Williamson Thaxton’s second wife Martha Ann Bowers (Michigan)
We recently found some surprising information about Martha Ann Bowers, second
wife of Williamson Thaxton (aka William Thaxton) of Berrien County, Michigan,
son of Thomas Thaxton and Hannah Williamson. (For anyone wondering why we are
referring to this William Thaxton as Williamson Thaxton, the explanation is
here: http://thaxtongenealogy.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/williamson-thaxton-where-did-you-go/)
The last record we had for Martha Ann Bowers was her marriage to William Batson in Berrien County 22 May 1873. Batson remarried in 1877, and was living with his new wife in 1880, so we thought Martha had died in the interim. Imagine our surprise when we recently found this obituary for William and Martha’s son John Franklin Thaxton (“Frank”) in the Adrian (Mich.) Daily Telegram 09 Nov 1905:
His mother? Whoa. Frank had a sibling who lived in Grand Rapids at the time, Laura, and we went back and checked the witnesses on her 1905 marriage. William Ford and Martha Austin. Martha Austin turned out to be married to Thadeus C. Austin, who later married Frank’s widow Frances. Hmm. We then found Thadeus and Martha in 1880 Fulton County, Ohio, where Frank Thaxton also lived. We found them in other places, including Berrien County, Michigan, and eventually, we found Martha’s death record, which confirmed that she was indeed our Martha Bowers Thaxton Austin:
The last record we had for Martha Ann Bowers was her marriage to William Batson in Berrien County 22 May 1873. Batson remarried in 1877, and was living with his new wife in 1880, so we thought Martha had died in the interim. Imagine our surprise when we recently found this obituary for William and Martha’s son John Franklin Thaxton (“Frank”) in the Adrian (Mich.) Daily Telegram 09 Nov 1905:
His mother? Whoa. Frank had a sibling who lived in Grand Rapids at the time, Laura, and we went back and checked the witnesses on her 1905 marriage. William Ford and Martha Austin. Martha Austin turned out to be married to Thadeus C. Austin, who later married Frank’s widow Frances. Hmm. We then found Thadeus and Martha in 1880 Fulton County, Ohio, where Frank Thaxton also lived. We found them in other places, including Berrien County, Michigan, and eventually, we found Martha’s death record, which confirmed that she was indeed our Martha Bowers Thaxton Austin:
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