Category: Kentucky History
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and the Kentucky Hero, Robert Earl McDowell
Seaman 1st/C. McDowell, Robert Earl (8558560). Born 12 Dec 1924 in Jackson County, Kentucky. Fourth child of Bert and Fairy (Reynolds) McDowell. Robert grew up on a farm at Horse Lick, Jackson Co. His father ran a grocery and was Continue Reading
Charles R. Roland: Historian and WWII Veteran of the Battle of the Bulge turns 100
The following is a brief biography of Dr. Charles P. Roland on his 100th birthday, written by acclaimed author and Kentucky historian Thomas H. Appleton. It is reposted here by permission of the author. Professor Roland’s personal information has been Continue Reading
Roscoe Burns Store Ledger
Roscoe Burns (23 November 1893 – 6 October 1965). Born: Clay County, Kentucky Died: Clay County, Kentucky Buried: Maxaline Baker Cemetery, Oneida, Kentucky Married (1st) Sarah Hensley (12 February 1898 – 13 July 1954) Married (2nd) Sallie Barger Children: Ambrose Continue Reading
Clay County’s Part in the Contested Election of 1868
Politics in Kentucky has frequently been the spark-point for violence, corruption, and distinction, particularly among the Eastern Mountaineer. Much of the outright hatred levied against one political party or its patrons began in the era of Southern Reconstruction, explained Continue Reading

Pioneer Families: Clay County, Kentucky 1769-1969
Throughout my time as a genealogical researcher and specifically Kentucky history and families, I have discovered no other book which draws as many inquires as Kelly Morgan’s Pioneer Families: Clay County Kentucky 1769-1969. His first edition was published in 1970 Continue Reading
The Pearl of the Orient: Ray Gregory Protects the Streets of Postwar Manila
By: Gary Burns Reprinted from The Clay Count Ancestral News 32, no. 1 (2016). Ray Gregory may have been fifteen however, in 1943 he was far from oblivious to the turmoil the world outside, Hima, Clay County, Kentucky, had Continue Reading
Staff Sergeant Walter E. Woods, 169th Infantry, 1944-45
By Gary Burns Reprinted from Clay County Ancestral News 32, no. 1 (2016). Like most veterans of WWII, my father, Ambrose Burns, created a scrapbook of important events which occurred around him during his wartime service. Most veterans ranked their Continue Reading