2015-11-19
LeeAnn Maddux-Parkinson
leeann(AT)lamaddux(DOT)com
60365 E. Arroyo Vista Dr.
ORACLE, Arizona 85623
5two0-three60-313zero
Hello - I am looking for the grave of my great-grandmother, Neomy Isabell Maddux (Eubanks is maiden name).
I have recently come across a reference to "near Davilla, TX" as the location where my grandfather was born. Neomy is believed to have died giving birth to him and would likely be buried nearby.
Is there anyone in your organization that is willing to do some research to locate the grave and also look for any death records for her?
I would also like to know if there is any birth record for my grandfather, William Dawson Maddux. His birth date was June 19, 1878. Neomy may have died that same date or within a few days following.
I would be more than happy to pay for the research services
*****
2015-11-19
Standard reply - email forwarded to MCHC, MCGS and knowledgeable others.
I did not find a listing in "170 Years of Cemetery records..."
*****
2017-04-12
Leeann Parkinson
leeann@lamaddux.com
Hi Jerry - I never heard from anyone regarding the email below that you forwarded to MCHC and other persons. Any chance you could forward it again - or send me contact info for them and I will attempt to contact them directly?
Thanks again for your help.
LeeAnn Maddux-Parkinson
leeann@lamaddux.com
*****
2017-04-13
I advised LeeAnn that I have re-forwarded this email to MCHC members and others. It may be possible that the original email did not go thru to the MCHC members. Resending.
Jerry Caywood
*****
2017-04-13
Thanks Jerry - much appreciated.
LeeAnn Parkinson
*****
2017-04-13
Email forwarded to MCHC members:
LeeAnn Maddux-Parkinson
leeann@lamaddux.com
60365 E. Arroyo Vista Dr.
Oracle, AZ 85623
520-360-3130
Hello - I am looking for the grave of my great-grandmother, Neomy Isabell Maddux (Eubanks is maiden name). I have recently come across a reference to "near Davilla, TX" as the location where my grandfather was born. Neomy is believed to have died giving birth to him and would likely be buried nearby. Is there anyone in your organization that is willing to do some research to locate the grave and also look for any death records for her?
I would also like to know if there is any birth record for my grandfather, William Dawson Maddux. His birth date was June 19, 1878. Neomy may have died that same date or within a few days following. I would be more than happy to pay for the research services if someone is available.
Thank You,
LeAnn Maddux-Parkinson
*****
2017-04-14
Hello, Ms. Parkinson.
I apologize for myself, and our members, for not responding to your initial inquiry. Usually, if the individual members are at a loss for a response, we defer to another member hoping that they may have the knowledge or references necessary. I did take a look at your initial request but came up with little in reply so I left it up to some of our more tenured members to attempt an answer.
Unfortunately, I still have little to offer. I'll let you know my thoughts and ideas, for what they're worth.
There are approximately a dozen cemeteries within a six mile radius of Davilla(i.e. Davilla vicinity as you had written). Our local 170 years of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas shows no Neomy Isabell (Eubanks) Maddux in any of our 235 Milam County and nearby vicinity cemeteries. That certainly does not mean that she is not interred in one, especially one more likely near Davilla as written. The headstones were inventoried as diligently as possible in the late 1970's by Mr. Perry Holder, a local preservationist and again in 1999-2001 by Mrs. Norinne Holman, his daughter, who updated his work after his passing.
Mrs. Holder carried his work one step further and researched the Milam County death records and recorded and notated those departed that were in a particular cemetery even when no headstone was found during the physical inventories. An asterisk was placed adjacent their name to notate a death record only source. Now the caveat. As you probably already know, death certificates were not required in the state of Texas until 1903 and then only if a doctor was present at the time of death. I have a reference, but can't place it at the moment, that stated that it was randomly implemented by the 254 counties until 1906 and possibly slightly later. The preceding being written, a death certificate would not have been required for a 1878 death. Another one of those Caveat's, it still could have been recorded in the county Courthouse records, especially if probate was involved.
