Category Archives: Gaines Family

Revisiting the Benjamin problem

18 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by in Abbeville, Gaines Family, Sources and links

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

, ,

Update: We’ve significantly modified our assessment of our various Benjamins since we originally posted this. Please take a look at our updated assessment. Please do not rely on the information below.

For over a decade, we have assessed that the Benjamin Maddox called “junior” in Abbeville County and Laurens County, South Carolina, in 1800-1810, is identifiable with our known 3rd-great grandfather, Benjamin Maddox (1776-1855), who died in Crawford County, Illinois.  We have based this assessment on our 3rd-great grandfather’s claim of South Carolina origins in the 1850 census, the presence of a child of our 2nd-great grandfather Joseph’s age in the 1810 census living with Benjamin Mattocks in Laurens County, SC, and the persistence of peripheral family names in census and land records in South Carolina, Kentucky and Illinois (especially the Gaines, Long and Ford families).

But perhaps five – and maybe more – Benjamin Maddoxes appear in Abbeville County and Laurens County, South Carolina, in the years 1790-1811, and distinguishing them has been difficult due to a lack of corroborative records.  Most of the records for the area were destroyed in fires in the 19th century.

A closer look at existing records raises a number of questions about the identities of the known Benjamin Maddoxes appearing in records in Abbeville County and Laurens County in the years 1790-1811.  The following evaluation, including peripheral names in census and land records, offers a clearer differentiation of the Benjamins.  See this document for color-coded names.

Benjamin #1 – “senior”

This Benjamin Maddox (ca. 1735-after 1810) is likely identifiable with the Benjamin Maddox “senior” of Charles County, Maryland, that we have called Benjamin Maddox (II).  After moving from Charles County, MD, to Abbeville, SC, this Benjamin Maddox appears to have remained in Abbeville (and did not live in Laurens County, SC).

1790: The federal census of Abbeville County, SC, p. 468, lists Benjamin Maddox with 2 adult males, 7 males, and 3 females.  He was living near Ignatius Posey, Walter Maddox, Thomas Donaldson, William Stone and John Night.

1800: The federal census of Abbeville County, SC, p. 19, lists Benjamin Maddox and a woman aged 26-45 years of age, with 1 male less than 10 years old and 1 female less than 10 years old.  As in 1790, he was living near William Stone and John Night, as well as James Gaines and John Grey.

1810: The federal census of Abbeville County, SC, lists Benjamin Matox “senior” greater than 45 years old, with a woman older than 45 years, 1 male 26-45 years old, and 1 female less than 10 years old. He was living next to Elizabeth Matox and Janet Maddox, as well as Joseph Rutlege, Thomas Norwood, Benjamin Posey, Susannah Gaines, Richard Stone, William Ware, Henry Gains, and Peter Youngblood.

Questions:

Why was Benjamin #1 called “senior” in Charles County, Maryland, in Humphrey Posey’s 1784 will?  All proposed sons of Benjamin #1 would have been in their teens at the time.  Was there another Benjamin Maddox in Charles County – perhaps a brother or cousin?  Would this open another ancestral avenue for us?

Benjamin #2 – “junior”

The below Benjamin Maddox is traditionally considered the son of the above Benjamin Maddox.  The below Benjamin Maddox shows up for the first time in 1800 living near Benjamin Maddox #1 in Abbeville, SC, but he moves to Laurens County, SC, in 1808 and remains in Laurens County thereafter.  For decades we have identified him as Benjamin Maddox (III), our 3rd-great grandfather who died in Crawford County, Illinois, in 1855; however, the final record describing him as “dec’d” (deceased) in 1811 requires us to question our assessment.  Other researchers have identified this Benjamin Maddox with a Benjamin Maddox who was born in Maryland in 1770 and died in Atlanta in 1864, but this assessment also requires a new look, given the 1811 record of his death in SC.

1785: The Turkey Creek Baptist Church was established and the original meeting house was erected on Richard “Dicky” Maddox’s land.  Among the members were Martha Ware, Nicholas Ware, Caty Gaines, Henry Gaines, Molly Gaines, Susannah Gaines, Barbara Long, Elizabeth Long, Nicholas Long, Michael Magee, Benjamin Neighbours, and Rev. Joseph Redding (Source: South Carolina Baptists, 1670-1805, Leah Townsend, University of South Carolina, 1926, pp.182-192).

