H. (Ted) Stumbo introduced the first bill offered in the House as the General Assembly got under way Tuesday for its 1952 session...As officials of the Floyd circuit court began new terms of office this week W. W. Cooley entered the longest tenure of the office of Circuit Court Clerk ever held by a Floyd countian...Pfc. Roy �Cricket� Clifton, the Allen youth, who, missing the companionship of his brother who was in uniform, would not be denied a place in the U.S. Army, died Monday in an army hospital of wounds he received in Korea...At Conn�s Store at Lancer this week there were some good buys. Among these were ladies� all-wool sweaters for $1.79, children�s corduroy overalls, $1.69, and women�s flannel gowns for $1.69...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. V. A. Smiley, of Prestonsburg, Dec. 22, a daughter, Martha Virginia; to Mr. and Mrs. Howard Centers, of David, a daughter, January 6; to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Taylor, of Drift, a daughter, Dec. 31...There died: John Johnson, 54, formerly of Melvin, last week in a fall over a 150-foot cliff while hunting near his home in an auto wreck near Monroe, Michigan; Major Allen Lee, 75, former Prestonsburg resident, last Thursday in Mansfield, Ohio; Rev. Nero Whitaker, 79, Saturday at his home near Brainard; Ransom Bryant, 62, Jan. 4 at his home at Hi Hat; Harry Hamilton, 64, Jan. 6, at his home on Prater Creek; Melvin Slone, 68, of Ligon, Jan. 4, at Ashland; Mrs. Lora Allen Bailey, 59, Friday at home at Justell; Martin Hunter, 52, formerly of Martin, Friday, on Quicksand Creek in Breathitt County; Mrs. Laura Bessie Picklesimer, 46, of Fort Gay, W. Va. formerly of this county, last Tuesday when struck by a train at Saltpetre, West Virginia.

December 20, 1951

The names of two Floyd County soldiers have been released this week as prisoners of war held by Communist China. They are Pfc. James C. Bales, son of Mrs. Zelphia Parker, Prestonsburg, and Pfc. Charles R. Boyd, son of Mr. and Mrs. Worley Boyd, Prestonsburg...State Senator Doug Hays, of McDowell, this week drew support from the Committee on Function and Resources of State Government, which may make of his plan for state-owned liquor stores one of the outstanding legislative features of the coming General Assembly session...The three winners of the essay contest of the Floyd County Development Association were guests of the Prestonsburg Kiwanis Club, Thursday evening. They are Vivian Howard, daughter of Mrs. Luna H. Salyers, of Garrett, winner of a $100 U.S. Savings Bond; Rhodella Allen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Allen, of Pyramid, winner of a $75 bond, and Mildred Kilgore, daughter of Mrs. Lettie Kilgore, of Garrett, winner of a $50 bond...The Patsy Coal Tennagers traveled to Huntington, last Friday, to sing at the Veterans Administration Hospital there. They, with their director, Mrs. Harry Fiedler, will go to Louisville this week where they will appear at the VA Hospital there...Twice-beaten Garrett continued this week to rule the basketball roost in Floyd County after handling the neighboring Wayland Wasps a 79 to 54 defeat...The marriage of Miss Ruth Lucille Mayo, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Mayo, of Prestonsburg, to Mr. William O. Goebel Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. William O. Goebel, of Prestonsburg, will be solemnized at the home of the bride�s parents, December 26...There died: Chester A. Daniels, 27, of Justell, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, Wednesday; David C. Layne, 63, Sunday, at the home at Pyramid of his daughter, Mrs. Emma Rice; Polly McKinney Parsons, 64, of Honaker, Wednesday morning at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; John W. Stanifer, 57, Tuesday at his home at Glo; Cpl. Roy L. Layne, 23, son of Rev. and Mrs. Carl Layne, of Betsy Layne, killed in action October 9, in Korea. 

December 13, 1951

Floyd County political leaders, county and district officials, and the Prestonsburg high school band had their part in the inaugural activities at Frankfort, Tuesday, as Governor Lawrence W. Wetherby became the 45th person in the 159-year history of the Commonwealth to be sworn in as its chief executive...The Floyd County Extension Advisory Committee heard at its meeting here Monday in the County Agent�s Office, John Mellon, of West Prestonsburg, outline his plans for establishing a pickle market in Floyd County...Dewey Lake has attracted its half a million visitors this first year of its impoundment, and when the 500,000 mark was reached, it had yet almost a full month to go...Nobody�s making any money at it, but the folks working at it are announcing with considerable pride the opening here on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 21-22, of the Community Toy Shop...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Willie Holbrook, of Brainard, a son, Bobby Dean, Dec. 5; to Mr. and Mrs. Erman Waddle, of Abbott Creek, a daughter, Deborah Gay, Dec. 1, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Burl Spurlock, of Prestonsburg, a son, John Archer, Dec. 6, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Charley Wallen, of David, a son, Paul Edward, Dec. 4...There died: Curtis Caudill, 20, of Ligon, Sunday night in an auto wreck in Pike County; Docia Kendrick Taylor, 83, Monday, at the home of a daughter on Cow Creek; Cpl. Sterling Douglas Tackett, 28, of Printer, April 7, in a Jeep wreck in Korea; Cpl. Robert L. Johnson, 20, of Garrett, killed in action in Korea; Clark Hinton, 52, Betsy Layne, Dec. 1, in California; Andy Kidd, 82, last Thursday, at his home at Printer.

December 6, 1951

Floyd courts are growing impatient with witnesses who play hooky, and within the week, seven have been held in contempt of court by Circuit Judge Edw. P. Hill and County Judge Henry Stumbo...Organization of a sportsman�s group in Floyd and adjoining counties to promote the development of Dewey Lake and the surrounding area will be the purpose of a dinner meeting at the Lakeview Inn at the Brandy Keg dock site, Thursday evening, Dec. 20, it was announced here this week...Elbie Gayheart, 25-year-old Orkney man, was instantly killed Monday by a slatefall in the mine of the Edgemont Fuel Company at McDowell...Special services of dedication will be observed at the Methodist Church in Betsy Layne, Sunday morning...John Delmar Hughes, 16-year-old Prestonsburg high school football standout, has been named at the quarterback post on the Courier-Journal�s all-state grid eleven...There died: Alex Conn, 87, Wednesday, at his home on Mare Creek; Jonathan H. Fitzpatrick, 69, formerly of this county, Nov. 29, at his home at Lexington; Corzettia Newsome Osborne, 58, Tuesday, at her home at Dony; Delilah C. Dotson Merritt, 81, formerly of Floyd County, Saturday, at Cheshire, Ohio.

November 29, 1951

Coal miners of this section, and every other part of the nation, where the industry is unionized, this week were under orders from none other than John L. Lewis, leader of the United Mine Workers of America, and the UMWA executive committee, to refrain from wildcat strikes...The Auxier, one of Prestonsburg�s two hotels, will cease to be operated as such, Saturday of this week. The First Avenue building will cease to be used for hotel purposes, to be converted by Drs. George P. and John G. Archer into a hospital...The Floyd Fiscal Court by a 3-2 vote, approved for payment, Wednesday, the $270 claim of County Clerk DuRan Moore for delivery of ballot boxes...One of the �hot� toy items being advertised for Christmas was the Gene Autry Double Holster Set�two gold-colored pistols, puff real smoke, with real leather holsters�for $3.89...For all their hirsute adornment and professional skill, the Whiskered Wizards had the toughest kind of going against the clean-shaven semipro Prestonsburg Ramblers here last Wednesday night, the bearded ones finally winning out, 78 to 77...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert G. Gunnell, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Debra Anne, November 25 at the Paintsville Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Bill Francis Jr., of Garrett, a daughter, Brenda Gayle, on Thanksgiving Day; to Mr. and Mrs. Claude Slone, of Garrett, a daughter, November 24...There died: Lindsay May, 73, former Kentucky Banking Commissioner and Knott County business leader and attorney, Monday at Jacksonville, Florida; Amanda Greene, 91, Tuesday, at her home here; Cynthia Hamilton Hale, 89, Monday, at her home at Risner.

