Bio-Miner, MargaretMaxwell

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Margaret (Miner) Sloan Maxwell
(1827-1912)

Margaret (Miner) Sloan-Maxwell was born on June 18, 1827 near Sego, Perry County, OH, the daughter of Daniel and Peggy (Fluckey) Minor Sr.

As an eight-year-old, Margaret moved with her parents to Cardington, Morrow County, OH. Said the Morrow County Independent:

The Minor family came to Morrow county and settled on the farm now owned by Harry Long when Margaret was a young girl, since which she has resided in this vicinity. She was converted under the pastorate of Rev. Graham and joined the Bethel society Jan. 29, 1867, which relation she sustained [the rest of her life].

A rendering of the Bethel church building, closed in 1969 and later demolished, is seen here.

On April 18, 1848, at the age of 21, Margaret married 23-year-old Harvey Sloan Jr. (1825- ? ) of Cardington. He was a native of New York.

The Sloans had one daughter, Minerva Sloan.

Harvey was a carpenter by trade, perhaps learned from his father, who built the Bethel church. He also must have farmed, because in 1852, at the death of Margaret's brother George S. Miner, Harvey purchased a pitchfork at the estate auction for 50 cents.

A few years later, when George's wife died, leaving their daughter an orphan, Harvey also appointed legal guardian of the girl , also named Margaret. The Independent later said that the aunt Margaret "was a real mother to ... [the] niece who was left an orphan at the age of three years and was taken into her home and reared to womanhood." (Later in life, the niece would take her own grandchildren to see the log cabin where she had been raised by "Aunt Mag Maxwell.")

An old bird's eye view of sleepy Cardington, looking north

In 1854, after his father in law (Daniel Miner Sr.) died, Harvey purchased the Miners' home farm near Cardington, totaling 64 acres. When Daniel's estate was divided among heirs in 1857, Harvey signed for his wife's share.

Yet for some yet unknown reason, the marriage between Margaret and Harvey ended. It is also not known whatever became of their daughter Minerva, but she is thought to have died young, sometime after 1860.

On June 16, 1870, at the age of 43, Margaret married 59-year-old J. Marshall Maxwell (1811-1887), a Cardington resident, and the son of Franklin W. Maxwell. Marshall came into the marriage already having been twice widowed. Marshall's first wife, Margaret Johnson, died in 1861, leaving him with eight children, five of whom lived to adulthood. His second wife, Amanda Dilenbaugh, died in 1867, leaving him with two more young children.

Thus Margaret became a stepmother to Sherman Marshall Maxwell, Melville Maxwell, Minerva Shaw, Johnson Maxwell, Levi Vaughan Maxwell, Melissa Roby, Catherine Scribner, Estella Gruber Paste and Ollie Shaw. The Independent said that she "had no children of her own, but was a real mother to her step-children," and that "As a neighbor she was kind and willing to lend a helping hand to all. Her life will linger in the memory of those who know her as one full of good works."

Marshall was an Ohio pioneer in his own right, as described by the Independent, showing how transient settlers were in the early 1800s:

He first came to Marion county, Ohio, in the fall of 1831, but returned to [West] Virginia in the fall of 1832. He again came to Ohio, and in January, 1834, entered the land on which he afterward spent his life. After securing his land he returned to West Virginia and remained there until the fall of 1836, when he again came to Ohio and settled on the land which he had previously entered.

Margaret and Marshall lived west of Cardington. The Morrow County Independent said that Marshall "in long years of residence had gained the acquaintance and by his genial nature and upright character, earned the friendship and esteem of a large circle." He was a 50-year member of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church.

After 17 years of marriage, Marshall died at the age of 76, in 1887. He was laid to rest in the Bethel Cemetery in Cardington with his first wife, Margaret (Johnson) Maxwell. In 1895, when the Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow was published, Marshall and his first wife were mentioned in a feature paragraph about their son Johnson.

Margaret lived alone as a widow for another quarter-century.

She died at age 85 on April 14, 1912, and is buried beside her husband. Their grave is marked by a red, cylindrical granite shaft in the Bethel Cemetery near Cardington. They are mentioned in the chapter on "The Maxwells" in the typed booklet, The Clines, by Jane and Russell Fisher (Galion, OH: 1976).

Margaret is mentioned in a lavishly illustrated, 2011 book about one of her cousins who was a veteran of the Civil War -- entitled Well At This Time: the Civil War Diaries and Army Convalescence Saga of Farmboy Ephraim Miner. The book, authored by the founder of this website, is seen at right. [More]

~ Stepson Johnson Maxwell ~

Stepson Johnson Maxwell (1844- ? ) was born on April 26, 1844 in Marion County, OH. He married twice, first at the age of 17 to Nancy Stanton, also a Marion County native. They had three children -- Clara Cline, Rolvin Curtis Maxwell and Harley J. Maxwell. After Nancy died as a young wife and mother, Johnson married again, in December 1869, to Viola Scribner (1852-1918), daughter of William and Susan Sophia (Newberry) Scribner. Johnson is profiled in the 1895 book, Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow. Viola passed away in Cardington at the age of 66 on Dec. 15, 1918.

Son Rolvin Curtis Maxwell (1864-1948) was a longtime farmer in Cardington. He married Melvina E. (?). He died at the age of 84, in Cardington, on May 10, 1948. Burial was in Cardington's Glendale Cemetery.

~ Stepson Melville Maxwell ~

Stepson Melville Maxwell made his home in Cardington over the years.

~ Stepdaughter Minerva Maxwell ~

Stepdaughter Minerva Maxwell died young, but details are not yet known.

~ Stepdaughter Melissa (Maxwell) Roby ~

Stepdaughter Melissa Maxwell married (?) Roby and were pioneers of Kansas, living there circa 1895.

~ Stepson Levi Maxwell ~

Stepson Levi Maxwell died young. More will be described here when learned.

~ Stepdaughter Catherine (Maxwell) Scribner ~

Stepdaughter Catherine Maxwell married (?) Scribner. They migrated westward to Missouri.

~ Stepdaughter Estella (Maxwell) Gruber Paste ~

Stepdaughter Estella Maxwell (1857-1940) was born in 1857 in Marion County, OH. She married (?) Gruber. They resided in Cardington.

Later, she married Englishman Samuel H. Paste (1858-1936), who had been born in England, the son of Charles and Hannah (Little) Paste. Samuel was a coal dealer. In their later years, they made their home on North Marion Street in Cardington.

Samuel passed away at the age of 78 on Aug. 11, 1936.

Estella outlived him by four years. She died in Cardington, at the age of 83, on July 10, 1940.

~ Stepson Sherman Maxwell ~

Stepson Sherman Maxwell married Etta Celinda Shaw (1865-1940), the daughter of Henry J. and Caroline (Lewis) Shaw. They had at least one son, Nathan "Minor" Maxwell.

In retirement, the Maxwells made their home on West Main Street in Cardington. Etta died in Cardington at age 75 on Oct. 25, 1940.

Son Nathan "Minor" Maxwell (1887-1956) married Mrs. Cecil C. Rose and had two children, Martha Maxwell and Marshall Maxwell. Minor made a living as a livestock buyer. He passed away on Nov. 21, 1956, at the age of 69. He was laid to rest in the Glendale Cemetery in Cardington. As of November 1973, Minor's married daughter, Martha Armstrong, still made her home in Cardington.