Rev. Asbel S. Petrey was born in 1866 in Whitley County, Kentucky, was ordained in 1891, and came here in 1897. He organized First Missionary Baptist Church of Hazard in 1898, founded Hazard Baptist Institute in 1902, and served as its president; the institute has been a public school since 1941. He organized 12 churches in the area, was pastor of Petrey Memorial Baptist Church from 1922 to 1940, filled other pulpits until his death in 1953.