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Stories are a wonderful and often overlooked way of passing on family history
and genealogy information. Wonderful because stories give us something that
Death Certificates and Census Data can't; personality, familiarity, and humor.
They give us priceless bits and pieces of the lives of our ancestors not available in
any library or on-line archive.
And overlooked often because in this modern world of genealogy, they can seldom be
proven or documented. But stories are a rich source of family lore that raw
data and boring statistics can't compare to.
My research of Robert Hill is rather unique in that it is also the research of an entire community.
He migrated from Maryland into a
practically uninhabited area, and, along with several other families, carved out a
community. Being a rural community in nineteenth century Kentucky, many of them knew
nothing outside of their social circle. All of these members of this small rural community,
called Salem Ridge, knew each other, and attended Salem Church. In this
respect my research is about the community as a whole, and the church as an icon,
not simply limited to certain surnames.
The people of Salem Ridge were simple people. Mostly farmers, the early families
included the Hills, Dillons, Pumpellys, Ormes, Whites, Mastins, and Hensons, among others.
They were a community strong in family love and loyalty, and in faith and service of God.
They were honest, hard-working, God fearing country folk, raising families, building a community, and scratching out
a life in this new country, and even newer CommonWealth.
Salem Church was the heart of the community, a place of not only worship, but of social unity.
Within the community of Salem Ridge, there were many colorful characters, love stories,
tragedies, mysteries, and side splitting comedies. I begin here with only a few
of the many rich and colorful stories to come, as I interview the few remaining survivors
of the long lost community from which I came. Most gone but not forgotten, I intend
to discover and preserve as much as possible of the community to which I owe so very much.
Today, Salem Church, although a shadow of its former self, is still a place where family and friends join
together in worship and Christian fellowship.
It stands today, not the center of a thriving community, but a small church along the
side of a rural road. It stands today a "story teller," keeping guard over the cemetery of a faded community, a silent
reminder of a day gone by. A day when life was simpler, and America was taking shape.
The following pages contain the stories I have collected so far from this precious community.
Check back often, as there will be many additions. Keep in mind that, though some may be a little
embellished by time, they are true. Like pieces
of a quilt, stories come together to warm our hearts, weave our family lore, and piece together the remainder of
a forgotten community. Together they reveal the patterns of life of a people living and loving and
building an existance in a place called Salem Ridge.
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