Ohio County, Kentucky History: December 2021

Remembering Agnes Duncan Ashby and William J. Shull

Today I attempt to recognize two individuals that spent an enormous amount of time collecting and sharing genealogical information and history related to Ohio County.

Agnes Duncan Ashby was born May 22, 1894 in Rockport and lived most of her adult life in Centertown. She died September 6, 1972 and is buried in the Centertown Cemetery. She married Isaac “Ike” Sanford Ashby and they had four children. Here is her obituary:

Agnes published a genealogical column in the Ohio County Times titled “The Family Tree” from October 9, 1969 to August 24, 1972. Her last column was published in the newspaper August 31, 1972, just a few days before her death. Some of these columns have been lost for various reasons but most of them were compiled and published in a book by Michael L. Cook; the book is titled “Genealogical Newspaper Columns of Agnes Ashby – Ohio County, Kentucky” which was published by McDowell Publications in 1979. The Ohio County Library has a copy of this book. I am told that Mr. McDowell is deceased and his business is closed. In any event, since these short articles were published in the newspaper and since so much time has passed, I intend to include some of them on my blog unless someone objects.

William J. Shull lived and worked in Roseville, Michigan. He was born March 14, 1930 in Ohio County and died 14 Jan 2021 in Ohio County; he is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Hartford. Mr. Shull took over the genealogical column in the Ohio County Times upon the death of Agnes in 1972. He and his wife Julie Shull also co-wrote some historical/genealogical columns for the Ohio County Times titled “Western Waters” that continued for several years in the 1980s.

I didn't know Agnes Ashby or Bill Shull but they both made large contributions to helping the rest of us find and read about our history. Starting with my next post, I will be posting some of the columns written by Agnes. Her earliest columns were listings of Ohio County cemeteries, which is a subject I have already covered and which has been covered extensively in other publications, both online and in books, so I will not post her cemetery information.