Margaret
(Miner) Sloan Maxwell
(1827-1912)
Margaret
(Miner) Sloan-Maxwell was
born at Sego, Perry County, OH, on June 18, 1827, the daughter of Daniel and Peggy (Fluckey) Minor
Sr.
As an 8-year-old, she 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, now gone, is seen here.
On April 18, 1848, Margaret married Harvey Sloan Jr. (1825- ? ) of Cardington. He was a native of New York. They had 1 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.")
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.
An old bird's eye view of sleepy Cardington, looking north
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, Margaret married widower J. Marshall Maxwell
(1811-1887), a Cardington resident, who was twice widowed. Marshall's 1st wife,
Margaret Johnson, died in 1861, leaving him with 8 children, 5 of whom lived to
adulthood. His 2nd wife, Amanda Dilenbaugh, died in 1867, leaving him with 2
more 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."
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. 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.
After 17 years of marriage, Marshall died at the age of 76.
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 marker, seen here, 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).
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2004 Mark A. Miner