52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #35 Russell George Johnson

One of my favorite family photos is this lovely wedding photo from 1938. Russell George Johnson was united in marriage with Bernice Dorothy Nyquist at the First Swedish M.E. Church of Chicago, on April 20th.

Quick drop page from Our Wedding by Digital Scrapper, 2010

Cousin Bernice allowed me to scan this photo when I visited her in the Chicago area shortly before her death. She and her son also told me the story of Russell and how he came to be raised by his maternal grandmother.

Russell George Johnson was born in Chicago on November 23, 1913, to Esther Ekstrom Johnson and George Walter Johnson. Esther died a short ten years later, leaving George a single father.

As you think about Chicago in the 1920s, one name should immediately come to mind: Al Capone. George Johnson was a Chicago policeman. One day he took young Russell to his grandparents, Agnes Fors Ekstrom and Gustaf Ekstrom. That was the last Russell saw of his father for many years.

When the family reconnected, they learned that George had received threats from the Chicago organized crime families. He had moved to Dayton, Ohio, and changed his name to Walter Hayes. He remarried and raised more children, but never sent for Russell.

As the 1920s progressed, Russell lost his grandfather and the family lost the income from his tailor shop. The Great Depression devastated the family real estate holdings, leaving Agnes and her grandsons in financial difficulty. Russell and his cousin Warren took jobs delivering telegrams for Western Union after school.

Russell and Bernice lived and raised their son in the Chicago area. Russell died in 1997 and Bernice died in 2005. They are buried together in Memorial Park in Skokie.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #34 An Ice Bucket for Dana Allee

My cousin Dana Allee was diagnosed with the horrible disease of ALS before her fiftieth birthday.

As the ice bucket challenge sweeps the world, I've made my donation in lieu of the dousing. I challenge all our Allee relatives to take the challenge or just pick up your checkbook or credit card and make a donation to the ALS Association as they work toward finding a cure. You can also donate with Paypal or Amazon.

Dana Allee was survived by her husband, parents, children, grandchildren, sister, nephew, niece and many cousins. For the sake of their privacy, I'm not sharing her married name or other identifying details. Her sister wrote a touching tribute for Dana's memorial folder and graciously agreed to share it, along with some of these beautiful photos.

All elements from ClubScrap's Lotus Pond digital kit

Dana’s highly distinctive, loving and artistic style can be seen in her magical garden home, and her enormous talent is further revealed with floral and landscaping designs that benefited so many local charities.  She participated in the “Martha Stewart Entertaining” Garden Tour and the “[area] Holiday Home Tours”.  Dana was selected one of the top floral designers in [the area] by the [newspaper].  She was an extraordinary and amazing person, gifted, and giving, truly an Angel on earth.  May her spirit live on!

Dana bravely concluded her graceful and spirited fight with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and peacefully closed her eyes on Christmas Eve in her fairy tale home surrounded by those dearest.  Her ashes will be scattered at the family ranch in her beloved Colorado.

In lieu of flowers, Dana requested that donations be directed to the family and shall be distributed to the Aids Orphans that captured her heart.

Dana's request that donations be sent to Africa shows that her loving and selfless spirit endured to the end of her life.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #33 How Wid Maddix Got His Name

The story of how Wid Maddix got his name begins two generations before William Aaron Maddix. We'll start with his grandparents.

Aaron Lake of Meredosia, Illinois, married Sarah Elizabeth Bosseck in Cass County in 1857. Sarah and Aaron raised a family full of girls, with only one son. We're interested in the two oldest: Jeannette Gabrielle "Nellie" Lake and Elizabeth Estella "Lizzie" Lake, born in 1859 and 1861, respectively.

Just a few miles south, east of Exeter, lived the family of William Maddox and Nancy Jane Webb. The Maddox family was all boys. We're interested in the two youngest: George Maddox and Joseph Allen "Al" Maddox, born in 1852 and 1857, respectively.

Nellie Lake and George Maddox were married in 1875. Lizzie Lake and Al Maddox copied their older siblings and married in 1876. The young couples were very close, often sharing a home. While the men were busy farming and mining, Nellie and Lizzie were squabbling over the proper spelling of the Maddox name. Nellie believed it should be Maddux and Lizzie believed it should be Maddox.

Their first children were born within a month of each other. Nellie and George had a son, born on January 15, 1878. He was named William Aaron Maddux, after his two grandfathers, His birth year is listed as 1877 on many records, but the birth was officially recorded as 1878 in Morgan County, Illinois. The 1880 census of Wilson County, Kansas, stated that he was two years old.

Lizzie and Al had a daughter, my great-grandmother, Daisy Myrtle Maddox, born February 16, 1878. Little Daisy and William grew up together, more like siblings than cousins. As a young child, Daisy could not say Will. She called her cousin "Wid" and the name stuck.

The children were asked to weigh in on the ongoing argument over the spelling of the name. Wid eventually announced that he would not take sides. He also did not like being called "mad ox" or "mad ducks" by schoolyard bullies. He took the spelling Maddix and his younger brothers followed suit. Ironically, the Maddux spelling started and ended with Nellie.

Wid enlisted in the Navy for the Spanish-American war. The 1900 census finds him serving as a Seaman on the U.S.S. Culgoa in the Philippines. At the end of his tour of duty, he returned to his parents' home in Kingman County, Kansas. He followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a painter and wallpaper hanger.

Quick drop page from Legacy of Love by Kristin Cronin-Barrow for Digital Scrapper

William Aaron Maddix married (Mrs.) Mable Anna Hill Simon on June 03, 1903, in Wichita, Kansas. They had four children: Edna Lucile in 1905, Harold Ellis in 1907, Ralph Thomas in 1908 and Grace Evelyn in 1911.

The Great Depression was not kind to Wid. In the 1930 census he was working as a farmer in Barber County. By 1940 he was living in Wichita with no occupation. He died in Wichita on August 12, 1949, after a very long illness and hospitalization.

Wid was buried in a family plot in Old Mission Cemetery in Wichita. His wife and three children are buried beside him. Only Ralph is missing, buried in the Riverside National Cemetery.