Appalachian Community Histories – Mangum, Pulaski County: From Shady Grove to a Farming Community Connected to the Coalfields
In October 1920, the residents of Mangum, a small rural community in western Pulaski County, were occupied with the familiar demands of autumn. Families were threshing buckwheat, cutting corn, finishing their molasses production, and preparing for the colder months ahead. Cattle changed hands, neighbors gathered for religious services, and young men considered leaving their farms to find employment in the coal mines of eastern Kentucky. These ordinary activities were important enough to appear in The Somerset Journal, whose community correspondents preserved an unusually detailed account of life in Mangum during the early twentieth century.
Originally known as Shady Grove, Mangum developed along what is now Kentucky Route 1676, between the community of Velber and the Casey County line. Its history was shaped by farming, religion, family relationships, and the changing economic opportunities available to rural Kentuckians. Although Mangum never developed into a major commercial or industrial center, its post office and the surviving newspaper reports reveal a community whose residents maintained connections with Somerset, neighboring settlements, Cincinnati, and the coalfields of southeastern Kentucky.
From Shady Grove to Mangum
The history of Mangum’s name begins with Shady Grove, the designation used for the locality before the establishment of its post office. Kentucky place-name historian Robert M. Rennick, in his 2007 study of Pulaski County’s post offices, traced the community’s postal history to George Cleve Gifford, who established the Mangum post office on August 31, 1908. Because another Kentucky post office in Crittenden County already used the name Shady Grove, Gifford selected a different name for the new establishment.
Rather than choosing a name associated with the surrounding landscape or one of the prominent local families, Gifford named the office after Mangum, Oklahoma, where he had previously lived. The Oklahoma community was the county seat of Greer County, and its name was carried into the Kentucky countryside through Gifford’s personal connection to the place. The new post office gave the Pulaski County settlement an official postal identity, although the older name Shady Grove continued to be used locally.
The location of the post office reflected the importance of the rural communities scattered across western Pulaski County. Mangum stood between established settlements and the Casey County boundary, in an agricultural landscape where residents depended upon local roads to reach neighbors, markets, churches, and the county seat at Somerset. Its post office provided an essential connection to the wider world, particularly for families whose relatives increasingly traveled outside the county in search of work.
By February 1920, Mangum’s post office had entered another chapter when The Somerset Journal announced that Green Wesley had been appointed postmaster, according to a message received from Washington. The appointment offers an important connection between the community’s official postal history and the families who regularly appeared in its newspaper correspondence. Wesley was also an active participant in the community’s agricultural and commercial life, purchasing livestock, traveling to Cincinnati on business, and maintaining close relationships with other families in the neighborhood.
Farming and Everyday Life in the 1920s
Agriculture formed the foundation of Mangum’s economy during the early twentieth century. The community’s newspaper reports describe a countryside where families raised livestock, cultivated corn and buckwheat, produced molasses, and bought and sold agricultural property. These activities followed the changing seasons, with much of the work concentrated in the spring planting and autumn harvest periods.
On October 22, 1920, The Somerset Journal reported that buckwheat threshing was underway in Mangum and that the harvest appeared promising. Robert Gentian had recently sold a cow for $80, while Green Hall had sold a calf to Green Wesley for $19.50. The same report noted that molasses production and corn cutting were nearly finished, providing a glimpse of the agricultural calendar that governed local life.
Livestock transactions were important economic activities in a community where animals provided food, income, and the power necessary for farm work and transportation. In December 1920, John Waters purchased a mule from Frank Dick for $100. That same month, Rutherford Adams sold his Mangum farm to Harlan Vaught for $1,100, while Finley Wesley purchased a tract of land from Bradley Whiles. These transactions demonstrate that the community’s agricultural economy involved more than subsistence farming, as residents regularly exchanged land and livestock while making decisions about their families’ futures.
The newspaper’s descriptions of individual farms also reveal how frequently residents moved between properties. In October 1920, Dayton Dick left Mangum to return to his home on Rock Lick Creek, and Marion Blevins was preparing to move onto the property he had vacated. Robert Gentian, meanwhile, relocated to a farm near Willow Springs that he had recently purchased. Such movements were part of a rural economy in which families could remain connected to the same general area while changing residences in response to employment, property purchases, and family arrangements.
