James Franklin "Panther Jim" Maggard b 6 Nov 1816 Floyd Co KY d 11 Oct 1874 Letcher Co KY; s/o  Samuel Maggard and Rebecca Robertson. James Franklin "Panther Jim" Maggard m. 6 Mar 1837 to Abigail "Abby" Boggs b 7 Jul 1818 Lee Co VA d 15 Nov 1877 Letcher Co KY; d/o Elijah "Eli" Boggs and Tabitha Mary "Polly" Pennington. After the death of James, Abigail lived with their son, Henry. She hanged herself from the beam of an old loom. (1850 Letcher Co KY Census and 1860 Letcher Co KY Census). Children of James Franklin "Panther Jim" Maggard and Abigail "Abby" Boggs;

i. Sarah "Sally" Maggard b 19 Feb 1838 Letcher Co KY d 16 Jul 1905 Letcher Co KY; m. Jan 1860 to Andrew Jackson "Andy" Mullins b 1835 Russell Co VA d 1876 Wise Co VA; s/o David "Spotted Dave" Mullins and Virginia Jane Short. Sarah Sally Maggard m. 21 Jul 1877 to William "Billy" Maggard b about 1837 KY s/o Henry Maggard and Rebecca Elizabeth Prater. William "Billy" Maggard m. 1859 to Elizabeth Jane Adams b 1843 Letcher Co KY d 8 Apr 1877 Letcher Co KY; d/o Isaac B Adams and Nancy Hayes.

ii. David M "Preacher Dave" Maggard b 18 Dec 1839 Letcher Co KY d 3 Sept 1934 Letcher Co KY m. 5 Aug 1859 to Sarah Mullins b 9 Jan 1838 Letcher Co KY d 1927 d/o James Booker Mullins and Agnes Little.

iii. Henry Maggard b 12 Apr 1843 KY d about 1884; buried Maggard Cemetery, Eolia, Letcher Co KY: m. 15 Jun 1860 Perry Co KY to Jane Jenny Day b about 1843 Letcher Co KY

iv. Mary Ann Polly Maggard b 16 May 1845 Letcher Co KY m. 14 Sept 1862 to Henry Blair Day b 18 Sept 1829 Harlan Co KY d 5 Jan 1897 Taney Co MO s/o John Nathan Day and Letitia Blair.

v. James Franklin Maggard b 3 Mar 1850 Letcher Co KY d 17 Feb 1894 Letcher Co KY m. 13 Dec 1877 to Elizabeth Bohannon b 14 Apr 1857 KY d 1888 d/o Hadley Bohannon and Caroline Bagwell. James Franklin Maggard m. 10 Jan 1889 to Sarah "Sally" Brown b 20 Oct 1865 Letcher Co KY d 10 Mar 1952 Letcher Co KY d/o Matthew Madison Brown and Jane Jency Fields

vi. Susannah "Susan" Maggard b 23 Sept 1852 Letcher Co KY d 15 Sept 1930 m. about 1870 to Charles A Blair b 22 Sept 1852 Poor Fork, Harlan Co KY d 22 Mar 1929 s/o Enoch Blair and Nancy Jane Jenkins.

vii. Elihu Emory Maggard b 22 Apr 1855 Letcher Co KY d 22 Feb 1923 Pope Co AR m. 4 Sept 1876 to Nancy Ann Cornett b 22 Feb 1857 KY d 1897 Pope AR d/o Judge Joseph Enoch Cornett and Sarah Sally Brown.

viii. Francis Maggard b 19 May 1859 Letcher Co KY d 18 May 1872 Letcher Co KY.

Some notes from Coming Down Cumberland
James (called Jimmie) "Panther Jim" got this name by taking on a panther with a knife. That knife was forged by his brother John, an expert blacksmith, and had a two edged blade that was fourteen inches long. Just a year or so before he got the knife he went hunting, with his younger brother Moses, far up Pine Mountain behind Maggard Cemetery. Near midnight the dogs treed a large panther and James raised his rifle and took careful aim at what he thought was a point just back of the panthers nose, but what he thought was a nose was a bend in the back leg. Injured, the panther sprang down for James and James threw the rifle to Moses for reloading, he then attacked the panther with a hatchet in one hand and a knife in the other and killed the panther before Moses could get the gun loaded.

Before Autumn harvest in 1836 he went bear hunting with the bear dogs, not long he got a shot at a huge bear but only injured it. The chase was on. Finally in the dark woods just above the valley Callahan Creek (near present Stonega, VA) Jimmy got a fatal shot. Jimmy knew he couldn't drag the bear back over Black Mountain and he had heard a girl calling a cow in the valley below and there was the smell of cornbread. He aimed to drag it down to the farmstead below, skin it out, give most of it to the family and save only a few choice pieces to carry back home the next day. As steep as the hill was he had no trouble sliding the bear downward. As it was it slid out right at the railed in milking lot. A tall girl was sitting on a 3 legged stool milking the family cow.

That cow snorted a time or two, jumped sidewise, knocking the girl backward and the milk pail went sailing, pouring part of the contents over the downed girl. By then the cow had jumped the fence and bawling loudly was tearing down Callahan Creek, and the girl was soon up scolding the mountain hunter. Her father came due to the commotion. He calmed when he recognized one of the Maggard boys from over on Cumberland (his son Silas had already married Jimmy's niece). Old Eley (Eli) Boggs just called for his son Billy (who would later be the notorious "Devil Bill" Bill Boggs) to go see if he could catch the cow. Then he called his other sons to help with the "bear butcherin" and told Abigail (Abby) to go see if she couldn't hasten up supper a bit, this Maggard boy "wher hongry".

That is how my G-G-Grandfather met my G-G-Grandmother. During that winter, his father laid off a tract of land for his son. It included what was later the Dave Mullins farm and on up Cumberland to near the Maggard Cemetery. James (Jimmy) erected a small log house about where Shepherd's store (now Maggard's store) later stood. It's possible it was in the little bottom just below it. James and Abby were in that house for several years. Later he chose a new house site located further down Cumberland. Here he built another hewed log house situated up and down river. In the 1850's he added another hewed log house across the end of his older building. The front door of this portion faced down river.

He became a member of the Oven Fork Regular Baptist Church at an early age, later he served as its clerk. Finally he began to preach and was ordained as a minister (Elder) on the first Sunday in September, 1868. His credentials were signed by Rev. Wiley Morris and Rev. Jim Dixon, both noted ministers of the area. The summer of 1874 he could only occasionally rise from his bed to sit by his cabin. One day he saw a very tall figure riding slowly toward the cabin, it was unmistakenly "Long" David, then an old man, yet he had ridden all the way from Carter Co., KY to see his ailing brother.

October 11 that year "Panther" Jim was helped to his cane bottomed chair outside the cabin door. A little later he called for his Bible. His son, Elihu, took it to him. A little later, "Panther" Jim had leaned back against the cabin, his hands were folded over his Bible, and he was gone. In those days when one died, they were simply buried. Then later a funeral meeting was called for them. It was not until next May that his funeral meeting was held. Long David once again rode from Carter Co., to attend the meeting. Later in the service Long David stood alone and sang a song which he had composed especially for his brothers service. It was Long David's last visit to Cumberland Valley, which he had come down when he was a 3 yr. old child.