1800: The federal census of Abbeville County, SC, p. 22, lists Benjamin Maddox “junior,” including 1 male 45 years or older, 1 male 26-45 years old, 1 male 16-26 years old, 1 male 10-16 years old, 1 female 45 years or older, 1 female 26-45 years old, 1 female 10-16 years old, and 1 slave.  He was living near John Reid Long, William Calhoun, John Calhoun and the Samples.

1805: Thomas Maddox died in Abbeville County, SC.  Thomas’ widow Cloe sold his estate.  Benjamin Maddox “junior” purchased items.  Other purchasers were Thomas Donaldson, Edmund Gaines, Chandler Maddox, Lanty Maddox, and Losson Maddox.

1808: On 9 April, Benjamin Maddox “junior” purchased 165 acres in Laurens District, next to Samuel Neighbors, John South, Thomas Williamson.  The land was along Greenville Road.  William Maddox witnessed the purchase.

1808: On 5 September, Benjamin Maddox “in Abbeville” sold 100 acres in Laurens District on the north side of the Saluda River to Cornelius Cook. The land was next to land owned by Daniel Cook, Cornelius Cook, and Samuel Nabors.  William Williamson witnessed the sale.  (Source: Deed Book J, p. 263)

1810: The federal census of Laurens County, SC, lists Benjamin Mattocks, 26-45 years old, with 3 males less than 10 years old, 1 female 26-45 years old, 1 female 26-45 years old, and 1 female less than 10 years old.  He was living near Daniel Cook, Cornelius Cook, John Grey and John Calhoun.

1810: On 9 November, the estate of John Maddox was sold.  John’s widow Elizabeth was a buyer, along with Benjamin Maddox “junior,” Lawson Maddox, Augustus Maddox and Chandler Maddox.

1811: On 5 January, Samuel Nabors sold 345 acres on the Saluda River in Laurens County, SC, to Thomas Williamson.  The land was next to Benjamin Maddox, John Meres(?), and Cornelius Cook. (Source: Deed Book J, p. 210)

1811: On 29 January, Benjamin Maddox sold 165 acres along the Saluda River in Laurens County, SC, to Patrick Sperrin.  The land abutted land owned by Solomon Niblets, Thomas Williamson, and Samuel Nabors.  William Maddox witnessed.  Elizabeth Maddox released her dower rights (meaning that Elizabeth was his wife). (Source: Deed Book J, p. 194)

1811: Benjamin Maddox was a legatee of Thomas and Janet Donaldson.  Other legatees were James Donaldson, William Donaldson, Thomas Donaldson, and Reuben Donaldson (Source: Joyce Smelley Odom, “Maddox Family,” The Heritage of Abbeville, South Carolina, Don Mill, Inc., 1995, p. 106).

1811: In August, Benjamin Maddox “dec’d” is noted on a land transfer from Patrick Sperin to Arnold.  The land was next to Solomon Niblet and Thomas Williamson.  (Source: Deed Book J, p. 251)

Questions:

Are we certain that “dec’d” is verbatim on the original August 1811 record?  Could it instead be a note describing Benjamin’s departure from the area?

What happened to Elizabeth Maddox after 1811 if she was widowed?

Is there really no estate administration for the Benjamin Maddox who died in 1811?  Nothing?

Who were the 45+ years old people listed with this Benjamin “junior” on the 1800 census?  Could the older man in the house be another “senior” Benjamin who we haven’t previously considered?

Benjamin #3

Benjamin Maddox #3 (1776-1855) is our 3rd-great grandfather.  We have long maintained that he is the direct descendant of Benjamin Maddox #1.  Benjamin Maddox #3 is proven to be the father of Joseph Maddox, our 2nd-great grandfather, in estate records.  We have normally called him Benjamin Maddox (III).  This Benjamin Maddox #3 could easily be the continuation of Benjamin #2 if Benjamin #2 weren’t reportedly “dec’d” after 1811. 

1776: Benjamin Maddox was born in South Carolina, according to the 1850 censuses of Crawford County, Illinois.

1800: Joseph Maddox was born in South Carolina, according to the 1850 and 1860 federal censuses of Crawford County, Illinois.  His parents were Benjamin and Charlotte Maddox (Source: All of Benjamin’s children are listed in a petition by Hannah Maddox et al, 27 February 1865, Crawford County Court Records, File Box 53, Case 34).

