Elizabeth Beaver Maddan

Elizabeth Beaver was the daughter of John Beaver (1794-1862), industrialist and owner of iron foundry in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and Jane Cooper (1806/07-1853). They lived in the Beaver Mansion overlooking Loudon, Franklin, Pennsylvania. Today the town name is Fort Loudon. Elizabeth married Dr. Andrew B. Maddan (1831-1862), a physician in Franklin County who was also the county coroner. The Franklin County Historical Society of Pennsylvania shows a Mrs. E.B. Madden who died 18 November 1885 in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, which is today the small village of Markes west of Chambersburg about 10 miles or so. She was 48 years old. We have not been able to find the place of her burial, though we did find Andrew Maddan's grave in the Old Methodist-Episcopal Cemetery in St. Thomas, Franklin, PA.

The 1880 Federal Census of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Peters Township, Fort Loudon, lists the following persons:

ELIZABETH B. MADDEN, Female

    Sister-in-Law to Head of Household

    Birth:  Estimated to be around 1837

    Age at Time of Census:   43

    Marital Status:   Widow

    Race:   White

    Birthplace:  Pennsylvania

CHARLES MADDEN, Male

    Nephew of Head of Household

    Birth:   Around 1869 (?)

    Age at Time of Census:   11

    Marital Status:   Single

    Race:   White

    Birthplace:  Pennsylvania

OTHER HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS (where the two Maddens above live):

    Jacob L. Lamaster,  age 37

    Seth Lamaster,  age 14

    Mary Lamaster,   age 5

If this Elizabeth B. Madden in the 1880 Census is our ancestor -- "Mrs. E.B. Maddan/Madden" recorded in the Maddan Family Bible in my possession -- she was already a widow by 1880 at the age of 43. The second listing--Charles Madden--is probably the son of Elizabeth B. Madden. Since we know that our Mrs. E.B. Maddan died in 1885, this would mean she was only 48 at the time of her death. We can conclude from the Census that Elizabeth B. Madden is living in the household of her sister and brother-in-law -- Jacob L. Lamaster -- and his two children, Seth and Mary. Where is Jacob's wife? He, too, must be a widower. Since Mrs. Madden is listed in the Census as a "Sister-in-Law to the Head of Household," this tells us that she is living with her sister and family, now apparently with the sister missing (deceased).

The eldest son of Elizabeth Beaver and Andrew B. Maddan, Rush Vandyke Maddan (1855-1868) died at the age of 12 years, 9 months, and 26 days. Their second son, John Beaver Maddan, was my Great Grandfather. He was born 9 June 1857, Loudon (Fort Loudon), Franklin County, Pennsylvania. This means he would have already been 23 years old when the 1880 Census was taken. By then, he was probably out on his own, away from his mother's household. Also, he must have been away from Franklin County, PA, by then. John Beaver Maddan married Mary Elizabeth Bohn (my Great Grandmother) on 25 August 1884, so he was then 27 and it was one year before his mother's death. Since Mary Bohn was in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, John had already moved from PA to the Midwest by then. Did he ever see his mother again before her death? Were there other siblings in his family besides the young Charles Madden in this Census? Also, John Beaver and Mary Elizabeth Bohn Maddan were married in Iowa, so both parties had migrated westward to Iowa by adulthood.