ABOUT GEORGE MAIDEN

George Maiden was born in 1811 in Knox County Tennessee to James and Elizabeth (Julian) Maiden. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812, but we know little about his service. Census records put the Maiden family in Lawrence County, Indiana by 1830. That's where George's brother Isaac was born. If there were other children, we've found nothing about them in our research, and no photographs have yet been discovered.

Married three times with 11 children, George's first wife was Jaley Chitty. They had four children: Andrew, Emily Jane, Joseph, and James. After Jaley died in 1844, George bought farmland near the Quad Cities area of Illinois, but he returned to Indiana to marry his second wife, Sara Templeman. Than it was back to Iowa, and the births of four more Maiden children: William Henry, Jaley Alice, George Alexander, and Charles E. Maiden -- all born in Whiteside County, Illinois.

It is interesting to note that George's first wife, and his daughter by his second wife, were both named Jaley. The daughter Jaley is pictured to the left in an undated photograph.

In 1853, Sara died and shortly thereafter, George sold out and moved to Tama County in Iowa. He took up farming about one mile north of Toledo. He was later described as a "prosperous" farmer and a "Democrat since Jackson's time."

After just over two years, he married a third and final time. His bride was Sara Ann McAnulty, a native of Pennsylvania. Their union produced three more Maiden children: Benjamin Franklin, Mary Ella, and Anna Elizabeth.

While we have no pictures of George Maiden, we do have some of his many children, including several of his second son, Joseph, himself a colorful character. Born in Lawrence County, Indiana, Joe Maiden once served as an Assessor in Dawes County for a short time. He died in Oregon in 1928.

Having fathering so many children, which was not a rarity in the 1800s, it would seem natural that George Maiden would take an active interest in education. His obituary indicated that he had served as a "school director" for 10 years.

George Maiden died February 17, 1891. It was his 80th birthday. A photograph of his formidible grave marker in Toledo, Iowa is shown at left.