1810: The federal census of Laurens County, SC, lists Benjamin Mattocks, 26-45 years old, with 3 males less than 10 years old, 1 female 26-45 years old, 1 female 26-45 years old, and 1 female less than 10 years old.  Joseph Maddox, the son of Benjamin Maddox, was 10 years old in 1810 and would fit into this census record; however, this Benjamin is identifiable with Benjamin #2, who reportedly died by 1811.  The family was living near Daniel Cook, Cornelius Cook, John Grey and John Calhoun.

1823: Benjamin Maddox purchased 55 acres in Christian County, Kentucky, along the Stone River from Temple West (Source: August 1823, Christian Co, KY, Deed Book P, p. 147).  Benjamin’s son Joseph owned land nearby (Source: March 1837, Christian Co., KY, Deed Book [letter?], pp. 299-300).  A preponderance of the same families that had neighbored Benjamin in South Carolina can be found alongside Benjamin’s name in early Christian County deed books (P&Q), including the Long, Ford, Knight/Night, McKee/Magee, Ware and Grey families.

1837: By 1837, Benjamin and his wife Charlotte moved to Crawford County, Illinois, where they lived near the Ford and Gaines families.  On 25 July 1837 they purchased 40 acres of land for $150 from Washington Brashears in the Montgomery area at “Township Number Six North Range Number Eleven West.”

1855: Benjamin Maddox died in Crawford County, Illinois, and was buried in the Maddox Cemetery near Heathville.

1895: Joseph Maddox’s son John Napoleon Maddox (1872 – 1945) married Frances Gaines (1878 – 1908) in Crawford County, IL.  Frances Gaines was the 2nd-great grandchild of Stephen Gaines (1752-1837), who lived in Laurens County, SC.

Questions:

How was Benjamin #3 born in SC if we maintain that his father was in Charles County, MD, until 1790?  Should we take his 1850 census record literally?

Benjamin #4

This Benjamin Maddox #4 (1770-1864) could easily be the continuation of Benjamin #2 if Benjamin #2 weren’t reportedly “dec’d” after 1811.  This Benjamin was born in Maryland, lived in South Carolina, and died in Georgia.  Other researchers claim that Benjamin Maddox #4 is the same as Benjamin Maddox #2 and the son of Benjamin Maddox #1.

1770: Benjamin Maddox is born in South Carolina, according to the 1860 federal census of Atlanta, Georgia.

1828: On 26 November, the Abbeville Court of the Ordinary heard a complaint regarding the estate of Mary Donaldson by General Edmund Ware against many parties, including “Benjamin Maddox and Elizabeth his wife” who were residing “without the state.”

1840: On the federal census of Atlanta, Elbert County, Georgia, Benjamin Maddox was listed as 70-90 years old, living with a similarly aged woman and many children.  He was living near William Calhoun, Eli Donaldson, and William Donaldson.

1860: On the federal census of Atlanta, Georgia, Benjamin Maddox was listed as 90 years old, born in Maryland.  He was living with a dentist named Posey Maddox, 55 years old, born in SC.  Researchers claim Posey was this Benjamin’s son.

1864: Benjamin Maddox was buried at Fulton Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia, born in 1770.  (Source: findagrave listing)

Questions:

Can we find a record of Benjamin #4’s wife’s name in Georgia?

If Benjamin #4 is not the same as Benjamin #2, then who are Benjamin #4’s parents in Abbeville?

Benjamin #5

This Benjamin Maddox (1801-after 1880), the son of William Maddox (1776-1857), was born in Abbeville, SC, and ended up in Fayette County, Alabama, along with other members of the Maddox family from Abbeville.

1830: Before 1830 in Abbeville, SC, Benjamin Maddox married a Riley.  (Source: Joyce Smelley Odom, “Maddox Family,” The Heritage of Abbeville, South Carolina, Don Mill, Inc., 1995, p. 106.)

1831: After 1831, Benjamin Maddox was named as a son of William Maddox, formerly of Abbeville, SC, in William’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama, estate papers.  (Source: Joyce Smelley Odom, “Maddox Family,” The Heritage of Abbeville, South Carolina, Don Mill, Inc., 1995, p. 106.)

1850: On the federal census of Fayette County, Alabama, Benjamin Mattax is listed as born in 1801, married to Nancy.  Joyce Smelley Odom claims this is Nancy Williamson, daughter of Thomas Williamson.

1850: On the federal census of Fayette County, Alabama, Lawsin Matocks age 66 and born in SC, William Matocks age 31 and born in SC, and John Matocks age 38 and born in SC, were listed separately with their families on page 29.  (Lawsin is assumed by some researchers to be the brother of Benjamin Maddox (III))

1880: On the federal census of Fayette County, Alabama, Benjamin Madox is listed as born in 1801, married to Nancy.  He was born in SC and his father was born in Maryland.  Nancy was born in SC.