By February 1921, the agricultural cycle had begun again. The Mangum correspondent reported favorable weather and noted that farmers were already plowing their fields in preparation for corn planting. The brief announcement, appearing among reports of family visits and neighborhood gatherings, illustrates how closely farming was intertwined with the social life of the community.
Churches, Singing Schools, and Community Gatherings
Religion occupied an important place in Mangum’s social life, although the surviving newspaper accounts indicate that residents frequently traveled to churches and religious gatherings in neighboring communities rather than confining their activities to one congregation. Shady Grove and King Bee were particularly important locations, appearing repeatedly in the newspaper’s accounts of worship services, singing schools, and community meetings.
On October 8, 1920, The Somerset Journal reported that a large congregation had attended services at King Bee, where the Reverend Charles Randolph had concluded a series of religious meetings. Later that month, Professor Bud Meece was leading singing instruction at King Bee, attracting residents from Mangum and surrounding communities. These gatherings provided opportunities for religious instruction, musical education, and social interaction among families who might otherwise have spent much of their time working on their farms.
The October 15 issue also reported that Henry White was considering constructing a church for the Holiness congregation on his property. Although the announcement establishes that such a building was being contemplated, the surviving report does not confirm that construction was ever completed. Nevertheless, the proposal illustrates the religious activity taking place in the neighborhood during this period.
Shady Grove remained another important religious gathering place. In October 1920, funeral services for Nancy Wesley, a resident of Mangum, were held there under the direction of the Reverend P. C. Newell. By December, the Reverend Baugh was conducting regular services at Shady Grove, while singing meetings continued to draw residents to King Bee.
Religious gatherings also connected Mangum to the surrounding countryside. Newspaper correspondents frequently recorded residents attending services and visiting relatives at Hogue, Wilsonville, Mount Hope, and other nearby communities. These relationships helped establish a network of churches and family connections that extended beyond the boundaries of any single settlement.
The Wesley, Dick, Hall, and Waters Families
The surviving newspaper correspondence provides an unusually detailed record of Mangum’s families during 1920 and 1921. The Wesley, Dick, Hall, Waters, Blevins, Whiles, and Sneed families appear frequently in reports of births, marriages, visits, property transactions, and other events.
In October 1920, Plymp Dick and his family welcomed a daughter who had been born on September 27. The same month’s reports recorded members of the Hall and Sneed families visiting relatives, attending church, and conducting business in neighboring communities. These ordinary announcements, while rarely preserved in formal county histories, offer valuable evidence of the relationships that helped sustain small rural settlements.
Marriage announcements provide another important connection between the families appearing in the community reports. On December 3, 1920, The Somerset Journal reported that Mary Eliza Dick and Jordan Roy had been married the preceding Sunday. A week later, the Mangum correspondent announced the marriage of Bertha Blevins and Otto Hall, with the Reverend George Thompson officiating. The marriages were recorded alongside reports of church attendance, farming, and family visits, reflecting the newspaper’s role in documenting the community’s important personal milestones.
The same reports also preserve evidence of the difficulties residents faced. In late October 1920, Bettie Dick’s home was destroyed by fire, reportedly resulting in the loss of most of her household possessions. The following week, Plymp Dick’s young son suffered a fractured elbow after falling from a horse. The community’s December correspondence also reported the death of an infant belonging to Sim Hall and his family, a tragedy that occurred after the child became ill while the family was returning from a visit to relatives.
In February 1921, the Mangum correspondent recorded the death of Seth Mofield, who left behind his wife, a child, and numerous relatives and friends. Although these newspaper accounts seldom provide the extensive biographical information needed to reconstruct an individual’s entire life, they establish important dates and family relationships that can be investigated further through death certificates, cemetery records, and other surviving documents.
From the Farms of Mangum to the Lynch Coal Mines
The agricultural life of Mangum existed alongside a growing dependence on employment opportunities beyond western Pulaski County. During the early twentieth century, many rural Kentuckians traveled to industrial communities in search of wages that could supplement or replace the income available from farming. The surviving newspaper correspondence reveals that Mangum was connected to these movements, particularly through employment in the coal mines at Lynch, Kentucky.
In October 1920, the Mangum correspondent reported that A. C. Wesley was considering leaving the community to find work at the Lynch mines. By the following week’s issue, both A. C. Wesley and Alfred Wesley had departed for employment there. Their journey connected a farming community in western Pulaski County with the industrial coalfields of Harlan County, where large-scale mining operations were attracting workers from across the region.