November 22, 1951

The Floyd County Artists� and Speakers Bureau, established a few months ago, is funding patrons in the larger schools of the county...Receipt by County Judge Henry Stumbo of notice that the option taken on approximately five acres of land owned by him at the mouth of Doty Creek on Left Beaver Creek section is a certainty...December�s draft demands on Floyd County will be down from those of recent months, figures released this week indicate...The Princess Elkhorn Coal Company, David, has 17 former Mayo Vocational School students on its payroll, according to a company spokesman...Seventy-five wild turkeys were given their freedom this week when they were released in the Dewey reservoir area by Division of Game and Fish employees...Mrs. J.D. Mayo, Floyd County T.B. nurse, led a panel discussion at the Tuberculosis Institute held at St. Joseph�s Infirmary, Louisville, last week...Outmanned and outweighed Prestonsburg�s Black Cats, Big Sandy Conference champs, were defeated 39-0 by No. 2 ranked Bellevue in the Mt. Sterling Recreation Bowl last Thursday night...Ronald Reagan was appearing at the Wheelwright Theatre in �Bedtime for Bonzo,� and Laurel and Hardy were to be seen in �A Haunting We Will Go� at the Martin Theatre...There died: Irene Hall, 79, of Price, Monday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin; Mary Conn Garrett, 84, November 17, at her home on Calf Creek; Trimble Meade, 52, Wednesday, at his home at Hunter; William Riddle, 96, at his home on Abbott Creek, Tuesday; Matie Owens, 73, at the home of Paris Brown, last Wednesday; Lorenda Price Preston, 80, mother of Mrs. A.J. Archer, at her home at Paintsville, Wednesday.

November 15, 1951

The Prestonsburg Black Cats and their followers have just enjoyed one of their greatest weekends. Friday night, the Cats defeated their traditional rivals, the Paintsville Tigers, 21 to 6, and Sunday they received the Big Sandy Conference championship cup, at the same time placing three players on the all-conference 11...Congressman Carl D. Perkins last week won his fight to require the TVA to use coal instead of natural gas at its new steam electric plant in Johnsonville, Tenn...Unofficial returns from the 27 counties of the Third Appellate district, give Judge Bert T. Combs, Prestonsburg, a majority of 3,973 votes over Ex-Governor Simeon S. Willis, Ashland, for judgeship of the Court of Appeals...Killed in action in Korea last month were Roy Layne, 21, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Carl Layne, of Betsy Layne; and Cpl. Jake Thomas, 23, son of Mrs. Ruth Thomas, of Prestonsburg, and the late Lawrence Thomas. Wounded is Sgt. Roy D. Reynolds, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.V. Reynolds, of Lancer...Daniel A. Reed, of Drift, will head the 1952 March of Dimes drive in this county for funds to fight polio...Agents of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board have seized and destroyed 150 moonshine stills since July 1, including three in Floyd County...Girl Scouts who received Tenderfoot badges here last week are Judy Allen, Martha A. Burchett, Judy Caldwell, Judy Clifton, Betty Baldridge, Martha Sue May, Judith N. Dills, Edie Cook, Georgia Archer, Sharon Sirkle, Judy Howard, Judy Woods, Jerry Clifton, Joy Cyrus and Terry Webb...There died: Mintie Prater Miller, 70, at her home at Hippo, November 8; Flora Bullard Woods, 43, of Wheelwright, November 8, at the Beaver Valley Hospital; Pete Bailey, 70, Sunday, at his home at Goodloe; Mary Alice Sherman Burkett, 66, of Emma, Sunday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin.

November 8, 1951

The Democratic slate, led by Bert T. Combs, swept the county in Tuesday�s elections. In the Appellate Judge race here, Combs won a majority of 5,609 over ex-governor Simeon S. Willis, Republican...Governor Lawrence W. Wetherby polled 6,488 votes in this county to 2,552 for Eugene Siler...In the race for state representative, Henry C. Hale, the incumbent, polled 3,343 votes to 1,592 for Stacy Salisbury...The Federal Defense Solid Fuels Administration announced Saturday, that it has authorized construction of a $150,000 mine by the Inland Steel Company at Price...Construction will begin immediately on a central lodge and dining hall for the new Boy Scout camp on Dewey Lake...It was announced this week that an option has been taken on a tract of land at the mouth of Doty Creek, near McDowell, as a possible site for a hospital planned by the UMWA...With snow on the ground last Sunday. Dewey Lake had the fewest number of visitors since the earliest thaws last spring, but Roy Moore, reservoir manager, said he is hopeful that the total number of visitors this year will reach or exceed the half-million mark...There died: Clark Clemmons, 59, of Hunter, in a slatefall in the Kathryn Elkhorn mine at Drift; Commodore Cole, 43, of Drift, victim of a heart attack; James Nunnery, 86, lifelong resident of Johns Creek section; Alex Jarrell, 78, victim of a heart attack near his home on Cow Creek.

November 1, 1951

Governor Lawrence Wetherby will give a courthouse address here, Friday, in his campaign for governor; he is opposed by Eugene Siler, Republican candidate. For all that, the observer looking for real election interest, had to go to towns such as Prestonsburg and Martin, where local races had blood pressures mounting...Prestonsburg will get new metal street markers and some streets will get new names, following a city council decision. Broadway (the Mayo Trail) will be named �Lake Drive,� for Dewey Lake, to draw the attention of tourists and sportsmen; Second Avenue will be Arnold Avenue, named for E.P. Arnold, for years mayor and police judge here; First Avenue will be named Davidson Avenue...For the second year in a row, the Prestonsburg Black Cats have been invited to play in the Recreation Bowl grid classic at Mt. Sterling. Of 149 cases docketed for trial in circuit court here, 35 are for child desertion, and offense described as one of the most prevalent in this section...There died: Fanny Halbert Stumbo, 79, of McDowell, after being struck by a auto near her home; and B.F. (Frank) Stamper, 86, resident of the Prestonsburg and Beaver Creek sections, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin.

October 25, 1951

Central Elkhorn Coal Co. returned approximately 150 men to work last week under creditors� control. The mine has been closed since July 1...Two Floyd County soldiers have been wounded in Korea�Cpl. Edgel Hicks, of Langley, and Cpl. Eldridge Farmer, of Prestonsburg...Miles Gibson of Langley, has been adjudged this county�s outstanding pasture farmer...Judge Bush, Floyd county coroner, resigned his office last week. James J. Carter of Prestonsburg, was named by County Judge Henry Stumbo to succeed him...There died: Manuel Lee Rhodes, 19-months old, victim of a train Friday, at Ivel; Fred Mynhier, 63, Oct. 18, at Martin; Ben Castle, 89, Saturday, at Harold; Nora Bentley, 56, Monday, at the home near Lancer of her daughter; Mrs. George Belcher; Sally Lykins, 76, Oct. 20 at Hunter.

October 18, 1951

Last Tuesday�s blood contributions by Floyd Countians to the bloodmobile brought to 1000 pints the total given since last April...E. R. (Jack) Price, general superintendent of the Inland Steel Co. at Wheelwright, has been named head of the committee to raise funds for building a Boy Scout camp on Dewey Lake...Councilman Carl H. Corbin said at last Monday night�s meeting of the City Council that the bootlegging situation in Prestonsburg is disgraceful, and demanded that a cleanup be started immediately...The Floyd County Fish and Game Club this week posted a reward of $100 for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons guilty of contributing to the recent fish loss in Right Beaver Creek. Conservation officer Bernard Baldridge reported that fish are dying in the stream, all the way from Bosco to Maytown...Bids on the Racoon road connecting Magoffin County to KY 7 on Salt Lick Creek have been asked. Plans to extend KY 7 on to Yellow Mountain, and eventually to Hindman are talked...Kentucky West Virginia Gas Co. has begun operation at its office here of the first of eight transmitters that it will use in a radio communications system...There died: Martin Luther Frazier, for 25 years postmaster at Cracker, at his home Monday; Tavis Jarrell, 12, Monday at his parents� home at Dana; Thomas Raymond Powell, 36, killed in a railway mishap Friday, at Ward, W.Va., buried at Tram; Smalley Sexton, 71, Oct. 12, at Emma; John D. Crace, 71, brother of Mrs. Florence Craft, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at Salyersville; Rosie Burchett Layne, 78, Sunday, at her home at Harold.

