A transcription of the statements of John G. McGuire to John Jay Dickey in which he describes his ancestry and memories of his Uncle John McGuire, son of James "Blue Lick" McGuire.
John Jay Dickey 1842-1934
Baptist Minister’s Diary –Oct. 15, 1933
6504 Pages
Diary Page 2397-2398
John G. McGuire
I was born in Lee Co., Ky. July 31, 1816. My father was Archibald McGuire. His father lost his life in the Revolutionary War. When last seen he was waist deep in James River during a battle. His widow came to Boonesboro after the war and brought her children with her. They were John, Wm, James and my father. I think there was one named Neal. Esther married Hamilton; there was another who married George Tincher. My uncle John moved to Greenup County and reared a large family. Wm went to Jackson Co., Mo. James and my father lived and died in Lee Co., Ky. From these two sprang most of the McGuires in Lee and adjoining counties. Ben a son of Wm lived here. My father had 13 children, 7 in one set and 6 in the other. I heard my Uncle John say he had seen 25 bears in one hollow in what is now Wolfe Co. on Stillwater. He said if he did not kill his bear at first shot he was in danger.
My father married Miss Gire [Guyer]. She was German or Dutch. She died when I was 5 or 6 years old. I think the McGuires are Scotch-Irish. They came from Eastern Virginia to Kentucky. I do not know why my mother came here. She married a man named Fulton. She is buried near town. My wife was a daughter of James McGuire; she was my cousin. When I could first remember 75 years ago they were shipping a few boat loads of coal from this place. There was none shipped from above here at that time. They used grapevines for cables. Souths [?] began to ship when I was 17 or 18 years old. The coal business reached its climax here before the war about 1840 to 1850. I have run 17 loads one season with 4,000 bus. to the boat. I have sold as much as 2 boat loads.
[This personal statement from John Guyer McGuire is important because he talks clearly about his uncle John McGuire, also a son of James “Blue Lick” McGuire. This John McGuire moves to and lives his life in Greenup County, Kentucky. This distinction can be seen in 1810 census when John McGuire, son of James, is in Greenup County, and our John McGuire (1756-1837) is living in Floyd County (in the area that will become Morgan County.]
[REFERENCE; The Diary of John Jay Dickey: Baptist Minister’s Diary, “Pioneer Ghosts of Kentucky” is available on microfilm through the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The seven microfilms are numbered 157069-157075.]