Questions:

Lawsin Matocks’ 1784 birth in SC seems to demonstrate that some Maddoxes arrived in Abbeville, SC, before 1790 – the year we’ve long assessed to be the SC arrival year of Benjamin Maddox (II).

Could Benjamin Maddox #5 have been called “junior” in any of the 1801-1811 records in Laurens County and Abbeville County, SC?

John Napoleon Maddox’s conserved Family History document

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in Gaines Family, Religious leanings

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

,

John Napoleon‘s 19th-century Family History sheet bore the brunt of time and was crumbling into dust, but it’s now fully restored and framed.  It names Frances Gaines as his wife and lists their four children, Lloyd, Francis, Lolith and Milfred.

Image

A rough wagon ride from South Carolina

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Abbeville, Gaines Family

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Shortly after 1811, our Maddoxes departed South Carolina.  This was around the same time that the neighboring Gaines family also departed their Carolina home.  They might have left together.  Benjamin Maddox (III) would rejoin the Gaines family some years later, after spending some time in Kentucky.  Here’s a 1921 account of the Gaines trip from South Carolina, given by Judge Duane Gaines (Duane’s grandfather, Stephen Gaines, was the great-grandfather of John Napoleon Maddox‘s wife, Frances Gaines):

“Before I begin, I wish to introduce myself, as some of you may not know me. My name is GAINES, and I was born in the Devil’s Neck and went to school at Hell’s Half Acre. Hell’s Half Acre is a half mile east of Lick Skillet. Lick Skillet is on the Purgatory road and the Purgatory Road runs over the Devil’s Back Bone. All these are in the Town of Montgomery in the County of Crawford and State of Illinois. I may not look old enough to be on the program at an old settlers’ meeting, but I think, perhaps, that I am the
oldest man in the audience, except possibly the chairman, George N. Parker. I do not know his age but I have been in the county of Crawford 104 years – my father and I together. My father, JAMES GAINES, was born in North Carolina in 1811. His mother, before her marriage with grandfather, STEPHEN GAINES, was MARTHA WALDROP. In 1815 a small colony of WALDROPS, consisting of a half-dozen families, including my grandfather’s started from Carolina for what was then known as the Wabash country. They packed their small belongings consisting of a few bed clothes, wearing apparel, cooking
utensils and carpenters’ tools on horses. The women and children mounted and started on their long journey. The men and larger boys, laden with their rifles, powder horns, shot pouches, ammunition, hunting knives and other implements for killing, skinning and carving wild game, joined the
procession on foot. The men hunted and killed game for food as they travelled and the women cooked it when they camped for the night. They forded such streams as they could and such as they could not ford they crossed on barges made of timber growing on the banks. Their progress was necessarily slow and tiresome.

“When they arrived at a point in Kentucky where winter was coming upon them they stopped and remained one year, then took up their journey again and arrived at Palestine in 1817. All the WALDROPS and their blood relations now in this county are descendants of the members of that company of early settlers, and relatives of mine. My father had a cousin named TOD WALDROP,
who was a son of one of that company who was so shiftless that he made no attempt to provide for his own wants, and was almost too “bashful” to go to a meal when it was prepared for him. for some reason which I never quite understood, when I was a boy on the farm my father nicknamed me Tod……

“The early settlers had many hardships and inconveniences. Their implements and tools of all kinds were homemade and almost entirely of wood. Even the plows were of wood except the shares. For a number of years they had no wagons, buggies or other wheeled vehicles. When they had occasion to
transport anything they carried it or took it on horseback, and it too bulky or too heavy for a horse they hauled it on a sled whether in winter or summer. But in time a wagon maker came to Palestine. When one of these pioneer farmers bought his first wagon with wooden spindles, linch pins and
a plain box for a bed, and hitched his plug team of horses to it, placed a clapboard across the bed for a seat, got on one end of the board with his good wife on the other and the youngest child between them, and all the rest, residue and remainder of the dozen or more children in the back, and
the tar bucket hung on the coupling pole and the old yaller dog under the wagon, and he cracked his whip and started that plug team across the Grand Prairie to visit friends and relatives on Dogwood, he was filled with as much emotion and elated with as much joy as the present business man who
gets in his auto with his wife at his side and their only one child between them turns on the power, presses his foot against the accelerator and dashes across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast.