The movement was not necessarily permanent. In December 1920, The Somerset Journal reported that A. C. Wesley had returned from Lynch after working there for some time. A later report from April 1921 recorded Ambrose Wesley and his wife, who were living at the Lynch mines, returning to Mangum to visit his father, A. J. Wesley. These accounts demonstrate that migration for industrial employment did not always sever a family’s connection with its rural home. Workers continued to return for visits, maintain relationships with relatives, and participate in the communities they had left behind.
Lynch was not the only destination associated with Mangum’s residents. In November 1920, the newspaper reported that Doyle Dick had returned from Cincinnati, where he had been employed for some time. Green Wesley had also recently returned from a business trip to that city. Together, these reports illustrate how a small farming settlement could maintain economic and personal connections with distant urban and industrial centers.
Mangum in the Historical Record
Although Mangum’s newspaper correspondence is particularly detailed for 1920 and 1921, its history can also be traced through surviving maps and postal records. The United States Geological Survey’s 1953 Mintonville quadrangle identifies Mangum within the rural landscape of western Pulaski County, along with Shady Grove Ridge and Shady Grove School. The map provides evidence that the settlement and its older place-name remained part of the area’s recognized geography decades after the establishment of the Mangum post office.
Rennick’s postal research reports that the Mangum post office closed in 1980, although a separate modern gazetteer drawing upon a historical post-office dataset lists 1983. The discrepancy remains unresolved without additional postal documentation. Regardless of the precise closing date, the end of the post office represented the disappearance of an institution that had provided Mangum with an official postal identity since 1908.
The history preserved in the Mangum newspaper columns is necessarily incomplete. Community correspondents selected the events they considered noteworthy, and their accounts cannot be assumed to represent every household, occupation, or experience within the settlement. Furthermore, the surviving online versions of the reports are volunteer transcriptions of contemporary newspapers, making comparison with original printed issues important when verifying unusual names or uncertain dates.
Nevertheless, the surviving material provides a valuable record of Mangum during a period when rural Kentucky was undergoing economic and social change. Families continued to work their farms and maintain their churches while seeking opportunities in the coalfields and industrial cities. Land changed hands, children were born, marriages connected neighboring families, and communities remained linked through visits and shared religious gatherings.
Remembering Mangum
The history of Mangum is largely the history of the families who lived there and the rural institutions that sustained them. Unlike Somerset or the larger industrial communities of southeastern Kentucky, Mangum left behind relatively few prominent buildings or widely documented public events. Its story survives instead through the names of its residents, the activities recorded in contemporary newspapers, and the maps and postal records that establish its place in the landscape.
The newspaper correspondence from 1920 and 1921 preserves a community in considerable detail, from the seasonal work of buckwheat threshing and molasses production to the journeys of local men seeking employment in the Lynch coal mines. It also documents the churches, marriages, illnesses, and family visits that shaped everyday life in the countryside of western Pulaski County.
Mangum’s surviving history illustrates the importance of looking beyond large towns and major historical events when reconstructing Appalachian life. The experiences of its farmers, laborers, churchgoers, and families reveal how a small community participated in the broader economic and social changes of the early twentieth century while maintaining its own local relationships and identity.