Our local Milam County Historical Museum and Rockdale's Lucy Hill Patterson Library have micro-tape machines with tapes of the Cameron Herald and the Rockdale Messenger/ Rockdale Reporter newspapers going back to the late 1890's. Some are even digitally searchable through the Lucy Hill Patterson Library website and then choosing Portals of Texas "digital newspapers" in the tool bar. This is the link;
Should you subscribe to newspaper.com, many of the earlier newspapers were picked up by train and taken to Houston and the like, and then noteworthy articles were run in their publications. I have found earlier obituaries that way. Unfortunately I no longer subscribe due to the expense and using newspapers.com so seldom.
Now lets get back to those cemeteries again. The Davilla Cemetery is a popular and still active cemetery in the community. It had 651 souls interred as of 2001. One of my responsibilities with the MCHC is that I Chair the Cemetery Committee. I'm unable to tell you how many times that I have relied on the Cargill family for assistance with questions regarding this Cemetery. I have also commended them untold times, on behalf of the MCHC, for their extreme dedication to the upkeep of the cemetery grounds. The Cargill family truly honors the departed and their families with this type of care and concern. I will forward this email to Mrs. Patty Cargill to see if she may by some chance know if Neomy Isabell (Eubanks) Maddux's is interred in this cemetery since our other resources don't. Please see attachment # 1
The next closest cemetery (3 and one-half miles as the crow flies) of almost equal size (675 souls in 1999) is the Val Verde Cemetery. Please see attachment # 2. If you'll take note of the interred Maddux's, only two cemeteries in Milam County have this surname interred, the other being approximately 20 miles away. Do you have any genealogical studies of the individuals listed possibly being related to William Dawson Maddux?. As noted, only three and one half miles from Davilla. I'll leave you to ponder that.
Our next stop is the Rogers City Cemetery, consisting of 1,273 souls in 1999 and ten miles from Davilla. See attachment # 3. Please note the Eubanks interred. Could J. H. or Thomas Jefferson Eubanks have been siblings of Neomy?. Just taking a leap of faith on that question. Their birth years would fit that possibility.
If you'll observe the map, attachment # 4, you'll note the related geographic locations of the cemeteries. The Rogers City Cemetery is off the map due north by 10 miles. I added one cemetery, the Mumford cemetery which is quite small in size, but was quite popular from the early 1860's to the late 1890's. Of all of the cemeteries that I've visited in Milam County, It is one of the most miserable due to an almost impenetrable mass of thorny vines. I'll not visit that one again!.
Finally, I visit the Milam County County Clerk's office infrequently since it's over an hour away from where I live. If you'll provide your great grandfather Maddux's given name, the next time that I have business there l'll bring your folder and check the appropriate Volume covering June, 1878. Also I'll peruse everything, property ownership wise, from the date of the Courthouse fire, April 9th, 1874 through maybe 1880 to see if I'm able to find any deed filings in GGF's name and where the Maddux's might have lived, if property owners. As you probably know, sharecropping of others property was popular and sometimes the property had a very conservative shelter (I hate to say home) on the property. Attachment # 5 related to Courthouse fire and deed records.
The members of the MCHC contributing to this site do so as a service to our website guests, as we have the time. We are not professional researchers/genealogists. There is never a fee for our assistance.
Respectfully,
Jack Brooks
bjohnr2010@hotmail.com
*****
2017-04-14
Peggy Wright
peggy.pj@gmail.com
LeeAnn, there are two family histories on Ancestry that list Neomy as dying in Bell County.
Have you checked county clerk's offices and Texas state for birth and death records on William and Neomy?
Those records are available to relatives for a small fee.
You could also search 'FindaGrave' for all Maddux in each county.
Bell, Milam and Williamson County's genealogical societies may have paid researchers.
If I can help you with Ancestry information, please let me know.