“Besides the disadvantages of having no schools and schoolhouses the pioneers had no churches. But nevertheless their religious training was not wholly neglected. Those who were members of churches in the states from which they came had their prayer meetings in their homes, and preachers occasionally came through and preached in their homes. The first of these were of the Hardshell Baptist persuasion. They taught that it was foreordained and predestined before the foundation of the world that certain of the human race were to be saved and certain others were to be lost, and that the
number was so definitely fixed that it could not be increased or diminished. But shortly the religious quiet of the elect so that they sent for a preacher to denounce the heretics and check their influence. A meeting was announced at one of their homes and when the hour arrived for the meeting to
assemble, all the men, women and children and dogs in the community were there. Only a small portion of the people could get in the house and the remainder stood or sat where they found it most Convenient. One certain young man sat upon a board across the top of a rain barrel by the side of
the house. The preacher denounced and renounced the heretics and pounded and expounded the gospel for two hours until he got to the part where he was dividing the sheep from the goats. He had placed the sheep on the right hand in that blissful home and was proceeding to dispose of the goats on the left hand in that awful abyss of fire and brimstone and made the word picture so vivid that the young man on the barrel saw the awfulness of hell and not wishing to be cast on the left side made an unconscious nudge to the right and the board slipped and he fell into the barrel and was completely
immersed and came out a Campbellite.”

The Robinson Argus

Talk given at the Pioneer Association,

Held in Robinson, Sept. 20, 1921, by Duane Gaines

Transcribed by Sue Jones

Link: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/e/e/Candace-T-Peebles-NC/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0596.html

Our Maddox ties to the storied Gaines family

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by in Gaines Family

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

The Maddox and Gaines families have a surprisingly strong bond going back centuries.  We now have finer details about three Maddox/Gaines marriages, as shown in this attached Word file.  While our Maddox line goes from Charles County, Maryland, to Abbeville and Laurens Counties, South Carolina, to Tennessee, to Kentucky and then to Crawford County, Illinois, we find that the Gaines line goes from Virginia to Abbeville and Lauren Counties, South Carolina, to Kentucky, and then to Crawford County, Illinois.  Both families are notable for their strong participation in the Revolutionary War – especially “Hickory Dick” Gaines!

The Maddox-Gaines link, spanning centuries from South Carolina to Illinois

10 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Abbeville, Gaines Family

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

As the west opened to settlement, American families often moved together to establish new communities.  This seems to have been the case with the Maddoxes and the Gaines family, among others.  Of particular interest, in the late 18th century the Gaines family was in Abbeville, South Carolina, where they intermarried with Maddoxes and even buried their loved ones on Maddox sites.  And then the Gaines family shows up again in Crawford County, Illinois, as the Maddoxes arrived there in the early- to mid-19th century to settle into their farms in the Palestine area.  John Napoleon Maddox’s wife was Frances Gaines.

It’s interesting to see a familial relationship span centuries.  We wonder how close the two families were, and if the presence of one of the families in Illinois drew the other family to settle there.

Here’s some raw data on the two families’ relations that need to be resolved:

A Gaines family researcher has John Broaddus Gaines – the son of Edmund Gaines (Edmund showed up in numerous Maddox wills in SC) – as a member of the Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Ware Shoals, and buried “at Maddox Mill,’brow of hill’ Saluda River, and 1/4 mile from his son William Balous, “Billy” Gaines mill.”  Could some Maddoxes also have been buried at Maddox Mill or at the Poplar Springs Baptist Church?  And what the heck is Maddox Mill?

Silas Henry Maddox or Henry Silas Maddox (23 Jan 1867 – 25 Nov 1930) married Janie Robbins Gaines on 16 Jan 1887 in South Carolina.  Henry was the son of George W. Maddox who was the grandson of Henry Maddox, reportedly the son of Benjamin II.  They lived in SC and he died in Norris, Pickens County, SC.  In 1900, Henry lived next door to Augustine (Nov 1844) and Louise (Aug 1854) Maddox.  He was buried in Zion Cemetery in Norris, SC on 26 Nov 1930.  Ref: State of SC Certificate of Death #22397.

Robert Gaines, 1776 – 25 February 1864, born in Virginia and died in Pickens County, SC.  Wife Frances apparently born in 1780 and died in 1859.

