52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #38 David P Maddux of Ohio

Sorting out the Maddox and Maddux families of Pickaway County, Ohio, could be a lifetime's work. Only DNA may eventually untangle the branches. This week I'm introducing a Maddux branch that has potential to contribute knowledge to the gene pool.

I'm grateful that my earliest proven ancestor, Lazarus Maddox, has a unique name. Unfortunately he was not in the least creative when naming his eight children. I've identified several of them, the most recent through positive identification of his third son, David Perry Maddux.

David was born on September 30, 1826, in Pickaway County, Ohio. His parents, Lazarus Maddox and Elizabeth Greaton/Gratton, lived and farmed in Monroe Township, near what is today the triangle formed by Yankeetown Pike, Hall Road and Crownover Mill Road. He had two older brothers and two older sisters and was followed by another brother and two more sisters.

David was a landowner by age 24. This is rather unusual, yet it appears he bought land from his father when he turned 21. In the 1860 census, his trade is listed as master mason, though in 1850 and 1870, he was a farmer. Perhaps he followed both pursuits.

He married twice, first to a woman whose name is a bit unclear. She appears as both Mary and Maria, with a deed showing her name as Mary Maria. Her name was alternately spelled as Tammadge and Talmadge. The couple married on June 23, 1853, in Pickaway County.

David and Mary had four children: Rebecca, John, Orpha and Mary. Baby Mary was born on Christmas Eve of 1861. Her mother died a week later, on January second, with the baby dying on February first. The two Marys are buried in the small and beautiful Yankeetown Cemetery, along the border of Pickaway and Fayette Counties. They share a four-sided marker. Mary's parents, Henry and Nancy Tammadge are buried adjacent.

Quick drop page from Our Everlasting Love by Studio Manu for Digital Scrapper, 2014

Left a widower with three small children, David remarried on December 4, 1862, in Madison County. His bride was Mary Watson Moler, a widow with several children of her own. No known children were born to this second marriage.

David had sold all his land by 1856 and moved to Madison County before 1860. He did not serve in the Civil War, though that can be mistakenly assumed due to the records of another man of the same name. David Maddix of Fairfield Township, age 35, did register in 1863 for the draft.

The 1880 census lists David's occupation as Huckster. I'd love to know the story behind that career change.

It was the 1900 census that convinced me this was the right David. He was a widower, boarding in the household of one Willliam Knowles. You'll see that name again next year when I explore the story I call "Murder at Mauvaisterre Creek".

David Perry Maddux died at the home of his daughter in Columbus, Ohio, on July 31, 1907. His parents' names were garbled by his daughter, Rebecca Maddux Gray. The death certificate says his parents were "Lacrus Maddux" and "Elizabeth Gratin".

David was buried, with his second wife, in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, near West Jefferson in Madison County.

At this writing, his FindAGrave page says he served in the Civil War. Unraveling that story took some effort and I am working to get that correction made.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #37 Agnes Emilia Fors Ekstrom

My Swedish great-grandmother, Agnes Emilia Fors, was born August 29, 1864, in Södertälje, Stockholm, Sweden, to Erik Edvard Fors and Matilda Vilhelmina Viberg. Erik Fors was a stationmaster for the Swedish railroads, so the family, though financially comfortable, moved frequently.

As was the custom in Sweden, Agnes left home as a teenager to make her own way. She emigrated to America as a servant, but returned in less than two years. She married the widowed tailor Gustaf Emil Ferdinand Ekstrom in Linköping, Östergötland on May 20, 1888. He had buried two babies and a wife and, with Agnes, buried yet another baby.

The scarcity of food and resources in Sweden, along with the desire for religious freedom, drove the Ekstroms to emigrate in 1891, joining many of their countrymen in Chicago, Illinois.

Agnes raised her five children and a step-daughter with a deep and abiding love of God, as well as a love of fun and laughter. Her grandson remembered her enjoying afternoons of tea, cards and gossip with her neighbors.

She saw four more of her children buried during her life. She raised two abandoned grandchildren, as well as helping to raise her youngest son's five orphans.

Quick drop page from Big Deal by ClubScrap

Her life as a tailor's wife and widow was comfortable until her assets as a building owner were destroyed by the Depression not long after Gustaf's death in 1927. She grew bitter and resentful of her reduced circumstances.

Agnes died on November 01, 1946, in Chicago and was buried with her husband and daughter in the historic cemetery of Rosehill.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #36 Rebecca Ann Maynard Alexander

Finding the parents of Rebecca Ann Maynard Alexander provided a gateway to the storied past of the Ragland family of the United States, England and Wales. Her mother, Judith Ragland, was the gateway ancestor.

Rebecca was born in Virginia to Judith and Evan Maynard of Halifax County. Her tombstone states her birth as February 13, 1840, while her death certificate says April 5, 1840. Her mother's birthday was April 5, so I believe the February 13 date is the accurate one.

Rebecca was the eighth of nine children born to the Maynard family. Sometime between 1848 and 1850, the family moved from Virginia to Weakley County, Tennessee. It was there that Rebecca married Thomas Jefferson Alexander on February 20, 1855, just a week after her 15th birthday.

The Alexander family had a legacy of twins. Rebecca bore two sets of twins, along with eight other children, for an even dozen.

Quick drop page from Memoirs by ClubScrap

Rebecca Ann Maynard Alexander was widowed in 1922. She died in Dresden, Tennessee, on August 9, 1931. She was buried with her husband in the Jolley Springs cemetery in Weakley County.

Rebecca and the entire Maynard family were mentioned in the Goodspeed's biography of her eldest brother, John Maynard, who founded the town of Maynard, Arkansas. That 1891 biography is an important piece of information for all descendants of Judith Ragland and Evan Maynard.