I have the book, The Genealogy of the Musick Family and Some Kindred Lines by Egbert S. Musick, Wytheville, VA 1978, First Edition I will be glad to do look ups in this book for anyone, but I really need more info than has been provided. Dates, places are really welcome. There are at least 8 Ephraim Musicks and many more Elizabeth Musicks in case Elizabeth was a Musick before marriage. Here is a story from a separate source on my 3rd great grandfather James Musick b. 1806, NC m. Mariah Shell in TN (in the part that would have been SW_VA today), that I hope you all will enjoy. Nancy S Excerpt from the Mountain Chronicle: March 1983 The Kaintuck Wagon Road and the trails through Cumberland and Pound gaps were well-defined highroads when James Musick decided to move his family from the vicinity of Washington County, Virginia to Floyd County, Ky.(Washington County was divided over a period of time into Russell, Smythe, Lee, Scott, Buchannan, Wise and Dickenson counties - it is not clear what part was the location of this family.) However the journey was made, by wagon or horseback, it must have been a weary trek for the forty-year-old wife and nine children, ranging from the twenty-two year old daughter to the year-old baby son; yet come they did around 1849 or 50. We can imagine that their journey was made easier by the hospitality of the occasional cabin along the way where they may have received food and shelter. But the people back then were used to depending upon themselves; therefore, likely the Musicks had set out well-prepared for the trip. (This name is found on all records spelled Musick , but descendants have dropped the final -k from the name.) James Musick had been born in North Carolina around the year 1806.Since the push of the population was westward, James Musick emigrated into south-western Virginia. Here, in this area, he was married to Mariah Shell. Some transcribers give her name Martha, obviously an error. Mariah (pronounced then Mariar) was born in Tennessee around 1810. Their first child was born in Tennessee around 1828 - Mary A. The next eight children were born in Washington County, Virginia ; two others after their arrival in Kentucky. Besides Mary A., these children were John-b. 1832; Andrew-b.circa 1834; Abraham-b.ca. 1836; a daughter Ferby (Phoebe)-b.1839; Archibald-b.ca. 1841; Newton-b.ca.1844; Louisa-b.ca. 1845; and Milton, the last of the children born in Virginia,b.ca. 1848. After the arrival of the family in Kentucky, another daughter and son were born-Emmaline-b. 1852, and James K. -b. 1857 Abraham wed Batha (Rachael) Collins on July 3,1857. To the census taker James Musick gave as his occupation "Blacksmith." It seems that all the men in the Musick family were skillful at such tasks as smithing, milling, stonemasonry, carpentry. James Musick was said to something of a gunsmith and was supposed to have kept the best gun in the community. In order to raise a little money, one practice of the time was that a man would sell a set number of chances on a beef and then "rifle off" the beef with a shooting match. All chances were sold prior to the day the match was to be held. Each chance or shot sold for perhaps twenty-five cents and was for one quarter of the animal. The first round of the shooting was for the choice of the quarters of the beef; the second round for the second choice and so on until the entire animal was accounted for. If a man had paid for several chances, and after the first round of shooting he saw that he had been beaten, he could then use another of his shots to try again to win or he could wait and try for the next quarter coming up. Jim Musick's gun was always on loan to some of the neighbors unless he or some of his sons were involved in the shooting match. James Musick walked with a slight limp which in no way seemed to hinder him. He was known to strip up his britches legs and show horribly scarred calves and thighs on either leg. This is the story James Musick told: While living in Virginia he often hunted with a companion. One day in early winter while in the woods, they approached a cliff, and in a crevice in the rock they noticed hair where an animal had rubbed against the sides of the walls. Examining it closely, Jim said, "Bear! He's holed up in there, sleepin' the sleep of the jest! I'll get 'im!" Taking his gun, Jim ventured into the crack in the rock and after a few feet discovered he was entering a cave. Feeling around in the dark, he touched the sleeping animal. Scratching and rubbing its flank, Jim worked his way to the animal's head. The bear merely gave a grunting sound and barely seemed to be