Every Sunday we always went to our Maynard grandparents and even after their deaths, our families continued going to their home. We had three aunts and an uncle that had taken care of our grandparents for many years; therefore, they never married and they continued to live together as a family. Because my aunts never learned to drive a car, my dad would often take them to the old cemeteries and over to Soak Community where they were born and lived most of their lives. (We will talk about the Soak Community on other postings). Of course, on these excursions, I would always tag along. I loved my aunts and always wanted to be around them. While at the cemeteries, they would tell me who was who and how I was related to each one - even the relatives on my mom's side. They seemed to have known everyone. We would go to the old deserted homes and buildings and tell me all about them...just wish I had a recorded tape of it and taken photographs - I just can not recall all the stories and information. I have talked to other first cousins, and most do not recall being told much about the early family history...so, I guess I was the lucky one...my aunts must have seen the interest I had in genealogy at a young age.
I remember this one particular time when I was probably 12-13 years old I was the only child left visiting. My Aunt Phoebe showed me old pictures of the Maynard family and was so excited to tell me about each one. I would ask questons about them...some of the old pictures were actually picture postcards from the early 1900s. I even remember asking why my great-grandfather was married three times. Then, I guess my Aunt Phoebe realized my interest and she had my Aunt Charlsie bring out the old Maynard Bible from one of the drawers from the nearby bedroom. The first thing I was told was that the Bible was very fragile and I was not allowed to touch from fear of the pages breaking. I remember my Aunt Phoebe showing me the written pages and telling me the names recorded. There were names like Lindsey in the Bible and she had no idea why they were even written there.
Almost 40 years have passed, and I got the "genealogy bug" like many of us do. At this time, I only had my Aunt Charlsie and Uncle Glen Maynard to ask questions. After visiting them a few times, my Aunt Charlsie brought out the old Maynard Family Bible. I had forgotten all about seeing this Bible as a young child, and all those precious memories came back. She let me borrow the Bible and took it home to make scans of the written pages. I figured out each and every person and statements recorded. I returned it to her the next week. While visiting her about a month later in December 2007, she gave me the Bible. Her and my Uncle Glen wanted me to have it. WHAT A HONOR!!! This Bible has probably been in my grandfather's family since around 1917 after Jackson died and when my grandfather married. We were told that Jackson's third wife - Julia Yates - had their own Bible to record information. Julia's Bible was probably destroyed when left in a garage years ago according to the family.
After reading the Civil War pension papers of my great-grandfather Jackson Maynard that Colleen Murphy Paggi had sent to me, we discovered the Bible that I was given was mentioned and that someone had recorded the information in 1865.
Also, in the Bible are the names Mary Jane Lindsey and David A. (Alexander) Lindsey with their birthdates. These were the children from Rachel Barnett Maynard's first husband Alexander B. Lindsey. (We will refer to these children on other posts). On these pages are the names and birthdates of Jackson's and Rachel's children...to see the exact dates, please see the posting under Jackson and Rachel.
We assume that Rachel wrote the information that is written in ink. Some of the information in pencil appears to have been written by a child - more than likely one of my dad's siblings...if not himself. After further studying and asking questions, we have not been able to determine which child may have done this writing.