October 11, 1951

Wayland, and surrounding communities contributed 136 pints of blood on the visit, last Thursday, of the Red-Cross regional center�s bloodmobile...John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, this week called on Gov. Lawrence Wetherby to dispatch state troopers to Leslie and Clay counties to investigate the machine-gunning of the auto of Tom Raney, Pikeville, UMWA international representative, and C. C. Conley, union organizer, last Saturday...County Judge Henry Stumbo has named four men as supervisors of post observer crews in the Civilian Defense organization now being perfected on a nationwide scale. They are Tom James, for the Prestonsburg post, Denzil Halbert, for Martin, Palmer Crum for Betsy Layne, and Everett Hall for Wheelwright...Staff Sgt. Billy D. Hale, of West Prestonsburg, engineer on an American flying boat, took part Saturday in the rescue from a mud flat, deep in Red Korea, of a stranded flyer, a fellow Kentuckian, Lt. Bill N. Garrett, of Bowling Green...A forthcoming draft call will be largely filled with registrants who are listed as married but childless, it was said this week...The Prestonsburg Black Cats last Friday night, at Jenkins, won their fifth victory in a row...There died: Dock Pigman, 58, of Louisa, formerly of Prestonsburg, at his home, Friday; Perry Hall, 50, of Lackey, Saturday, of injuries sustained in a mine accident; Lee Tackett, 54, Wednesday, at his home at Amba; Dick Halbert, well-known Maytown resident, at his home there, Friday; John W. Marshall, 83, Monday, at his home on Bull Creek; Jerry A. Laferty, 51, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Virgie Johnson, 6, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ell Johnson, of Hall, at her home, Sunday.

October 4, 1951

The Department of Defense, this week, announced the death in Korea of one Floyd County soldier and the wounding in action of two others. Two other of Floyd�s war dead were returned this week from Korea for burial at home...County Judge Henry Stumbo said, this week, he will ask the assistance of veterans� groups in setting up a Ground Observer Corps of civilian volunteers in this county as a part of the nationwide organization being effected to complement the aircraft tracking and interception functions of the Air Force radar network...Left Beaver Creek officers, Willie Johnson, Green Johnson, Enoch Hatfield and Johnny Caudill found a moonshine still with 300 gallons of mash on Jack�s Creek, Sunday afternoon, but the owners were absent at the time. Magistrate Ellis Martin, of Drift, said Wednesday, that these officers are averaging a moonshine still captured a week...The famed 40 et 8, fun-making division of the American Legion, will stage a �wreck� here, Saturday, for the initiation into the organization of a dozen or more veteran-candidates, and the amusement of all who chance to be on Prestonsburg streets during the day... Four former Floyd Countians were killed in two separate wrecks in Ohio over the past week. Olaf Kidd, 23, formerly of Honaker, and G. F. Ferrell, 51, Betsy Layne native, were killed near Shenandoah, Ohio, last Saturday. Killed in a wreck near their Lucasville, Ohio, home, Sunday, were man-and-wife, Woodrow Allen, 36, and Velie Osborne Allen, both natives of Dony...There died: Edna Johnson, 32, Friday, at home at Lackey; William James Vaughan, 87, former Floyd magistrate, Monday, at his home here.

September 27, 1951

The 216 men and women who will conduct the November election at Floyd County�s 54 voting precincts were named last Thursday by the new county election commission...Two induction calls and five for preinduction will be made on Floyd County draft registrants next month, when 50 will enter the armed forces and 185 will be given examination...The U.S. Bureau of Mines estimated, today, that Floyd County, has minable reserves of coking coal totaling approximately 700 million tons...Plans for Floyd County�s third annual Rural School Field Day, set to involve the participation of more than 5,000 grade school children in the early part of October, were announced this week...Ground was broken, Wednesday, on the Broadway lot adjacent to the police station here for the construction of a motel by H.T. and T.H. Allen and Scott T. Craft...Airman Clifford Martin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Milt Martin, of Allen, has been promoted from private first class to corporal in the U.S. Air Force...Mary Louise Prater, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Parker, of Prestonsburg, has been elected to the Student Council of Morehead State College, where she is a freshman...Frank Harmon, chairman of this community�s blood campaign, and associates are working to make the contribution of Wayland and surrounding communities the heaviest yet given on any one occasion in this county...There died: Smith Henson, 56, of Ligon, September 20, in a Martin hospital; Lenzie Wireman, 84, of Estill, at the Stumbo Memoral Hospital at Lackey, Sunday; Mrs. Fred Fugitt, 82, of Ashland, formerly of Prestonsburg, Friday in an Ashland hospital; Dorothy Curtis Blanton, 16, Tuesday, at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bub Blanton, at Betsy Layne; Savannah Pruitt Sexton, 71, at a Martin hospital, September 20.

September 13, 1951

A Hunter man was jailed here Sunday, after Deputy Sheriff Willie Johnson had captured an 85-gallon moonshine still which, they claimed, was his property...Body of Cpl. Thomas E. Bolling who last February 16, became the second son of Mrs. Frances O�Dell Bolling to die in his country�s battles, arrived at the West Prestonsburg home of his mother today (Thursday), from Korea...National Kids� Day will be observed by two Floyd County Kiwanis Clubs in programs of wide interest to youngsters...Johnny Cook and David Allen of the Prestonsburg Junior Conservation Club, made a clean sweep of the bait-casting tournament at the State Fair, Louisville, today (Thursday), winning the championship of both the senior and junior divisions...There died: Thomas A. Osborne, 44, of Hite, Monday, at the home of his mother; Kenneth Earl Hughes, 40, of Hall Hollow, near Wheelwright, Monday morning.

September 6, 1951

Floyd teachers have been guaranteed the highest salary this year ever, says County Superintendent Palmer L. Hall. Although the exact pay has not been determined, it is known that the basic salary will be raised from last year�s $112 a month by $12 to $18...Draft Board No. 25 has notified 80 registrants to report for preinduction exams at Ashland next Monday...A 50-case cargo of beer was overhauled at Lancer, Tuesday, by deputy sheriffs Frank Parsons and Ranse Marcum, as its operators were attempting to run through �dry� Johnson and Floyd counties to Pike County...Combined high school and grade school enrollment in Prestonsburg this year is 1102, City Superintendent Chalmer H. Frazier announced...David Boy Scouts saved the life of Johnny Gorrell, of Prestonsburg, Labor Day, at the David Pool, after he had dived into the water and failed to surface. The boy�s head apparently struck the bottom of the pool...The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, last week, reported to Congressman Carl D. Perkins its claim that Big Sandy River canalization is not a feasible project...There died: John Caudill, 58, of Hager Hill, formerly of Garrett, last Wednesday, in a mine slate fall at Wayland; two-year-old William Elams Olive, victim Sunday, of a train at Tram; Simon Allen, 54, veteran teacher, last Thursday, at the Salyersville home of his father, Byrd Allen; Charlie Grace, 70, of Town Branch, near here, Sept. 2.

August 30, 1951

Classroom work begins, Tuesday, for the approximately 7,500 youths who will enroll in the grade and high school department of the county�s larger schools...Floyd County will send to the armed forces next month, upward of 50 men, it was learned this week as Draft Board 25 here notified 23 of its registrants to report for induction, Sept. 6...If the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company continues its program of conversion from coal-burning to diesel locomotives for its train-pulling power to the extent that all its trains dispense with coal, mines of the Big Sandy-Elkhorn coal fields will lose a market of approximately half a million tons of coal a year, according to an estimate made here this week...Floyd County�s proposed War Memorial Hospital remained, this week, a thing of the future, with its location yet in question, after a meeting of the Hospital Advisory Council in Louisville last Thursday...There died: Irvin Tackett, 34, of Drift, fatally injured in a car wreck on U.S. 23, the fourth member of his family to die within the last five months; Cpl. Charles D. Cartt, 21, of Wayland, in the wreck of a jeep in Japan; Frank Meade, 57, at Orkney; James Hubert Cantrell, 48, of Wheelwright, of a heart attack.