breathing. But suddenly, Jim encountered the head of a second bear! Returning to the outside, Jim explained the situation to his companion. "Thar's two uv'em. Now we'll both crawl in. I'll take one head and you take t'other. We'll set our gun muzzles in their yers an' I'll say, 'Ready? Fire!' an' at 'Fire!' we'll both shoot at the same time an' git 'em both. There's no danger. Jest scratch yourn along the flank and rub 'im around the yer a little, an' he'll jist sleep right on." The other hunter agreed to the plan. Into the crevice of the rock they crawled, Jim Musick in the lead. As agreed, one took the one on the right t'other on the left. By touch , Jim located his bear and set the muzzle of his gun in place. "You found his yer?" he asked in a low voice. "Yeah," the other hunter answered. "A'right, set yer muzzle." She's sot," came the reply. "Ready?" "Yeah." "Fire! " and Musick squeezed off a shot that in the confines of the cave was deafening, but not so much that he failed to realize that no second shot had sounded. All in one instant of time, he saw his "Chickened out" (author's expression) companion darken the hole as he scrambled for the outside and sensed the coming to life of the bear whose winter's sleep was not so profound as to ignore what had taken place. James Musick was a large man, tall and powerful of muscle. The bear seized him just as he entered the slit. Musick told: "I'd reach jist as fer as I could and dig my fingers in an' pull myself. I felt 'im strip off my huntin' britches an' knowed my laigs was bein' tore to pieces, but I kep' a-reachin' an' a-pullin'. The crack was so nar' he never could get a hug around my laigs nor reach me with his teeth to do no good. Ever' time I'd pull, I'd feel his claws grit bone. When I busted out into the daylight, I'd broke 'is holt. The first thing my eyes lit on was the gun that feller had drapped when he left the hole. I grabbed it an' got off a shot before that bear got use' to the light in his eyes. That was the last I remembered fer awhile." Meanwhile the other hunter returned to the settlement and told the people that a bear had killed Jim Musick. A party went out and found the mangled man and the dead bear . Not knowing the full story, they were astonished when Jim begged for a loaded gun to take a whack at the fellow he had been hunting with. He urged the men to go into the cave and get the second bear and his gun, but the sight of Jim's wounds was deterent enough and no one would venture in. The dead bear and the wounded man were dealt with according to the practices of the time- the bear was skinned and Jim carried back to his own cabin for Mariah to doctor as well as she knew how. Eventually, soaked with the grease of the bear and "wropped" with strips of the bearskin, Jim's legs responded to Mariah's treatment. Jim got able to stir about, still swearing vengeance against the man who had deserted him. Spring came. "With the help of one of his sons, Jim made his way back to the cave, crawled in, and retrieved his rifle. The carcass of the bear was too far gone to salvage. Jim said that the months in the cave had ruined the rifle and that he traded it off, but since wished he'd kept it. As for his threat against the other fellow, Musick said: "When I seed the spring come ag'in an' ever'thing a-gittin' green an' new after that awful winter, an' I could crawl outside an' git me a place in the sun an' watch them big white-billed peckerwoods a-maulin' on the dead trees out in the clearin', an' hear squirrels ever' now an' then 'Whee' over in the cove, then I was so glad jist to be alive that I said, 'God hates a coward! An' if God hates 'im, why ort I to' - but - I'd druther never lay eyes on 'im! Another friend said, "You've learnt yer lesson, ain't ye, Jim? Ye'll never go in after another denned-up bear, will ye?" Musick glowered from under shaggy eyebrows, "Yes, by darn', I will! But never with no other dam' feller to foul me up, I won't!" James Musick settled in the head of Greasy Creek in Johnson County, at one time owning the whole area of the Bear Branch besides other land. By the year 1900, all of the offspring of James and Mariah Shell Musick had moved to other areas with the exception of their sons Newton, and Milton, who evidently fell heir to the holdings of their father. Supposedly some of the Musick descendants were allied with the Hatfield and McCoys. 1880 Census of Johnson County, KY Name Age Occupation Birthplace James Musick 73 Farmer N.C. Mariah 72 wife Tenn. Polly Waller 50 dau. Tenn.- N.C. Dru Waller grand dau. KY. VA. TENN. Green Waller grand dau. KY James Waller grand son KY