Rev. Barnett Smith Gaines, Robert’s son, 20 December 1820 – 31 December 1886, was born in Central, Pickens County, SC. His wife was Margaret B. Whitfield Gaines, also of Pickens County, SC. Ref: 1880 SC census and SC Certificate of Death of Jamie Gaines Maddox #19610.

Janie Robbins Gaines, Barnett’s daughter, was born on 25 June 1867 in Central, South Carolina.  She married Silas Henry Maddox in 1887 and died on 6 December 1936 in Greenville, SC.  Ref:  SC Standard Certificate of Death #19610, dated 9 December 1936.

Colby Stevenson Maddox was born in Christian County, Kentucky on 24 February 1831, moved to Crawford County in 1850 and died in Illinois on10 January 1891. Colby had eleven children.  One was Mary Louisa Maddox, born 15 July 1867 in Crawford County, Illinois.

Leander Francis Gaines, Stephen Gaines’s son, was born 1 February 1871 in Crawford County, Illinois, married Mary Louisa Maddox, Colby Stevenson’s daughter, on 9 August 1893 in Crawford County, Illinois.  Leander died on 3 December 1946 and Mary Louisa died in 1960 in Crawford County, Illinois.

John Napoleon Maddox, 1872 – 1945, married Frances Gaines, 1878 – 1908, on 8 May 1895 in Crawford County, Illinois.

George Gaines b. approx 1821 in Crawford County, Illinois.  1850 census Franklin Precinct, Crawford County, Illinois shows George age 28 with wife Caroline, age 25 with John age 2.  1860 census Township 6, Range 10, Crawford County, Illinois shows George age 39 with wife Margaret age 28and John age 11. Interestingly, 1860 census shows George has a one year old son, Leander.

Frances Diana Gaines, 1895 – 1908, married John Napoleon in 1895.  According to article written about John Napoleon Maddox, his wife Fanny’s brother was Asa Lackey who was Mrs. Elias Brashears father. Fannie Maddox’s birth certificate, dated 1879, says her mother was Ann Melvin. Fannie’s marriage certificate, dated 1895, says her mother was Ann Lackey.

Elias Brashear married Sarah Etta Lackey on 28 October 1895 in Crawford County, Illinois. 93,452  Sarah’s father was Asa Lackey, 10 September 1848 – 28 March 1934.  Based upon dates, Frances Gaines brother had to be a Gaines.  However, it might be possible that John Gaines’s wife’s brother might have been Asa Lackey since he did have a sister, Ann E. Lackey.

Lots o’ Benjamins

09 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in Abbeville, Gaines Family

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Update: We’ve significantly modified our assessment of our various Benjamins since we originally posted this. Please take a look at our updated assessment. Please do not rely on the information below.

One of the most confusing problems in our research has been a conflict of genealogical data in Abbeville, SC, during the lifetimes of Benjamin II and Benjamin III.  Until last night, we had been confused by a few documents that indicate a Benjamin Maddox was present in the Abbeville area in circa-1810 and then moved south to Georgia and Alabama around the same time that we believe Benjamin III was moving from Abbeville to Tennessee, Kentucky and then Illinois.

We were concerned that we could have everything wrong – that our Benjamin (father of Joseph) might somehow have come from a totally different line of Maddoxes.  It would have thrown our entire line into question.

But last night we had one of those “aha!” moments.  We discovered that in fact there were at least three Benjamins living in the Abbeville, SC, area at the same time (around 1800-1810).  There was Benjamin II, Benjamin III, and another – the “third Benjamin.”  We discovered last night, thanks to a resurfaced narrative by the very thorough Joyce Smelley Odom, that the third Benjamin was the son of William (probable brother of Benjamin III).  William and his sons, including the third Benjamin, along with the sons of Thomas and Henley Maddox, moved from the Abbeville area into Georgia and then Alabama.  William Maddox’s 1867 will in Tuscaloosa lists Benjamin as a son.

Our Benjamin III’s move from South Carolina to TN/KY/IL is proven through census data and property records – a breadcrumb trail through TN and KY, ending in Crawford County, IL.  Equally interesting is the circumstantial evidence showing that the McKee, Knight, Long and Ware families moved with him from SC to KY, and that he rejoined his former SC neighbors, the Gaines family, who had moved from SC to IL.

Besides relieving us of a possible inaccuracy, this new resolution of data makes one very important thing possible.  The Maddox lineage claimed by maddoxgenealogy.com and maddoxdna.com can coexist logically with our Benjamin II – Benjamin III – Joseph lineage.  So everyone is happy.