PLEASE DO NOT MERGE THIS MEMORIAL WITH ANY OTHER MEMORIAL. IT IS NOT A DUPLICATE OF ANY OTHER MEMORIAL. IT IS NOT A DUPLICATE OF "JOHN BACH SR."
The genealogy shown here, on this memorial, and on all of its links, is the accurate genealogy of the family. It is well-documented, and proven, by several Board-Certified genealogists, numerous respected historians and professional researchers, and the genealogy experts at the Daughters of the American Revolution. It is the same genealogy that has been passed down, within the family, for hundreds of years.
John Back came to Kentucky in the spring of 1791, with his parents, Joseph Back and Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back. They first settled along Quicksand Creek, not far from the present-day community of Quicksand. They built a small cabin in a place later known as "the Round Bottom," because it was a parcel of land that was nearly encircled by the creek. Tradition has it that, a long time ago, Indians used that parcel of land as a race track for their ponies. That land later became Breathitt County.
In 1794, John's father sent him, his older brother Joseph Jr., and John's best friend, Samuel Maggard, over to Russell County, Virginia to help the widow of John's great uncle settle the estate. While the three men were over there, they each met a young girl and got married, in 1795. John married Catherine Robertson, and Samuel married her sister, Rebecca Robertson. John and Catherine moved onto his great uncle's farm, which was located along Copper Creek, where it flows into the Clinch River, in Russell County, Virginia. John and Catherine decided to live there, since the farm was already set up, and so he bought the land. John's great aunt soon died.
John and Catherine lived on that farm in Russell County for 15 years. Most of their children were born there. In the fall of 1809, John's cousin, Lewis Back (born Oct. 14, 1787), who was a son of Henry Back (1740-1809), who was a brother to John's father Joseph Back (1745-1819), came to live with John and Catherine. Both John and Lewis were listed on the 1810 Personal Property Tax List, in Russell County, which was taken that summer. (In prior years, only John had been listed on those tax lists, two of which also included his great aunt, Mary Marberry Back.)
In the fall of 1810, John decided to return to southeastern Kentucky, and so he sold that farm along Copper Creek, and he and his family, along with his cousin Lewis, made the journey to Kentucky. Along the way, they stopped for a short time, in what was then Floyd County, Kentucky, where they were enumerated on the 1810 Census Report (taken August 6, 1810). They soon settled along the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River, where there was a small settlement of people, and a trading post. That area was then in Knox County; it became Harlan County in 1819. John's parents had already abandoned their cabin along Quicksand Creek, about twelve years before that, and they were also living along the Poor Fork. (Two years after John, Catherine, and Lewis arrived at the Poor Fork, Lewis married Elizabeth Pennington; she and her family also lived along the Poor Fork.)
John first sharecropped 175 acres of land that belonged to Catherine's brother Thomas Robertson, who had also recently migrated to the Poor Fork. John raised a large herd of cattle there. He bought that land from Thomas, on November 17, 1817, for $500. He also bought another 100 acres nearby. John and his family were listed in the 1820 and 1830 Census Reports, in Harlan County, Kentucky.
In 1823, John and Catherine joined The Oven Fork Church. But they never quite fit in there. The people who ran the church had a long list of rules, and they seemed to be extremely interested in controlling and judging the lives of the members of the church, instead of spreading the loving word of God. John and Catherine were frequently "in trouble" for such "terrible" things as having a party at their house where "string instruments" (fiddles) were played, and people "frolicked" (danced).
In 1826, John's mother Elizabeth, who was also a member of The Oven Fork Church, died. She wanted to be buried next to a large tree that overlooked the river, and so she was. Years later, The Maggard Cemetery was created around her grave. Unfortunately, in 1998, some of her descendants removed her gravestone from the ground, discarded it, and then erected another gravestone over her remains that described another woman named Elizabeth Back. That woman had been married to Henry Back (1740-1809), who was the brother of Joseph Back (1745-1819), John's father. That new gravestone was used to promote an inaccurate genealogy of the family, in the 1990s, which tore the family apart.