August 23, 1951

The Court of Appeals deadlocked, Monday, on George Glenn Hatcher�s right to a recount of votes in 16 counties, in the August 4 primary, for the Democratic nomination for State Auditor...A crash landing in a hayfield at Cliff, near Prestonsburg, Sunday, eliminated Mrs. Barbara Jenison, wife of Congressman Edward H. Jenison, of Illinois, and Miss Mary Jane Sasala, of Washington, D.C., from the All-Woman International Air Race in which they were participating...Body of the first Floyd County soldier known to have lost his life in Korea, Pvt. Frankie B. Hughes, will be returned to Garrett, the boy�s hometown, Saturday, it was learned here Wednesday...Gornis �Scale� Martin, former head basketball coach and assistant football coach at Prestonsburg High School, has been employed as coach of the Wayland high school grid team, it was announced this week...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. P.D. Arrowood, of Martin, a daughter, Betty Ann, Aug.15. The father, S-Sgt. Arrowood is stationed in Texas; to Mr. and Mrs. Randall Allen, of Allen, a daughter, Aug. 16; to Mr. and Mrs. Billy Ball, of Weeksbury, a daughter, June Ellen, Aug. 12; to Mr. and Mrs. Bob Clifton, Friday; a daughter, Dottie June...There died: Mary Slone, 77, August 16, at her home at Craynor; Frank Conn, 74, August 13, at his home at Dana; Mary Louise Combs, 80, August 19, at her home at Garrett.

August 16, 1951

One of the most effective ways to fight inflation is to increase production of basic commodities such as food, feed, and fiber, according to W. J. May, cashier of the Bank Josephine, who, represents the Kentucky Bankers Association as Floyd County agricultural chairman...The opinion rendered, last Thursday, by Circuit Judge Edw. P. Hill, holding that the Floyd County Board of Education may employ bus drivers, janitors and mechanics, contrary to recommendations of County Superintendent Palmer L. Hall, will go to the Court of Appeals for a final decision, it was said here this week...War on drunk driving, without mercy, was promised this week by Magistrate Ellis Martin of District 3 in the Left Beaver Creek section, and peace officers there...The posthumous award of the Silver Star for gallantry in action to Cpl. Thomas E. Bolling, West Prestonsburg, has been announced. Bolling received the award for outstanding service against the enemy near Sindan-ni, Korea, February 16, 1951. He was killed in that action...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lemaster of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Tommy Jean, July 13, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Jack Wicker of Lackey, a daughter, Karen Lynne, July 22, at Stumbo Memorial Hospital...There died: Angeline Robinson James, 70, Friday, at her home at Gulnare; Winson Bradford, 59, of Blue River, August 10, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital.

August 9, 1951

All doubt of the intentions of anti-administration forces in the Floyd county school system to carry out its plan to change County Superintendents was dispelled Tuesday afternoon when the Floyd County Board of Education appointed Virgil Osmer Turner, principal of the Maytown consolidated school, to the post for a four-year term, effective July 1, 1952...Survey and deeds for the proposed Buckingham road connecting Left Beaver Creek with Knott county have been returned by County Judge Henry Stumbo to Emerson �Doc� Beauchamp, former commissioner of rural highways, with the reminder that Floyd county is not interested in the route until a promise to build a highway up Jack�s Creek is kept...A 26 1/2-inch walleye was caught at Dewey Lake recently by a McDowell angler fishing a minnow in deep water near Goble Branch...Planning funds for the proposed Floyd County War Memorial Hospital are being withheld, pending acceptance of a site, the Housing and Home Financing Agency wrote County Judge Henry Stumbo, August 1...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert S. Ison, of Prestonsburg, a son, Bert Stephen, July 29...There died: Emma Moore Gayheart, probably the county�s oldest resident, at age 104, Wednesday, on Little Mud Creek; Hattie Craft Powers, of Tandy�s Branch, August 5 here; Kelly Turner, 58, of Minnie, August 1, at Huntington, West Virginia.

August 2, 1951

The rumor heard here this week to the effect that the Princess Elkhorn Coal Company at David contemplates closing its mine, unless a settlement of labor trouble there can be reached, was denied by officials of the company...Floyd County�s Fiscal Court moved this week to cut down on its road department expenses by cutting in half the number of the department employees...Citing the increase in freight rates, with another raise sought, and the prospects of a greater demand for coal, Congressman Carl D. Perkins early last week branded as �unsound,� the findings of the U.S. Corps of Engineers which in March, 1950, held that canalization of the Big Sandy river is unjustified...This month�s preinduction quota of 137 is one of the heaviest for Floyd County since the resumption of the draft, it was pointed out here this week...A big double-feature was schedueld for Saturday, at the Abigail with �Buckaroo Sheriff of Texas,� and �Snake River Desperados,� providing the Western entertainment...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Grover L. Howard, a daughter, Mary Josephine, July 10, at Charleston, W. Va.; and Mr. and Mrs. James Barrett, of Baltimore, Md., a son, James Andrew July 16...There died: Osa Jones, 75, July 30, at Martin.

July 26, 1951

Sheriff A.B. Meade called for bloodhounds this morning (Thursday) in an attempt to track down persons suspected of burning the machine shop of the Floyd Elkhorn Coal Company on Caney Fork of Middle Creek last night...Tuesday afternoon�s rainstorm apparently centered in the Cow Creek section where the biggest rise of water in the memory of residents there was noted...A crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 miners from Floyd, Knott, Pike, Johnson, Perry, Letcher, Harlan, and Bell counties is expected to attend the mass meeting, Saturday, in Hyden, center of recent labor disturbances...Construction of an access road into the 300-acre camp site on Dewey Lake for the Boy Scouts of Lonesome Pine Council, will begin immediately...Deputy Sheriff Frank Parsons reported here this morning (Thursday), that five charges of dynamite were exploded in the Big Sandy River, a short distance above Banner, shortly after daybreak today, and that fish in large numbers were killed...Thirteen Floyd Countians will enter the armed forces, August 8, through draft channels...Three Floyd County baseball players have been signed to contracts with teams of the Cleveland Indians farm system. They are Bill Goebel Jr., Leon �Blue� Childers and Doug Lafferty...There died: Rev. James Coburn, 77, formerly of Prestonsburg, July 17, in Indianapolis, Indiana; Gus Tackett, 40, formerly of Grethel, last Thursday, in an automobile wreck near New London, Ohio; Willard Bentley, 27, of Langley, was drowned July 17, near Hustas, Ohio; Mary D. Allen, Wednesday, at the home of her daughter; Arlie Akers, 14, Monday, at her home on the Auxier Road.

July 19, 1951

Fourteen children were orphaned by a single Floyd County mine accident in which two men were killed last Wednesday night. The two victims are Alex Anderson, 44, of Hite, and William Shepherd, 49, of Garth...Gunplay in a Prestonsburg restaurant last Friday night promptly resulted in the place being closed, Chief of Police Epp Lafferty said...Almost 100,000 persons have visited the Dewey reservoir during the last four weeks...A mass meeting of United Mine Workers of seven counties of this section, including UMWA reperesentatives from Floyd County, has been called at Hyden for the end of next week, to study nine recent arrests of UMW organizers in Leslie County...One hundred-fifty persons from towns all the way from Jenkins to South Portsmouth, Ky., are expected to attend the meeting in Paintsville, Friday, July 27, of the newly-formed U.S. Highway 23 Association...Floyd County Farmers Field Day will be held on the Sam K. Music farm on Little Paint, Thursday, July 26...The third man to die in Floyd County last week as a result of mine injuries was Thomas Frizel Faulkner, 29, who was crushed to death, Saturday, in the mine of the Inland Steel Company, Wheelwright...Floyd County�s rural school children, upward of 5,000 of them, come to the end of vacation days next Monday morning...Mack Hunt, of Mare Creek, was in serious condition after he was injured in an explosion at a Betsy Layne mine late Wednesday...There died: Joseph Stewart, 63, Saturday, July 14, at his home at Maytown; L. C. Leslie, 76, dean of Floyd County teachers, Wednesday, at his home at Emma; First Lt. Clarence Ghent Combs, 28, formerly of Betsy Layne, in an air collision near West Point, Ky., Saturday; Lena Blackburn, 75, at her home near East Point, July 15; Samantha Waddles, 39, of Topmost, July 12, at the Stumbo Memorial Hospital, Martin; P.D. Duncan, 57, Sunday, at his home near Hueysville; Eliza Wicker Campbell, 80, widow of the late �Copper� John Campbell, Friday, at her home at Mousie.

