John A. Stegall is a native of Elliott County, Kentucky, as were his 
 parents and grandparents before him.  Being an avid genealogist, he has 
 traced his paternal ancestry back to Suffolk County, England by way of 
 Virginia; and his maternal ancestry back to the Netherlands by way of 
 Virginia and New York.
    Mr. Stegall received his elementary education in a two-room country 
 school on North Ruin in Elliott County.  In 1944, he entered Sandy Hook High 
 School, now Elliott County High School, and graduated in 1948.  He later 
 enrolled in Morehead State Teachers College, now a state university.  By 
 necessity, he had to work to pay tuition and was able to attend classes only 
 during the summer sessions and a few night classes.  He received the AB 
 Degree in Social Studies in 1960.
    Mr. Stegall began his teaching career in the one-room and two-room 
 country schools of Elliott and remained there four years.  He was then 
 positioned in the Elliott County High School, from which he retired in 
 December 1980, with more than thirty years of service to the young people of 
 Elliott County.
    For many years, Mr. Stegall has written local history articles for The 
 Elliott County News, and is currently writing a series of articles on the 
 Confederate veterans of the Civil War.  This follows a series of forty-seven 
 articles relating to the Union veterans.
    Mr. Stegall lives on the same land his great-great-great-grandfather, 
 George Steagall, surveyed when he arrived here from Brunswick County, 
 Virginia sometime around 1825.





Submitted Nov 28, 1999