This is Day 24 of the A to Z April Challenge. My theme is women with unusual names although
I must cheat now and then or I’ll have a name and no story.
is for X-wife. OK, give me a break. Not many people have a name that starts with “X.” So I give you a strange family situation
involving an ex.
I wrote about Margaret Ann “Maggie” Johnson previously,
the mother of Sudie Belle Life. Mother
and daughter were married to the brothers Sell and Will Shiflett.
Margaret’s oldest daughter Mary was born out of
wedlock. Margaret later married and was
widowed by two men: Jacob Life and George
Hott. Margaret had 2 daughters by Life
and 3 daughters by Hott. I doubt it’s
fair to call a widow an “ex wife,” so let’s move on.
Then Maggie married a Mr. Ford about 1894. The couple and her six daughters settled
into farm life in Rockingham County. The two
added three more children to the group:
2 girls and a boy.
And then the unthinkable happened. Ford ran off with Maggie’s oldest daughter
Mary. Margaret became the ultimate X-wife in 1900.
 |
| Before December 1954 Maggie Johnson Life Hott Ford Shiflett in the bed Sell Shiflett holding one of his grandchildren Alice Lam Shiflett Wolf, Sell and Maggie's ex-daughter-in-law holding another grandchild photo courtesy of Erica Shiflett |
If you’re caught between a Xenolith and Xylols, you might
want to head over to the A to Z April Challenge for some Xeroxing.
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Oh Boy...here we go again with 'I Am My Own Grandpa'. I could not begin to calculate Mary and Margarets KINSHIP after the marriage to her stepfather, who became the father of her children, son-in-law and eXhusband to her mother, father and brother-in-law to her siblings and on and on down your Family Tree. This will probably put Family Tree Maker into a tailspin. You certainly did not need an 'X' named woman for this post.
ReplyDeleteMy Letter'X'...TeXas Our TeXas Quilt
Sue CollectInTeXasGal
AtoZ LoneStar Quilting Bee
I'm glad you thought about it some -- I couldn't even begin!! I'm sure Family Tree Maker didn't anticipate how to handle THIS kind of family tree!
DeleteWhat a tangled web that was!
ReplyDeleteYeah -- humiliating, wouldn't you say?
DeleteHoly Smokes! A little Woody Allen-ish.
ReplyDelete9 girls and 1 boy out of the bunch (did I count right?)
Happy A-Z Saturday!
HA HA -- Woody Allen! Uh - yeah. Mercy!
DeleteThat's a little bit of juicy gossip running rampant in the town, isn't it? Oh my. I almost wanted to yell at my computer when I read that one. I think you handled x very well today, Wendy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, M.J. Creepy situation, just juicy enough!
DeleteWhat a tangled web that you have in your family! That makes for some interesting tracing!
ReplyDeleteThe trashy stories break up the monotony, that's for sure!
DeleteI had to read this twice to keep it straight!
ReplyDeleteNever do anything to ruin the family name is wide open! LOL
Great post!
HA -- that's right. I think we're nearly perfect angels by comparison. Where's my halo?
DeleteI think I need a diagram to keep all of these people and their "situations" in order.
ReplyDeletePoor Maggie! Betrayed by her husband AND oldest daughter. Wow! I'm assuming they weren't invited to Thanksgiving dinner any time soon.
Really! I wonder if they could EVER be a family after that.
DeleteHi Wendy,
DeleteI want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/05/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-may-3-2013.html
Have a great weekend!
You've outdone yourself with the "X" - nicely done!
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss X? Great work!
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is a story that families hope won't happen to them.
Delete