Regardless of exactly when or how, we know that the first families to settle permanently in Breathitt County were the Nobles and Neaces. From the early beginnings under a rock cliff that is visible from Highway 15 at Watts, the families of the Nobles and Neaces count descendants that live throughout the United States and the world. These first families were soon followed by the Wattses and the Haddixes in 1792 and the Combses and Campbells in 1795. Despite all the debates and claims to the otherwise, the Nobles were first. As is the case so often, history does not record his name or even his true existence.
History leaves only enough facts to breed constant debates and theories among interested historians.