Editor’s note: Research for this article was found in The Advocate-Messenger archives, census records and from David Crain, a relative of the Culton family.

Three generations of the James Thomas Culton family have lived in Boyle County, beginning in the mid-1800s.

The same name — James Thomas Culton — was handed down in each generation. Research shows the first James T. was born Jan. 11, 1852, in Kentucky and died Nov. 4, 1888, in Parksville.

He and Rachel W. Walls were married Sept. 23, 1879, in Lincoln County. Rachel was born Jan. 9, 1862, in Lincoln County, and died Nov.15, 1897 in Parksville. She was a daughter of John Walls (1834-1916) and Rachel Wilson Estes (1825-1887).

James and Rachel lived in Hustonville in 1880 and later moved to a farm near Parksville. Both are buried in Parksville Cemetery.

Their children were: James T. Thomas II (1887-1964), Florence (1880-1950), Elma (1882-1949), Eugene (1883-1963), Elizabeth (1884-1903), Floyd O. (1887-1890) and Rachel W. (1899-1890).

 

Second generation

 

James T. Culton Sr. was a Boyle County farmer. He was born Jan. 11, 1852, and died Nov. 4, 1888.

He and his wife, Mina Ada Lee Burnside, were married March 20, 1907, in Danville.

She was born July 25,1890, in Danville, and died March 5, 1992. She was a daughter of Rice and Flora Hughes Burnside of Garrard County. James and Mina are buried in Parksville Cemetery.

They had two sons, James T. and Ollie L. (1913-1986).

James Sr. worked for Southern Railway for 41 years, and served as Boyle County magistrate for 16 years in the 1950s and 1960s. James T. registered for the draft Sept. 12, 1918, during World War I.

The 1930 Boyle County Census shows James Sr. was 21 years old and lived on White Oak Road in Junction City. His wife, Mina, and a son, Ollie L., and Mina’s mother, Flora B. Burnside, 69, lived in the same house.

 

Third generation

 

James T. Culton Jr. was born May 7,1908, in Parksville, and died August 29, 1975, in Danville. He and Anabel Nevius were married April 14, 1931. He was a son of James T. Culton Sr. and Mina Ada Lee Burnside.

He registered for the draft on Oct 16, 1940.

Anabel was born Dec. 30, 1912, in Parksville, and was a daughter of James M. and Susie Brown Nevius. She died March 4, 1999. She and James are buried in Danville Memorial Gardens. They had one daughter, Georgetta Culton Britt.

James was a building contractor and owned Culton Lumber Company in Junction City for many years. He owned the Rainbow Restaurant in Harrodsburg. James also operated a grocery store, and service station in Junction City.

The Culton families were active in Junction City Christian Church.