July 12, 1951

Deputy Sheriff Frank Parsons reported here this week that he captured a 75-gallon moonshine still on the hillside approximately 200 feet off the grounds of the Wheelwright Golf Club, last Saturday...The Big Sandy Valley Association is not dead, for all its past defeats in its battle for river canlization, rather, it is belligerently alive and ready for a new fight...Fishing prospects definitely are on the bright side at Dewey Lake, for the next few years, anyway, reported William A. Tompkins, chief biologist, Kentucky Division of Game & Fish, to E.R. Burke, Prestonsburg, Seventh district supervisor, following a recent study of the fisheries picture at the reservoir...Plans for a joint study of the Breaks of the Sandy area by the state of Kentucky and Virginia and the National Park Service, are being completed, Henry Ward, Kentucky commissioner of conservation, announced recently...Conley�s Cafe on the top of Abbott Mountain, this week was advertising a plate lunch with drink for 70 cents. �Good coffee� was five cents a cup...There died: Ada Jones, 23, Tuesday, at her home at Beaver; Joe D. Miller, 67, July 9 at his home on the Big Branch of Abbott Creek; Alma Pitts, 72, of Wheelwright, July 3; Arthur Tackett, 36, of Drift, Sunday, in an auto wreck on Left Beaver Creek; Vada Stephens McKinney, 26, of Osborne, July 6, at Lexington; Pvt. Ellis Hamilton, 21, of Teaberry, last Thursday in an auto crash near Lawrenceburg.

June 28, 1951

Water supply of the town of Martin will soon contain fluorine, the tooth-preserving chemical which has attracted the attention of professional men, municipal leaders and citizens over the country, and this week the Prestonsburg Gas & Water System commissioners announced they are studying a similar installation...Next month�s pre-induction demands on the list of Selective Service registrants will be among the heaviest for any such period since the fighting in Korea began, it was indicated this week by Draft Board 25...Locks and dams on the Big Sandy River and its two forks, the Levisa and the Tug, with the exception of Dam No. 1 near Catlettsburg, will be discontinued as of Saturday midnight by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it was announced...Pike County has nearly 4 billion tons of coking coal reserves, of which one and three-fourths billion tons are recoverable, and Floyd County has almost as much recoverable coal of the same type, it was said here this week...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Columbus Patton, of Manton, a son, Thursday; to Mr. and Mrs. Ashland Howard, of David, a son, Robert L., June 20; to Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Davis, of Allen, a daughter, Linda Kay, Thursday at Martin; Mr. and Mrs. Harold Barnette, of Midas, a son...There died: Sam Elswick, 86, Friday at his home at Bevinsville; Preston Schrader, 56, of Wayland, Friday in Lexington; John Weddington, 54, of Amba, Sunday at Pikeville.

June 21, 1951

Unless boat operators using the facilities of Dewey Lake refrain from high speeds, reckless maneuvering of their craft and other practices which endanger lives, the Corps of Engineers will be forced to return to the original regulation which provided for no motor operated on the lake to be of more than six horsepower...Body of the first soldier returned from Korea to this county will be buried Friday afternoon in an Auxier road cemetery, near here, with full military honors. The war victim is 17-year-old Billy Franklin Ousley, who was killed in Korea, Sept. 12, 1950...Figures released this week by Roy Moore, Dewey reservoir manager, show that since the first day of spring, March 21, 167,073 persons have visited the lake, making it Eastern Kentucky�s biggest single attraction...Allen�s undefeated baseball team of the Big Sandy League met the challenge of second-place Hi Hat, Sunday, winning 4 to 3...There died: Lilliam Collins, 14, of Honaker, Thursday, at the Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin.

June 14, 1951

The Floyd Fiscal Court, Tuesday, signed a contract with the Rural Highway Administration under which the county is to receive $64,979 as its rural highway allotment for the fiscal year...Owners of the Brandy Keg boat dock on Dewey Lake announced this week a policy which they hope will curb reckless or dangerous operation of boats on the reservoir; the policy is to refuse to rent a boat to any person who is under the influence of an intoxicant...Floyd County Sheriff A. B. Meade has received a letter from the director of the Kentucky Office of Price Stabilization, asking for help in preventing black marketing in meat...Edd Hall pitched hitless ball for Allen through the first five innings of Sunday�s game with Indian Creek, and over the entire distance allowed only three safeties, as his team defeated the visitors, 4-2, to keep Allen�s unblemished season record intact...There died: Epp Hall, 79, at the Weeksbury home of his daughter; Nalissa Bridgeman, 52, of Price, after an illness of five years; Beulah Mattingly Tackett, 34, a victim of tuberculosis; L. C. Slone, 45, of injuries sustained in a mine of the Inland Steel Company at Wheelwright; Winifred Meade, 28, of Meade Branch of Abbott Creek, drowned after his auto plunged into Dewey Lake; David Eugene Belcher, almost three, drowned in the Big Sandy, near Auxier.

June 7, 1951

The Floyd County Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday, authorized County Superintendent Palmer L. Hall to file application with the State Department of Education for a $400,000 bond issue, the greater part of which will be spent on school construction...Trial of a Floyd County man charged with whiskey selling, Saturday, here, resulted in a few minutes of tense courtroom drama when Sheriff A.B. Meade hurled a pint bottle of the whiskey offered as an exhibit in the trial at Burnis Martin, attorney for the defendant, while Martin was interrogating him. Martin retaliated by hurling a chair at the Sheriff, and a well-filled courtroom was in near-panic before order could be restored...Although there were almost 100 fewer new claims for unemployment compensation filed at the office here of the Kentucky Unemployment Service in May than in the preceding month, the labor situation remains far from bright, it was said this week...A ninth inning homer by Elmer Lafferty with two men on base broke a 4-all deadlock, Sunday, between Allen and Drift, and continued Allen�s unbroken winning streak which began five games back with the start of the season...There died: Lee P. May, 85, former Floyd County Sheriff, Sunday, at his home here; W. H. (Bill) Wheeler, 52, former Prestonsburg man, last Tuesday, in California; Mrs. Elizabeth Patton Horn, 62, Friday at her home here; Henry Shell, 30, Saturday, here; Mack Lee Kidd, 66, Sunday at his home at Honaker; Mrs. Sarah Ann King, 79, Monday, at her home at Osborne; Anderson Branham, 74, last Thursday, at his home on Sugar Loaf; Mrs. Sarah Meadows Hyden, 89, Sunday, at the home of a son at Katy Friend.

May 31, 1951

Congressman Carl D. Perkins announced his intention to fight with �all the means at my command� the use of natural gas instead of coal by the TVA in the production of electric power...The merits of Prestonsburg and Allen sites for the proposed Floyd County War Memorial Hospital were discussed by physicians, meeting in Martin, but no resolution of the issue was achieved...Martin is looking forward to a sharp reduction in its fire insurance rates as a result of its new $7,000 fire truck, and the training of a volunteer fire department...There died: Malcolm Green, 39, at Minnie, Lorraine Reynolds, 25, of Ligon and Joe Bentley, 36, of Mud Creek, all three from tuberculosis; Betty Hamilton, 63, at Banner; Arminta Brown Goble, 87, formerly of Floyd County, in Ohio; William J. Tackett, 9, of Whitaker, following a month�s illness; Alex Conley, 79, of Maytown; Lucy Hubbard Fraley, 67, at Dwale; Eliza Jane Ray, 67, of Ligon, at Beaver Valley Hospital; Nellie Dillon Frazier, 67, of Prestonsburg.

