New gravestone planned for Magoffin father of 50 By Lee - TopicsExpress

New gravestone planned for Magoffin father of 50 By Lee Mueller EASTERN KENTUCKY BUREAU SALYERSVILLE -- Maybe you never heard of Goldenhawk Sizemore, but maybe you should. If you live in Kentucky, or almost anywhere else, it is possible he may be your own great-great-great-grandpa. George ``Goldenhawk Sizemore, who probably was born in 1783, but certainly died in 1864, fathered either 54 or 57 children, a figure debated by historians. At any rate, Goldenhawks biblical seed during the last century has spread across the land like puffs of dandelions in a strong wind. There are now so many Sizemore descendants that when the Magoffin County Historical Society decided this spring to erect a proper tombstone to ``the progenitor of many, president Todd Preston remarked: ``If all of Goldenhawks people donated just $1, wed have enough money to build a monument as big as the courthouse. Preston, 71, actually has more modest ambitions. The current 3-foot-high concrete grave marker, placed in 1938 by three Sizemore grandsons -- including 96-year-old Jeff Sizemore shortly after returning from a Civil War reunion at Gettysburg -- is broken and crumbling. A glass-enclosed inscription was shattered long ago. ``I dont know that were planning a really elaborate monument, Preston said, ``but I think it should be something that would stand the wear and tear of the years. About $300 has been collected since the historical society announced the project in its spring journal. ``Most of the money thus far has come from outside the county -- outside the state, really, Preston said, ``but then, weve just sort of begun the project which, I hope, some of the Sizemores will take over. There is, certainly, no shortage of Sizemore descendants for such a task. Birth records from Eastern Kentuckys pioneer days often are not available, but descendants of Goldenhawk Sizemore estimated last week that he helped produce thousands of their relatives. No official estimate has been made, but Magoffin County schools Superintendent Henry Clay Sizemore -- who has spent years collecting stories and records about his fecund forefather -- likes to cite the example of Thomas Sizemore, one of Goldenhawks sons. Tom Sizemore left Kentucky for Oklahoma, the Magoffin superintendent said. Several years ago, someone sent him an Oklahoma newspaper photo of a reunion of the descendants of Tom Sizemore, he said. There were 350 people in the picture. A true count of Goldenhawks offspring is nearly impossible, Henry Clay Sizemore said, because of sketchy birth records and the fact that most of his children were girls who married into other families in many counties. Many of Goldenhawks descendants still live in Magoffin County where he is buried, but, ironically, few of them are actually named Sizemore. ``Theres not enough of us left here in the county to empanel a jury, said Henry Sizemore, Goldenhawks great-great-great-grandson . ``The men left the county. Many of the men, however, stayed in Clay and Leslie counties where, for example, Thomas Sizemore is Leslies school superintendent and his brother, Onzie Sizemore, is judge-executive. Thomas Sizemore said he supplied Henry Clay Sizemore with information about their famous ancestor. ``Obviously, Goldenhawk was a very fertile, active individual, wasnt he? Thomas Sizemore asked. Genealogical records and family lore say Goldenhawk was one of eight children -- including four daughters -- produced by George All Sizemore and Aggie Shepherd Sizemore, a Native American who was kidnapped by mistake in about 1750 and raised by a family named Cornett. When he grew up, Goldenhawk began dating a woman in North Carolina named Sally Anderson, Henry Sizemore said, but her two brothers -- ``objecting to their sister dating an Indian -- waylaid him one night and tried to kill him. Goldenhawk fought vigorously, went into the house, got Sally and they came into this country. Records do not show what Goldenhawk did for a living, but he apparently became a landowner and was soon able to maintain and feed several families -- all of them his own. Henry Sizemore said his father told him Goldenhawk ``would just be walking along the road until he got to a house, walk up on the porch and ask for a cup of coffee. If he could get his foot in the door, they generally let him in. Eventually, Goldenhawk ``had a woman in this house over here and another one over here, the superintendent said. ``He seems to have been a man of leisure, said Connie Arnett Wireman, a charter historical-society member. ``In the 1860 census, under occupation, it says, `Nothing at all. I never saw that before. Wireman said she was told Goldenhawk ``just borrowed several wives, but Sally Anderson was his only ``official wife. Whatever their legal status, all his children apparently were named Sizemore, said Wireman, whose husband is a descendant of one of Goldenhawks daughters. ``Everybody is really proud of the Sizemore name, Wireman said. ``I dont think theres any descendants who dont acknowledge and appreciate the others. They all feel very close to each other. When they meet each other, its a happy thing. Its a blood relative and they dont look at it any other way. Census records also showed Goldenhawk at one time supporting four different families with 7 to 10 children in each of them. About the same time, 1860, Goldenhawk was indicted for bigamy in Floyd County, Henry Sizemore said. According to minutes from the hearing, the judge said, `` `Mr. Sizemore, I understand you have about 50 children, Henry Sizemore said. ``Goldenhawk said, `I guess youre right. But, judge, if Id been half as pretty a man as you are, Id had more than that. There are no known portraits of Goldenhawk, but Henry Sizemore said his father once told him Goldenhawk was ``one of the ugliest men that ever was. This report has puzzled Goldenhawks descendants, said Judy Wireman Salyer, 43, who is Goldenhawks great-great-great-great-granddaughter. If true, how could he get all those women who produced all those children? she asked. Preston, a pragmatic historian, said Goldenhawk may have had more attractive qualities than good looks. ``He apparently was pretty well off for the time, he said. The real purpose of the tombstone project is ``to instill in people the necessity of taking care of their ancestors graves, Preston said. Less and less is known about the regions heritage as each generation dies off, he said, and grave markers are a vital link. Preston said his group often acts as a kind of chamber of commerce for visiting groups, especially youths. ``We put on pioneer uniforms, show them our Founders Day cabins and tell them about the heritage of Eastern Kentucky, he said, ``and how proud (Eastern Kentuckians) were, when I was a child.