By 1836, John and Catherine were fed up with the harsh scrutiny of the people who ran The Oven Fork Church, and so they asked for letters of dismissal, which were granted. That fall, on Sept. 14, 1836, John and his son Joseph bought 2,500 acres of land along Quicksand Creek, up in Breathitt County. It included the land called "the Round Bottom," and the old cabin that John had helped his father build, back in 1791, was still there. John and his son Joseph paid $2,000 for that land. It was said that they paid for it in gold. The old deed for that purchase "disappeared," back in the 1990s, along with most of the old artifacts of the family, including the furniture that John had made, and a clock that had been in his family. Only his mother's old spinning wheel, and his father's old survey chains, are still in existence, because they had been donated to the Breathitt County Museum, in Jackson, back in the early 1900s.
By Christmastime of 1836, John and Catherine were living in the old, 1791 Back family cabin on "the Round Bottom." John was so proud to have finally been able to actually purchase land in Kentucky, which had been a dream that his father had, for many years. To memorialize the occasion, John opened up the old Bach Family Bible and he wrote down the names and dates of birth of all the members of his family. That old Bach Family Bible is now at the Breathitt County Library, in Jackson.
John and Catherine were seen in the 1840 and 1850 Census Reports, living along Quicksand Creek, in Breathitt County, Kentucky. There was an old newspaper article in the "Harrodsburg Herald," which stated that John Back had built the first wagon in Breathitt County. It was made entirely of of wood. There was no metal used in its construction, not even a nail. The "tires" were made from strips of young, white hickory wood, about three inches in diameter, split in two, and then fastened with wooden pins. This is a true story, and was passed down, within the family.
Since Catherine's ancestors were from Scotland, she made kilts for John to wear, just like the men had worn, back in Scotland. John actually liked wearing those kilts, and he called them, "half-pants." On Feb. 13, 1854, one of John's horses got out of the pasture and had run off. Even though it was freezing cold, John went after the horse. He was wearing one of the kilts that Catherine had made for him. The horse had run all the way over to Lick Branch. John never caught it, and so he walked back home. But his clothes were soaking wet, and his "half-pants" had frozen to his skin. He sat by the fireplace, but he had been exposed to the cold for too long. He developed pneumonia that night, and he died, during the night, sitting by the fireplace. In the morning, at sunrise, his sons buried him in the nearby Roark Cemetery, which was on a hill, overlooking his farm. It was said that they buried him "during a heavy snowstorm."
Four years later, his wife Catherine died, "of the fever." Her sons then buried her, right on top of John. And then, John and Catherine's sons built a casket-shaped, stone gravestone, and placed it on the ground, on top of where their bodies were buried. It looked like a stone sarcophagus. They never inscribed anything on the large stone, because they didn't need to--everyone around there already knew who was buried underneath it. John and Catherine had been highly respected, and that stone sarcophagus was the way that their sons showed their respect for them. (In recent years, Dr. Stephen Bowling, of the Breathitt County Library, took some equipment up to the cemetery, and was able to prove that there really is something buried under that stone sarcophagus.)
As the years went by, and John and Catherine's descendants died, or moved away, many people forgot who was buried underneath that large stone sarcophagus. Some people later even claimed that a man named Mr. Smith was buried under there.
It is important to understand that an inaccurate genealogy was created, back in the 1990s, which caused a great deal of trouble within the family. It basically tore the family apart, into two groups: (1) the majority of the family who knew the actual genealogy of the family, which had been handed down within the family, for generations, and was supported by a large amount of documented proof, including the old Bach Family Bible (the family actually came from Thuringia, Germany and were related to Johann Sebastian Bach), and (2) a few people who strangely believed an inaccurate genealogy that had been recently created, even though there was absolutely no proof of it (they falsely claimed that the family came from Freudenberg, Germany and descended from Harman Back). The people who believed that inaccurate genealogy formed a little club they called, "The Back-Bach Genealogical Society," even though not one of them was a genealogist. They became known as the "Back-Bach people," and they were looked down upon, by the rest of the family. The "Back-Bach people" published their inaccurate genealogy, in a book, in 1994; they even erected several fake gravestones, in southeastern Kentucky, to try to "prove" their inaccurate genealogy. Nowadays, there are still a few "Back-Bach people" around, still promoting that inaccurate genealogy, even though there is no verifiable proof of it whatsoever; they have posted all sorts of incorrect and deceptive information online, including a rigged "DNA Project." It is all so strange, and so sad.