May 24, 1951

Before next month�s end the mining town of David will have in operation, Floyd County�s only airfield...The Court of Appeals has added its weight to judicial opinion that the third Magisterial district of this county cannot legally hold a local option election separately from the remainder of the county...To the 19-teacher faculty of the Prestonsburg Grade School only one new member has been added for the 1951-52 term. The newcomer to the faculty is Miss Doris Ann Clark, daughter of Mayor and Mrs. Curtis Clark...They will not be together this year, but the total of Floyd County high school seniors, 344, who will receive their diplomas, Friday evening will be the largest in the history of the schools...The move initiated here last year by R. L. Shepherd to establish a Floyd Soil Conservation District this week saw the program in action with the beginning of work by Landmon R. Johnson, soil conservationist...Dr. and Mrs. W.D. Osborne, of Wheelwright, are announcing the engagement of their daughter, Miss Virginia Deweyll Osborne, to Mr. Wilbur R. Jamerson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Jamerson, of Henderson, Ky...Jasper Wallen, 53, of Jenkins, a native of the Bull Creek section of this county was killed instantly by a lightning bolt during a storm on Cherokee Lake, Tenn., Saturday; Sam Hackworth, 85, died Monday at his home in West Prestonsburg; Jack Collins, 70, Tuesday at his home at Tram; Robert Meade, 82, of Amba, father of Sheriff A.B. Meade, Friday at a Martin hospital; H.I. Lafferty, 66, police chief of Raceland and brother of Chief of Police Epp Lafferty, of Prestonsburg, Monday in Raceland; John Howard Hill, 29, of Goodloe, Monday at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Jones Frasure, 80, of Maytown, Tuesday at the home of a daughter in Wayland; Paul Mack, 70, of Minnie, Monday; Fred Daniels Jr., 27, Tuesday at the home of his parents at Drift.

May 17, 1951

Unfavorable local employment prospects and profitable jobs elsewhere are blamed for the loss this year in the Floyd County school census of 139 pupils...Body of one drowning victim was removed, late Sunday afternoon, from the waters of Dewey Lake and this morning (Thursday) the lake was being dragged for the body of yet another...The �Children�s Crusade� for a community swimming pool in Prestonsburg was joined Tuesday evening by Floyd Post, American Legion, and the new ally of the youngsters immediately voted, what amounts to an appropriation of $10,000 for the cause...Born: to the Rev. and Mrs. George E. Hart, of Inez, a daughter, Bertha Ann, May 5 at Pikeville; to Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Tackett, of Drift, a daughter, Judy Lynn, May 7 at Beaver Valley Hospital, Martin...There died: John Q. Dixon, 79, of Van Lear, formerly of Floyd County, May 8 at Huntington, W. Va.; George W. Shivel, father of Luther Shivel of Prestonsburg, May 13 at Huntington, West Virginia.

May 10, 1951

How does Floyd County compare with other counties of the nation in the number of local residents on the Federal payroll? Figures were gathered on the number of government jobs in each of the 3,070 counties of the United States as of last June. Findings show a total of 112 people in the federal employ in Floyd County. On a population basis this represented 2.1 on the payroll for every 1,000 residents. Elsewhere in the United States, the coverage was higher � 10.9 employed per 1,000...King James, an eighty-two-year old mail carrier was killed Saturday by a train while he was driving a horse hitched to a light wagon from Harold to Pikeville, a distance of ten miles to get the day�s mail...Replete with royalty and pageantry, the second May Festival will be presented at the playground here May 17, 8 p.m...A �Missing Link� of less than a mile was left in the David-Northern highway. Governor Wetherby termed it �deplorable business� and called State Highway Department engineers to his office and ordered the situation to be looked into at once...Born: to Pfc. and Mrs. Billie D. Wallen, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital May 7, twin daughters...There died: William (Chock) Stumbo, 75, at his McDowell home, May 3; Mrs. Eva Dingus Crisp, 56, Martin, at her home; Mrs. Minnie Conley, 69, at Estill, at the home of a daughter; Mrs. Lou Hettie Owens, 62, at her home at Garrett; Mrs. Eliza Hall, 72, at her home at Topmost; Millis Johnson, 40, en route to a Huntington hospital of injuries received earlier in a slatefall at a Weeksbury mine.

May 3, 1951

Left and Right Beaver schools have within the week staged their own sectional music festivals as full-dress rehearsals for the fifth annual Floyd County festival, which will be held May 4 and 5 at Martin and Prestonsburg...Two companies Monday night contracted to build or install within the next year for the Wayland Water District a waterplant,steel storage tank, water lines and other installations for a total of $164,146...The induction on May 16, of 32 registrants of Draft Board 25, will include the work of Selective Service for the month as pertaining to Floyd County...Beginning next month, polluters of Kentucky streams must procure from the Kentucky Water Pollution Central Commission permits which will give them a year of grade to eliminate sources of water contamination...There died: Samuel C. Kinzer, 74, of Allen, at home; Linda Robinson Manuel, 65, of Langley at the Beaver Valley Hospital; Beulah Wells Stanley, 54, at her home at Bonanza; Ella Johnson, 41, of Wheelwright, at the Paintsville Hospital.

April 26, 1951

Fire departments at Martin, Prestonsburg, and Wayland joined, Wednesday afternoon, in helping suppress a fire which threatened a sizable portion of the town of Allen...Floyd County�s school musicians this week were tuning up for the fifth annual Floyd County Music Festival, which will be held in Martin and Prestonsburg, May 4 and 5...J.R. Hurt was elected president of the Prestonsburg Chamber of Commerce by its directors...Commonwealth�s Attorney Bert T. Combs of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, became a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals...W.B. (Bill) Africa was honored Tuesday night for 25 years of unbroken service to the Floyd Post, American Legion...The new Boy Scout campsite on Dewey Lake will be put to its first official use this weekend...Governor Lawrence W. Wetherby will be guest speaker at the annual Appreciation Dinner for Scout leaders of Lonesome Pine Council at Wheelwright, May 7...Cpl. Billie Hughes Jr., who was reported missing as of Feb. 13, in Korean action, is in a hospital at Pusan, Korea, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Billie Hughes of Hueysville, have learned...Born: a son, their first child, on April 20 to Mr. and Mrs. D.T. Ferrell...There died: Harry Watkins, 80, last Thursday at his home at Brainard; Dave Mullett, 65, April 21 at his home at Whitaker; Mrs. Nettie Elam Burchett, 59, of Prestonsburg in a hospital here Friday; C.L. Lester, 76, April 19 at his home in Paintsville; Mrs. Dent Ansel, 58, Friday at her home at Ligon.

April 19, 1951

The site of the proposed Floyd County War Memorial Hospital will be studied by the state health department, and the site at Allen selected by the fiscal court, will be reconsidered, it was announced by Gov. Lawrence Wetherby...Conservation officers have discovered that oil and salt water from oil wells on tributaries of Johns Creek are escaping into the main stream and on into Dewey Lake...Garnis Martin, Prestonsburg High School basketball coach, was replaced by William B. Damron, following the high school�s winless year...Flo Weddington, Ronald Smiley and Bill Charles Spradlin, Prestonsburg High School students, will receive school Journalism awards from the U.K. School of Journalism...There died: Mrs. Betsy Holbrook Hall, 68, of Bevinsville; Henry Jones, 45, Ligon miner; Shirley Ann Flinders, 3-year-old daughter of Arnold and Virginia Harvey Flinders, of Hunter, of burns sustained when she fell into a pan of scalding water.

April 12, 1951

The most controversial issue to confront Floyd County in a generation, that of the location of the proposed Floyd County War Memorial Hospital, remained unsettled this week...If plans now being given consideration by the State Board of Education are adopted, the days of Auxier High School may be numbered...That last week�s order of the city council here for police to clamp the lid on gambling and other violations may have indirectly resulted from the Kefauver committee�s gambling probe, was the opinion expressed here this week...Cpl. Billie Howard, of Hite, was awarded the Silver Star medal for gallantry in action against the enemy in Korea, recently...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Buford Martin, of Garrett, a son, James Buford; to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Cooley, of Dwale, a son, George Hershal; to Mr. and Mrs. Herman Robinson, of Banner, a son...There died: Mrs. Sophia Catherine Canterbury, 59, Sunday at her home in Allen; Mrs. Laura Hopson, 71, formerly of this county, April 5 at Dayton, O.; E. F. Dudleson, 52, of Hueysville, Sunday at Martin; Mrs. Laura Bryant, 72, Wednesday at her home in Martin; Pfc. Willie L. Collier, of Glo, killed in action in Korea; William Sherman Collins, 83, Wednesday at his home here; Mrs. Lou Crum, 70, last Thursday at her home at Banner.

