Charles Franklin Trivette was born near the community of Virgie, Kentucky, May 15, 1903. Charlie Franklin Trivette was born into the household of Joseph M. Trivette and Victoria ( Johnson ) Trivette. Charlie was the grandson of Benjamin F. Johnson and Elizabeth Johnson. B.F. Johnson was the largest general store owner in the head of…

Abstracted & Written by Dewey Honaker

Our story starts with Elizabeth Harvey. Elizabeth Dorcas May was born into the family of Thomas Patton May and Elizabeth (Leslie) May on July 8, 1852. Born on a Lower Johnson Creek farm very near or on the homestead of Robert Leslie 1763-1822, the grandfather of Elizabeth Dorcas May. In the 1880 Census, Pike County…

A Special Thanks To John G. Damron The majority of Cordell L. Damron’s life was not without adventure and achievement. Most of what is preserved about Cordell’s life is only a small part of what made him widely known around the Shelby Creek and Pikeville area. What Pike Countians know today about Cordell Damron was…

Special thanks to Sandy Newsom for sharing photos of her family. The original story was written by Alice J. Kinder, Mountain Roots, News-Express, July 6, 1883 In 1967 Pike Countians read this astounding news in the newspapers: One of the largest transactions in the recent years of Pike County’s history took place when 2,600 acres…

Store ledger dates from 1900 to 1902

Photo courtesy of Red Robin Stone Heritage Archives.

Photo courtesy of Red Robin Stone Heritage Archives.

Alexander Johnson Alexander on the far right (above) Mary Jane Johnson Married to W. B. Johnson.

Jay Johnson was the youngest son of Robert and Easter (Branham) Johnson. Jay Johnson’s Headstone Mary Johnson’s Headstone

It was the mid-to-late 1930s, 1938 or so, and the site was the Ratliff Cemetery at Shelbiana.  If you look at the distant mountaintop, the right-of-way for the coming power lines is cut, but there are no wires or poles.  The crowd is gathered for the burial of a stone mason by the name of…