PLEASE DO NOT MERGE THIS MEMORIAL WITH ANY OTHER MEMORIAL. IT IS NOT A DUPLICATE OF ANY OTHER MEMORIAL. IT IS NOT A DUPLICATE OF "JOHN BACH SR."
The genealogy shown here, on this memorial, and on all of its links, is the accurate genealogy of the family. It is well-documented, and proven, by several Board-Certified genealogists, numerous respected historians and professional researchers, and the genealogy experts at the Daughters of the American Revolution. It is the same genealogy that has been passed down, within the family, for hundreds of years.
John Back came to Kentucky in the spring of 1791, with his parents, Joseph Back and Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back. They first settled along Quicksand Creek, not far from the present-day community of Quicksand. They built a small cabin in a place later known as "the Round Bottom," because it was a parcel of land that was nearly encircled by the creek. Tradition has it that, a long time ago, Indians used that parcel of land as a race track for their ponies. That land later became Breathitt County.
In 1794, John's father sent him, his older brother Joseph Jr., and John's best friend, Samuel Maggard, over to Russell County, Virginia to help the widow of John's great uncle settle the estate. While the three men were over there, they each met a young girl and got married, in 1795. John married Catherine Robertson, and Samuel married her sister, Rebecca Robertson. John and Catherine moved onto his great uncle's farm, which was located along Copper Creek, where it flows into the Clinch River, in Russell County, Virginia. John and Catherine decided to live there, since the farm was already set up, and so he bought the land. John's great aunt soon died.
John and Catherine lived on that farm in Russell County for 15 years. Most of their children were born there. In the fall of 1809, John's cousin, Lewis Back (born Oct. 14, 1787), who was a son of Henry Back (1740-1809), who was a brother to John's father Joseph Back (1745-1819), came to live with John and Catherine. Both John and Lewis were listed on the 1810 Personal Property Tax List, in Russell County, which was taken that summer. (In prior years, only John had been listed on those tax lists, two of which also included his great aunt, Mary Marberry Back.)
In the fall of 1810, John decided to return to southeastern Kentucky, and so he sold that farm along Copper Creek, and he and his family, along with his cousin Lewis, made the journey to Kentucky. Along the way, they stopped for a short time, in what was then Floyd County, Kentucky, where they were enumerated on the 1810 Census Report (taken August 6, 1810). They soon settled along the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River, where there was a small settlement of people, and a trading post. That area was then in Knox County; it became Harlan County in 1819. John's parents had already abandoned their cabin along Quicksand Creek, about twelve years before that, and they were also living along the Poor Fork. (Two years after John, Catherine, and Lewis arrived at the Poor Fork, Lewis married Elizabeth Pennington; she and her family also lived along the Poor Fork.)
John first sharecropped 175 acres of land that belonged to Catherine's brother Thomas Robertson, who had also recently migrated to the Poor Fork. John raised a large herd of cattle there. He bought that land from Thomas, on November 17, 1817, for $500. He also bought another 100 acres nearby. John and his family were listed in the 1820 and 1830 Census Reports, in Harlan County, Kentucky.
In 1823, John and Catherine joined The Oven Fork Church. But they never quite fit in there. The people who ran the church had a long list of rules, and they seemed to be extremely interested in controlling and judging the lives of the members of the church, instead of spreading the loving word of God. John and Catherine were frequently "in trouble" for such "terrible" things as having a party at their house where "string instruments" (fiddles) were played, and people "frolicked" (danced).
In 1826, John's mother Elizabeth, who was also a member of The Oven Fork Church, died. She wanted to be buried next to a large tree that overlooked the river, and so she was. Years later, The Maggard Cemetery was created around her grave. Unfortunately, in 1998, some of her descendants removed her gravestone from the ground, discarded it, and then erected another gravestone over her remains that described another woman named Elizabeth Back. That woman had been married to Henry Back (1740-1809), who was the brother of Joseph Back (1745-1819), John's father. That new gravestone was used to promote an inaccurate genealogy of the family, in the 1990s, which tore the family apart.