April 5, 1951

The meeting tomorrow (Friday) of the Floyd Fiscal Court is expected to see a decision on which the fate of the Floyd County War Memorial hospital will hinge...Without a murder investigation to make for one of the few times in Floyd Circuit Court history, the grand jury was busy this week with less serious offenses...The army�s Bronze Star decoration was conferred on Sgt. Roy Wireman Jr., of Wayland, for heroism in action against the enemy, Nov. 30, 1950, near Sinchang-ni...County and city officials and employees from seven counties of this section will be told here next Wednesday afternoon the benefits they may gain under the Old-Age Survivors Insurance coverage, which is popularly known as Social Security...There died: Taylor Morgan Fitzpatrick, 55, of Middle Creek, Saturday at Ft. Knox; Matthew L. Brown, 81, of Garrett, last Thursday at Martin.

March 29, 1951

Unless state highway officials make a change of plans, the David-Northern road will lie uncompleted through this year...One hundred fifty persons have signed blood donor cards, pledging blood next Wednesday when the Red Cross mobile blood unit comes to Prestonsburg...Building a roadway to the proposed Boy Scout camp on Dewey Lake will be the first major work to be undertaken on the project...Four Prestonsburg High School students received ratings of superior on their performances in the Eastern Kentucky Speech Festival held at Pikeville Junior College, Friday and Saturday. They are Franklin Conley, Delano Stumbo, Lillis DeRossette, and Anna McComas...Virginia�s famed Barter Theater players will present �The Heiress� at the Prestonsburg Grade School auditorium on Saturday, April 7...The number of inductees required to meet the quota set for Local Selective Service Board No. 25 has been reduced by 21...Born: A daughter, Christa Kay, to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Crum Jr., of Munster, Ind., formerly of Prestonsburg...There died: George Ryan, 62, at his home in Martin, Friday; Glover Collins, 68, Tuesday at Emma; Richard Cook, 58, of Wayland, Monday at a Lackey hospital; Lilburn H. Frazier, 96, at Brainard today (Thursday).

March 22, 1951

The Prestonsburg City Council learned at its� meeting, Monday night, that it has no power to control the make-up or actions of the city�s water and gas commission...The coal slump hit Floyd County this week with such force that upward of 400 mine employees are out of work...The Plain Song Chanters and their director, Edith Fitzpatrick James, have again been invited to attend the annual National Folk Festival to be held in Kiel Auditorium Opera House, St. Louis, Mo...Thirty-seven Floyd County draft registrants will leave here, April 3, for induction into the armed forces...Telegrams received Wednesday afternoon by The Times and county officials from Congressman Carl D. Perkins and Senators Clements and Underwood, announced that the Communities Facilities Service, Housing and Home Finance Agency, has approved an advance loan of $36,000 for planning in connection with the Floyd County War Memorial Hospital...Appearing at the Martin Theatre, Friday, were Lonzo and Oscar, stars of the Grand Ole Opry...At the Abigail Theatre in Prestonsburg, James Stewart was appearing in �Harvey�...There died: Mrs. Bertha May Allen, wife of Dr. J.H. Allen, Monday, at her home at Maytown; Edward Lands, 69, last Thursday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Ted Meadows, at Manton; Mrs. Lucy Bates, 65, at a Martin hospital, Saturday.

March 15, 1951

Upward of 70 school children almost miraculously escaped serious injury Friday morning when a crowded school bus lost a wheel and plunged over an embankment at the junction of the Toler�s Creek and Mud Creek highways...Eight from Prestonsburg High School will be among those attending the Kentucky Youth Assembly when youngsters from all parts of the Commonwealth gather in Frankfort, April 4-7, to conduct a mock legislative assembly...The deadline for filing forms with the Office of Price Stabilization (the new OPA) is March 28...Forty-two registrants with Draft Board 25 here will leave next Tuesday morning for Portsmouth, O., where they will undergo pre-induction examinations...Three South Charleston, W. Va., men, one of whom was a former resident of Prestonsburg, died instantly late Tuesday afternoon when their car reportedly exploded upon colliding with a tractor-trailer west of Milton, W. Va. Among the dead was Don Lexford Williamson, 34, who lived with is parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Williamson, here until a few years ago...Wayland High School Wasps will meet Lyon County in the State Basketball Tournament at Lexington, Friday afternoon...The county�s population grew from 52,986 in 1940 to 53,473 in 1950, according to the U.S. Census preliminary report...Three women, all residents of the Prestonsburg area, escaped serious injury Monday morning, though their car was a total wreck after it had skidded from the highway at Knotley Hollow. Mrs. Worth Music and Mrs. Billy Prewitt suffered head injuries, and Miss Barbara Jean Hall sustained bruises...Born: A daughter, Deborah Lucille, to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Taylor Hyden, who formerly resided here, now of Louisville...There died: Patsy Lewis, four-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elder Lewis, Saturday morning of burns suffered at her home on Cow Creek; Mrs. Margaret Moore Meade, 79, Monday at her home on Spurlock Creek, near Printer.

March 8, 1951

Martin High School�s Purple Flash won in the first round of the 15th regional basketball tournament at Pikeville, defeating Belfry, 73 to 61. The Wayland Wasps will play Cannel City tonight...Dr. Marvin Ransdell, director of the health department, reported this week that two children have died in the county of measles which he described as being of �the most virulent type.� He said there have been at least 300 cases in the county during the present epidemic...Mrs. Frances Bowling, of West Prestonsburg, whose son, 19-year-old Walter Karr, was the first Floyd victim of World War II, was notified last Thursday that another son, Cpl. Thomas Edward Bowling, had died in action in Korea...The Floyd County Board of Education voted Tuesday to buy the additional land needed as a site for a county high school structure here...The City Council in a tempestuous session, Monday evening, granted building permits to Scott C. Craft who proposes to build eight homes of five and six rooms each which he expects to cost a total of $50,000...The month�s pre-induction quota for the county is 70...E. B. Brown, of Prestonsburg, is one of the first to pledge a pint of blood when the Blood Center receives blood here, April 4�though he is blind...Carl Woods, former principal of the Auxier school, has received from Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee, a fellowship to do post-graduate work...Pfc. Thomas Osborne, of Martin, has been awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in action in Korea...There died: Ballard M. James, 61, Prestonsburg attorney, Sunday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Fanny Mayo Fitzpatrick, 70, wife of H.D. Fitzpatrick, Prestonsburg banker, Tuesday at her home here; Mrs. Causetta Allen, 70, at Oldtown Kentucky, last Thursday, the day her mother, Mrs. Polly Allen, was buried on Salt Lick, near Hueysville; Jonathan H. Fitzpatrick, 88, Friday at his home on the Middle Creek road; Mrs. Frances Richmond, 54, Feb. 17 at her home at Garrett; John Henry Salyers, 51, on March 1 at his home at Ball Alley here; Everett Wright at a Huntington, West Virginia hospital Monday of injuries sustained February 22, in a Drift mine accident; Mrs. Martha Music May, 72, formerly of this county, Friday at a Portsmouth, O. hospital; Samuel Steed Moore, 82, father of Franklin Moore, Sunday at an Ashland hospital; Mrs. Margaret Ellis Butler, last Thursday at her home here; Irvin Mullins, 42, Wednesday at Hunter.

March 1, 1951

Merchandise and equipment valued at $700 were taken by thieves from the Halbert Brothers Garage at Maytown, early Sunday morning...Operation of the Princess Elkhorn�s No. 2 mine at Permele, near David, was at a standstill today (Thursday). A company official said the reason for the work stoppage is not known...With Gordie Young, assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction, sitting in on a joint meeting of the Floyd County and Prestonsburg Boards of Education Tuesday night, construction of a county high school building here is believed to have moved up a step toward reality...Selective Board No. 25 is having 18-year-old troubles of another kind. Instead of protesting the possibility of military service, numerous youths are registering as aged 18 before attaining their 18th birthday...Secretary of State George Glenn Hatcher, native of this county, announced Tuesday night he will seek the Democratic nomination for State Auditor...A sensation on the University of Utah freshman basketball team this year, �Set� Branham, former Prestonsburg High School star athlete, is matching his grid performances with his play on the Ute basketball team...At the Martin Theatre, �Pagan Love Song� with Esther Williams and Howard Keel; at the Abigail Theatre here, �Never a Dull Moment� with Irene Dunne and Fred McMurray...Three Ashland men were killed in one of the worst wrecks in the county�s history Saturday afternoon at Ball Alley...They are Floyd Mullins, 23, James Clayton Perry, 18, and Stanley Robbins, 23...There died: Abraham L. Compton, 75, at Allen Saturday night; Ike McGuire, 83, Saturday at her home of a daughter, Mrs. Albert Laferty, of Allen; Thomas Sherman Ratliff, 78, Saturday at Allen following a long illness; Miss Martha Sammons, 85, Monday at her home at Ball Alley; Mrs. Ollie Hamilton, 84, last Wednesday at her home at Galveston; Jerry W. Allen, at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.K. Allen, at Betsy Layne last Wednesday; Mrs. Polly Pitts Arnett, fatally shot at Royalton last Tuesday; Mrs. Polly Allen, 90, Tuesday at Hueysville; Charles Herbert Hale, 61, at his home in West Prestonsburg, Wednesday.

