VIII. MARY MELISSA CAVERLY 1853 - 1938
(Charles H., Philip Jr., Philip Sr., John Sr., Peter I, Peter Gerardus, Jean)

Nellie, Mary, and Almond at Simpson Park Methodist Campground, Romeo, MI. Charles H. and Rebecca’s second daughter was Mary Melissa, born Aug. 8, 1853 in Rawdon Twp., Hastings Co., Ontario, Canada. The 1870 Sanilac Co., MI census shows Mary working for the Mudge family as a domestic servant. A couple of years later she has moved to Saginaw, MI where marriage record #1836 shows Rev. J.M. Elwood performed the marriage of Mary to Gordon Maxson on May 12, 1872. Their daughter Ellen R. (Nellie) was born in Saginaw June 28, 1875 per record #8450. A few years later, Mary’s twelve year old brother Allen came to live with them to go to school for the winter according to a conversation with Allen’s daughter.

By 1880 they had moved to Ubly, Huron Co. near Mary’s oldest brother Redford which can be seen on the 1890 plat map to the right. From a journal by Charles Wm. Slack and put on the internet at http://members.aol.com/mygenpages/part5.html , he wrote the following: “This was one of the best ox teams that ever pulled a load. We sold this team to Al Maxson and he was to clear a piece of land in payment. I think Mr. Maxson got his board and that of his men and the use of the team part of the time. He worked most all summer with some men to help him. This was the summer of 1881. In Sept. of that year we had a bad forest fire and the team was burned to death. Maxson had not finished his job but father did not hold him to the contract.” There are other references to Al Maxson and then the
descriptive “Al Maxson was a short stubby man and was cross-eyed. His wife was a sister to the Caverly boys.”

By 1910 they had moved to Romeo, MI where the 1910 and 1920 U.S. census for that area gave Almond’s occupations as woolen mill laborer and garden farmer. Mary’s occupation was shown as “housework out”. Almond died in 1928 in Romeo, Mi. The 1930 census for the Village of Romeo in Macomb Co., MI shows Nellie as married and living with her widowed mother Mary. Mary died Feb. 1938 in Pontiac, MI. During a 1995 visit with Delilah Caverly (Alton’s wife), she remembered Mary as a petite woman who brought excellent apple pies to the family reunions during the 1930s.

The Huron Tribune of Bad Axe, MI had several short items regarding their daughter Nellie. On June 2, 1893 she is home again from teaching school at Elkton because the school had been shut down again on account of scarlet fever. An Aug. 21, 1894 a front page item says Nellie Maxson had been a successful applicant for the teachers’ examination for Third Grade Class B. Then another article appeared in the Oct. 2, 1894 issue saying: “East Sheridan - Miss Nellie Maxson is teaching our district school and is having excellent success. We are pleased to hear her pupils all praising her.“ Although Sheridan Township isn’t shown on the above map, it would be just to the left of Section 19.

Huron Co., MI marriage records in Libre 2, pg. 118 show that Nellie married James W. Bradshaw June 19, 1895 in Bad Axe, MI at the parsonage of Rev. Fulton. Then the following year the local interest column on the front page of The Huron Tribune for Friday, Aug. 21, 1896 says “Mr. Bradshaw’s little four month’s old baby died this morning at 8:30 of cholera infantum. Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw have the sympathy of the community in their sorrow.” The 1900 Huron Co., MI census shows she is back living with her parents as married and having had one child that did not survive but her husband is not listed with the family. In 1903 she married Eugene Durham and they show up on the 1910 and 1920 census for Macomb Co., MI. He is a farmer and owns his farm with a mortgage. Nellie never had any more children.

Their son Obed Edom Maxson is covered in Generation IX.

michigan@thecaverlys.com

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