Sources & Further Reading
Rennick, Robert M. “The Post Offices of Pulaski County, Kentucky, Part 2.” La Posta: A Journal of American Postal History 38, no. 4 (2007). https://www.lapostapub.com/Backissues/LP38-4.pdf
Works Progress Administration and Robert M. Rennick. Pulaski County: Post Offices & Place Names. 1939. County Histories of Kentucky, Morehead State University. https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/kentucky_county_histories/284/
The Somerset Journal. September 26, 1919. Early references to Mangum residents and their relationships with neighboring communities. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/9_26_1919.htm
The Somerset Journal. October 10, 1919. References to Rutherford Adams of Mangum and contemporary developments in Pulaski County. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/10_10_1919.htm
The Somerset Journal. November 28, 1919. References to Bertha Whitis of Mangum and local family relationships. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/11_28_1919.htm
The Somerset Journal. December 19, 1919. References to the Adams family and neighboring communities. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/12_19_1919.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Appointed P.M.” February 13, 1920. Announcement of Green Wesley’s appointment as postmaster at Mangum. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/2_13_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. March 19, 1920. References to Doyle Dick of Mangum and his family connections. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/3_19_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. April 9, 1920. References to Lou Anna Dick and the community’s family relationships. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/4_9_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” October 8, 1920. Reports of local births, religious services at King Bee, and family visits. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/10_8_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” October 15, 1920. Reports concerning Henry White’s proposed Holiness church, local singing meetings, and community activities. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/10_15_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” October 22, 1920. Reports of buckwheat threshing, livestock sales, molasses production, Nancy Wesley’s funeral, and possible migration to the Lynch coal mines. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/10_22_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” October 29, 1920. Reports of Bettie Dick’s house fire, farm relocations, religious gatherings, and A. C. and Alfred Wesley’s departure for employment at Lynch. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/10_29_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” November 5, 1920. Reports of Superintendent Leonard Meece’s appearance at Shady Grove, an accident involving Plymp Dick’s son, and Doyle Dick’s return from Cincinnati. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/11_5_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” November 26, 1920. Reports of the Loveless, Barber, Dick, Blevins, and Waters families and their relationships within the community. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/11_26_1920.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” December 3, 1920. Reports of Mary Eliza Dick’s marriage to Jordan Roy, agricultural activities, livestock purchases, and A. C. Wesley’s return from Lynch. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/12_3_20_3.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” December 10, 1920. Reports of the marriage of Bertha Blevins and Otto Hall, religious gatherings, the death of a Hall infant, and Rutherford Adams’s sale of his Mangum farm. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/12_10_1920_3.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” December 24, 1920. Reports of Christmas gatherings, family visits, and Finley Wesley’s purchase of land from Bradley Whiles. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/12_24_1920_2.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” February 18, 1921. Reports of Seth Mofield’s death, spring plowing, and the activities of the Dick, Wesley, Hall, Whiles, and Waters families. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/2_21/2_18_1921_3.htm
The Somerset Journal. “Mangum.” April 1, 1921. Reports of Ambrose Wesley and his wife’s return from the Lynch mines to visit relatives and continuing connections with neighboring communities. Pulaski County KYGenWeb. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/news/4_1_1921_2.htm
United States Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–1971. Record Group 28, Microfilm Publication M841. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.archives.gov/research/post-offices/postmasters-1832-1971.html
United States Post Office Department. Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950. Record Group 28, Microfilm Publication M1126. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.archives.gov/research/post-offices/locations-1837-1950.html
United States Geological Survey. Mintonville Quadrangle, Kentucky. Surveyed 1953, published 1955. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. USGS topoView, https://www.usgs.gov/tools/topoview
Rand McNally and Company. Pulaski County, Kentucky. Map. 1911. Reproduced by My Genealogy Hound. https://www.mygenealogyhound.com/maps/kentucky-maps/KY-Pulaski-County-Kentucky-1911-Rand-McNally-map-Somerset-Burnside-Science-Hill.html
Morehead State University. Robert M. Rennick Topographical Maps Collection. Mintonville A and Mintonville B. Camden-Carroll Library. https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/rennick_maps_c-e/index.7.html
Kentucky Historical Society. Kentucky Newspapers on Microfilm: Counties Nelson–Robertson. Catalog of historical newspaper holdings, including scattered issues of The Somerset Journal, 1900–1922, reel 98-0038. https://www.kyhistory.com/digital/api/collection/LIB/id/1469/download
Pulaski County Public Library. Digital Archives of the Pulaski County Public Library. Historical newspapers, census records, and local archival material. https://pulaskilibrary.advantage-preservation.com/
Pulaski County KYGenWeb. “Pulaski County, KY Cemeteries.” Cemetery inventories and transcriptions, including Shady Grove and surrounding burial grounds. https://kygenweb.net/pulaski/cemetery/cemeteries.html
National Archives and Records Administration. “Start Your 1940 Census Research.” Original federal population schedules useful for identifying historical households in Mangum’s enumeration district. https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/start-research
National Archives and Records Administration. 1950 Census. Digitized federal population schedules for reconstructing Mangum’s mid-twentieth-century population. https://1950census.archives.gov/
United States Postal Service. “Postmaster Finder.” Postal history research resource. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/postmaster-finder/
Author Note: Mangum’s history reminds us that even the smallest Appalachian communities have stories worth preserving, especially those of the families whose everyday lives rarely appear in larger histories. If your family has connections to Mangum or Shady Grove, I welcome additional photographs, documents, and memories that can help preserve this part of Pulaski County’s past.