By 1836, John and Catherine were fed up with the harsh scrutiny of the people who ran The Oven Fork Church, and so they asked for letters of dismissal, which were granted. That fall, on Sept. 14, 1836, John and his son Joseph bought 2,500 acres of land along Quicksand Creek, up in Breathitt County. It included the land called "the Round Bottom," and the old cabin that John had helped his father build, back in 1791, was still there. John and his son Joseph paid $2,000 for that land. It was said that they paid for it in gold. The old deed for that purchase "disappeared," back in the 1990s, along with most of the old artifacts of the family, including the furniture that John had made, and a clock that had been in his family. Only his mother's old spinning wheel, and his father's old survey chains, are still in existence, because they had been donated to the Breathitt County Museum, in Jackson, back in the early 1900s.
By Christmastime of 1836, John and Catherine were living in the old, 1791 Back family cabin on "the Round Bottom." John was so proud to have finally been able to actually purchase land in Kentucky, which had been a dream that his father had, for many years. To memorialize the occasion, John opened up the old Bach Family Bible and he wrote down the names and dates of birth of all the members of his family. That old Bach Family Bible is now at the Breathitt County Library, in Jackson.
John and Catherine were seen in the 1840 and 1850 Census Reports, living along Quicksand Creek, in Breathitt County, Kentucky. There was an old newspaper article in the "Harrodsburg Herald," which stated that John Back had built the first wagon in Breathitt County. It was made entirely of of wood. There was no metal used in its construction, not even a nail. The "tires" were made from strips of young, white hickory wood, about three inches in diameter, split in two, and then fastened with wooden pins. This is a true story, and was passed down, within the family.
Since Catherine's ancestors were from Scotland, she made kilts for John to wear, just like the men had worn, back in Scotland. John actually liked wearing those kilts, and he called them, "half-pants." On Feb. 13, 1854, one of John's horses got out of the pasture and had run off. Even though it was freezing cold, John went after the horse. He was wearing one of the kilts that Catherine had made for him. The horse had run all the way over to Lick Branch. John never caught it, and so he walked back home. But his clothes were soaking wet, and his "half-pants" had frozen to his skin. He sat by the fireplace, but he had been exposed to the cold for too long. He developed pneumonia that night, and he died, during the night, sitting by the fireplace. In the morning, at sunrise, his sons buried him in the nearby Roark Cemetery, which was on a hill, overlooking his farm. It was said that they buried him "during a heavy snowstorm."
Four years later, his wife Catherine died, "of the fever." Her sons then buried her, right on top of John. And then, John and Catherine's sons built a casket-shaped, stone gravestone, and placed it on the ground, on top of where their bodies were buried. It looked like a stone sarcophagus. They never inscribed anything on the large stone, because they didn't need to--everyone around there already knew who was buried underneath it. John and Catherine had been highly respected, and that stone sarcophagus was the way that their sons showed their respect for them. (In recent years, Dr. Stephen Bowling, of the Breathitt County Library, took some equipment up to the cemetery, and was able to prove that there really is something buried under that stone sarcophagus.)
As the years went by, and John and Catherine's descendants died, or moved away, many people forgot who was buried underneath that large stone sarcophagus. Some people later even claimed that a man named Mr. Smith was buried under there.
It is important to understand that an inaccurate genealogy was created, back in the 1990s, which caused a great deal of trouble within the family. It basically tore the family apart, into two groups: (1) the majority of the family who knew the actual genealogy of the family, which had been handed down within the family, for generations, and was supported by a large amount of documented proof, including the old Bach Family Bible (the family actually came from Thuringia, Germany and were related to Johann Sebastian Bach), and (2) a few people who strangely believed an inaccurate genealogy that had been recently created, even though there was absolutely no proof of it (they falsely claimed that the family came from Freudenberg, Germany and descended from Harman Back). The people who believed that inaccurate genealogy formed a little club they called, "The Back-Bach Genealogical Society," even though not one of them was a genealogist. They became known as the "Back-Bach people," and they were looked down upon, by the rest of the family. The "Back-Bach people" published their inaccurate genealogy, in a book, in 1994; they even erected several fake gravestones, in southeastern Kentucky, to try to "prove" their inaccurate genealogy. Nowadays, there are still a few "Back-Bach people" around, still promoting that inaccurate genealogy, even though there is no verifiable proof of it whatsoever; they have posted all sorts of incorrect and deceptive information online, including a rigged "DNA Project." It is all so strange, and so sad.