February 22, 1951

Floyd county officials drew little encouragement out of their conference last week at Frankfort with state highway officials relative to state plans for highway construction in the county this year...A Boy Scout camp to serve all the Kentucky and Virginia Scout districts in Lonesome Pine Council, and planned to be the finest of its kind in this section of the United States, will be established on a 300-acre tract in the Dewey reservoir area it was announced this week by A.H. Mandt, chairman of the Floyd district...Early next month Selective Service will call for induction to the armed forces the largest goup of Floyd Countians to be called up since the present international crisis began...John Cooper, 47-year-old Manton miner, died at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin, Sunday morning, 24 hours after he had been hit by a coal train near the tunnel, a short distance outside Martin...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. John D. Collins, a daughter, Martha Jane, Feb. 10 at the Prestonsburg General Hospital...There died: Mrs. Drusa Mae Hawkins, 40, of Langley, Monday at Martin; Ruth Ann Marshall, 6, Tuesday at her home here; Mrs. Angeline Boyd, 71, of Wonder, Friday on Mare Creek; Beverly C. Mellon, 49, of Ashland, former Prestonsburg man, Friday at Ashland.

February 15, 1951

The three men accused of firing on a Princess Elkhorn Coal Company man-trip Wednesday night of last week, and soon afterward joining in an exchange of shots with officers, were released from jail here Friday under $5,000 bond each after they had waived examining trial...Plans were revealed this week for two meetings here, March 6, for the purpose of organizing local councils in the county and city school districts to work as a part of the state council system...The Martin Purple Flash met and defeated the Wayland Wasps and the Betsy Layne Bobcats on successive nights last weekend to establish clear title as the leading exponent of topflight basketball in Floyd County...Number One on the pop music charts this week was �Tennessee Waltz,� while �Shotgun Boogie� topped the country hits list...Saturday�s matinee at the Abigail Theater here will feature Allan �Rocky� Lane (and his stallion Black Jack) in �Rustlers On Horseback�...Born to Mr. and Mrs. Alex Allen of Allen, a son, Saturday, at the Paintsville Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Bates of Lackey, a son; to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Sexton, a son, Dennis Jody, Feb. 7; to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Tussey of David, a son, Ira Joe, Jan. 19 at the Prestonsburg General Hospital...There died; Miss Willadean Bentley, 20, of Garrett, Saturday at Prestonsburg; Harry Lee Moore, 95, Thursday at his home here; Mary Margaret Prater, 98, Sunday at the home of a daughter on Middle Creek; Tony Jackson of Weeksbury, native of Serickca, Poland, 68, Feb. 3; John Mulkey, 36, of Harold, Thursday at Pikeville

February 8, 1951

Draft Board 25 will send 33 of its registration for pre-induction examination, Feb. 19...Apparently the building of a new high school is stalled temporarily for lack of land in the proposed site area...The Reconstruction Finance Corp. has decided against making a loan to Floyd County for the construction of a war memorial hospital...Bill Titlow, mine foreman for the Princess Elkhorn Coal Co. at David was wounded by gunfire Wednesday night. Two men have been arrested...There died: Lawrence Bray Jr., 26, of Floyd County; Mrs. Jane Bolen, 78, near Garrett; John Charles Goble, 38, of Emma.

February 1, 1951

A steady fall of rain onto Monday night�s snow threatened today (Thursday) to turn the Big Sandy valley�s part of the nationwide �deep freeze� into a flood... The Floyd County Board of Education owns 127 separate tracts of land for school purposes, but few of these are of the area needed and being more and more demanded by state education authorities, said County Superintendent Palmer L. Hall this week... Mrs. George Glenn Hatcher announced Saturday, January 27, her intention to seek the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State and succeed her husband in that office... �If a man isn�t able to eat the foods he likes he�s in mighty sorry shape � imagine going through life without being able to enjoy a fine big platter of bacon and eggs.� That is the way Joseph N. Damillot, of Dayton, Ohio, described his tragic circumstances before trying HADACOL, according to an ad for the timeless elixir in the Times this week... Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis McKee, of David, a son, Bobby Gale, Jan. 13; to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Music, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Judy Irene, Jan. 24... There died: John C. Coburn, 79, of Little Paint, Friday; Lula Newsom, 38, Friday at her home at Bevinsville of tuberculosis; W. R. (Bogue) Crisp, 92, Monday at his home on Turkey Creek near Langley; Rebecca Boyd, 70, Jan. 24 at her home at Dana; Festus Reynolds, 69, Monday at his home at Ligon.

January 25, 1951

The U.S. Corps of Engineers this week repeated to Congressman Carl D. Perkins its decision not to approve canalization of the Big Sandy River... The move for an added five feet of water hit another snag this week when the United Fuel Company wrote County Attorney W. W. Burchett reconstruction required for five miles of pipe line if the lake is deepened would cost $100,000... Born: To Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Hignite, of Prestonsburg, Jan. 19, a daughter, Barbara Waine... Married: Mary Ellen Brummett and Charles William Hanger, Dec. 30, at Wheelwright... There died: Mattie Mosley, 31, Jan. 18 at Drift; Maude Turner, 51, Friday at Eastern; Alex Smiley, 83, Tuesday at Dana; Phenie Hall, 30, Monday at Melvin; Mary Hamilton McKinney, 71, Monday at her home on Little Mud Creek; Seymour Sammons, 80, last Wednesday at his home on Arkansas Creek; Emmitt Stanley, 20, at Garrett.

January 18, 1951

Reported as missing in action in Korea are: Pfc. Charles R. Boyd, 18, Prestonsburg; Pfc. Leslie Dale Click, 18, Martin; Pvt. Clyde Hamilton of Beaver; Sgt. Clyde Whitaker, of Alger, O., formerly of David; Pfc. Raymond Cook, of Buckingham...The new census shows Prestonsburg has had a 53 percent population gain in the last 10 years...United Fuel has increased the price of gas produced in Kentucky and West Virginia from 12 to 15 cents per thousand cubic feet...Floyd County lumbermen are irate about the new federal edict banning construction of commercial buildings for 30 days. Married: Miss Lola Evelyn Kendrick and Mr. Henry Hamilton Jr., of McDowell, Dec. 29 at the First Methodist Church, Paintsville...There died; George Baldridge, 56, C. & O. section foreman, Friday at his home in West Prestonsburg; Alex Duff, 21, formerly of Garrett, in a Bradshaw, W. Va., coal mine, Monday; Janie Pigman, 67, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at the Pikeville home of her daughter, Mrs. H.M. Eagle; Cynthia May Vaughan, 76, Jan. 6, at Auxier; Dewart Emory Jones, 45, of Martin, Jan. 2, at Louisville.

January 11, 1951

The Inland Steel Company announced this week from its Chicago office that its new coal preparation plant at Price is capable of processing 750 tons of coal per hour... The office of district detective in this county will become vacant next Monday, and there is some doubt that it again will be filled... Floyd County officers last week destroyed three moonshine stills in the Dewey Lake section on the head of Toler Creek... Formal organizations of a casting club to represent Floyd County in local and state events will be effected Tuesday... Anna Mae Combs, of Rock Fork; Lanie Shepherd Howard, 62, of Wayland; Florence Martin Cox, 85, of Hi Hat; Eulah May Burchett Vanhoose, 30, of Prestonsburg; Charles Turner, 62, of Drift; Ann Miller Hereford, 91, of Cliff; Ann Jones Moore, 58, of Minnie; and William T. Shell, 54, of Bonanza.