History of that Important Country…. (Wilmington, 1784)p 36-38.

Cockrell; Lewis married Matilda and Mary Polly Fugate, who were granddaughters of Benjamin Fugate; and John C. Campbell

married Martha Smith, daughter of Richard Smith and Alicia Combs.

After the flood gates to settlement were opened in 1790, between 300,000 and a million pioneers poured through the

William Harvey, Andrew Harvey, and John Roberts were among the early settlers; while John Russell, Jonathan T. Jones, Cumberland Gap and moved on to settle central Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and other “western” parts. The Fugates got to Kentucky Henry Hudson, and John Johnson came to the area a few years later.

in 1802; the Nobles and Neaces had arrived ten years before them.

About ten miles upstream from the mouth of Buckhorn, Richard Smith and his wife, Alicia Combs, along with the Grigsbys,

They settled on Troublesome Creek before they got to Ganderbill Branch. If the names of the people they settled among seem

Ritchies, Combses, and Jonathan Fugate formed a permanent settlement. This group had made its way through Pound Gap, familiar, they ought to be: they had lived together in Virginia for over half a century, and you have read about them.

Virginia, to the source of the North Fork of the Kentucky River. From there, they moved down the Kentucky River Valley and Their early settlement in Kentucky is best summed up by this portion of an article from the Kentucky Explorer Magazine found their way into the headwaters of Troublesome Creek. This group settled the region between Ball Creek and Dwarf, on (I will embolden the family names that can be seen in the upcoming genealogies):

Troublesome Creek, and all its tributaries in this area.

Many descendents of the early families, who came to this area 200 years ago, are still living on the original home sites. Many of the creeks and hollows bear the names of their ancestors. Beginning at the mouth of Troublesome Creek, there is: Haddix, Early Lower Troublesome Creek Settlers, Breathitt County

Hays’ Branch, Nix’s Branch (once called Harvey’s Branch), Harvey Bend, and Fugate’s Fork. On Buckhorn Creek, Noble was By Victor Jones - 2000

the post office. Lewis Fork, Clemons Fork, Miller’s Branch, Dan’s Fork, and Jake’s Fork were named for families or individuals. In Perry County, there is Noble, Mac, Nelly, Tom’s Branch, and McGilton. Many other smaller streams and hollows also bear individual or family names.

Troublesome Creek enters into the North Fork of the Kentucky River at Haddix, in Breathitt County, eight miles upstream V

from Jackson, Kentucky. It meanders from this location southeast, through parts of Breathitt and Perry counties, a distance of 25

ictor Jones, 575 Bethel church road, hardshell, KY

miles to Dwarf, and then flows northeast through Hindman and Knott County, to its source near the Floyd County line. Some say it is 99 miles long and comes within one mile of being a river.

The section that I am concerned with is the lower 25 miles, between Haddix and Dwarf. This is where the ancestors of both my father and mother settled, and where I have lived for 67 of my 72 years. I am located two miles downstream from the Breathitt/

Perry County line on property that was once owned by my great-great-grandparents, Andrew Borkin Jones (on my father’s side) and Isaac “Bum” Miller (on my mother’s side). The location is about halfway between Haddix and Dwarf.

The first permanent settlers began bringing their families to live in this section of Troublesome Creek in the 1790s and early 1800s. Parts of this region were in Clay County, until 1839. Therefore, most records will list the original settlers as settling in Clay County, when in fact, they settled around the mouth of Troublesome Creek, in (now) Breathitt County, and upstream to Dwarf, in Perry County.

The early settlers to this area came from several routes across or around the Appalachian Mountains. They came mostly from the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The Nobles, Neaces, Allens, Sizemores, and other families made their way from the Big Sandy region, across Quicksand, and down Little Buckhorn Creek to its junction with Troublesome Creek; and are credited, by many, as being the first permanent settlers to the area.

William Noble and his wife, Rachel Allen, and other members of this party settled, permanently, in the Buckhorn area; while his brother, Nathan Noble, and his wife, Virginia Neace, along with other members of the party moved downstream to Lower Beaverdam and crossed the hills to what is now Cockrell’s Fork, on Lost Creek. Here, they established a permanent camp for the winter, because Virginia was heavy with child. They never left the area.

About the time these groups were establishing settlements upstream at Buckhorn and on Lost Creek, another group was moving into the area, around the mouth of Troublesome and Lost Creeks. These settlers had moved from Lee County, Virginia, and most were related by blood or marriage. It is believed they came across the mountains through Harlan and Leslie counties, and possibly Cumberland Gap.

This group included Samuel Haddix; his wife, Nancy Ann Fugate; and sons Colby, John, and William. Their other son,

Henley, would come at a later date.

Others included Benjamin Fugate; his wife, Hanna Deevers; and children, Martin and Zachariah. Benjamin was the brother of Nancy Ann, the wife of Samuel Haddix; Martin Miller; William Harvey; Benjamin Harvey; Nimrod McIntosh; John Hays; and Joshua Barnett.

29

30