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Mahala (Puckett) Way (1805 - 1875)

Mahala Way formerly Puckett aka Mason
Born in Surry County, North Carolinamap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 11 Aug 1831 in Delaware County, Indianamap
Wife of — married 18 Aug 1864 in Sauk County, Wisconsinmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 70 in Franklin County, Iowamap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Lorraine Keith private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 4 Apr 2018
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Biography

Mahala Puckett became Thomas Mason's second wife on11 Aug 1831 in Delaware County, Indiana.

Mahala and Thomas were among the founding families of the Quaker settlement at Baraboo, Wisconsin. He was a minister. (citation?)

Burial: Maynes Grove Cemetery, Bradford, Franklin County, Iowa

When the 1850 census was taken, Thomas and Mahala lived in Miami County, Indiana, and in 1860, they lived in Woodland Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin.

MertonEdwin Krug states, "To this union were born eight children, all of whom came to the Little Baraboo Valley," Sauk County, Wisconsin.[1]

Krug named the children born to Mahala: Nathan, Elwood, Gilla, Clarinda, Isom, James who died at the age of sixteen on Sherman's march to the sea, and Falitha. (Her name was Talitha but difficulty in distinguishing a handwritten capital "T" from a capital "F" probably was the source of this error.) Krug stated that there were eight children but named seven. He omitted the daughter, Mahala.

About two years after Thomas Mason's death, Mahala married William Way on 18 August 1864 in Sauk County, Wisconsin.[2]

The couple lived in Gratiot, Layfayette County, Wisconsin, when the 1870 census was taken. The household consisted of William Way, 75, a farmer with $2000 in real estate and $250 in personal property, was head of the household. He was born in North Carolina. Others in his household, all apparently named Way, were Mahaly, 60, born in North Carolina; Charter (Charles?), 19, and Mahany, 18, both born in Illinois. Regardless of the ditto marks under the "Way" surname, Mahany probably was not a "Way" but Mahala's daughter, Mahala Mason. Further research revealed that Charles Way was William's grandson.

William and Mahala moved to Franklin County, Iowa, between 1870 and 1875. Mahala's son, Thomas Elwood Mason, supposedly lived in Franklin County about 1876 when one of his daughters was born. Mahala's daughters, Talitha and Mahala were of Iowa as of April 22, 1873 when they signed a deed granting to Nathan Mason, land in Sauk County, Wisconsin, previously owned by their father.[3]

Presumably, Talitha and Mahala accompanied their mother and step-father to Iowa. Both daughters were married in Franklin County, Iowa, and the daughter, Mahala, was buried in Maynes Grove Cemetery, along with her husband, her mother and step-father.

Her other daughter's obituary confirms the fact that Mahala moved to Iowa. "Talitha Mason was born March 24, 1849, at Marion, Ind., and at the age of six years accompanied her parents to Wisconsin. In the year 1872 the family moved to Iowa, settling near Iowa Falls." (Iowa Falls is in Hardin County just south of the Franklin County line.)

“On March 1st, 1876, Miss Mason was married to Mr. George Ganfield, of Iowa Falls, Ia.”[4]

The statement that the family settled near Iowa Falls may not be quite accurate. In 1879, William Way's son, Isaac, purchased land in Reeve Township, Franklin County. He sold a portion of this land to his father, William Way, on 3 January 1872.[5]

Mahala (Puckett Mason) Way was buried in Maynes Grove Cemetery near Bradford, Franklin County, Iowa. The cemetery is two miles north and about one half mile west of Bradford. Her son-in-law and daughter, John and Mahala Fraser, are also buried there.[6]

Lorraine Keith visited the cemetery on September 12, 1999 but did not find a grave marker for Mahala Way. Some of the older limestone markers were broken into pieces and scattered about. But when she visited the cemetery on September 13, 2010, it had been restored. She found the heavily eroded limestone markers for William Way and his wife, Mahala. William Way's name was clearly legible but the date of his death and his age at death were difficult to decipher. The following was legible: William Way, Died July ___ 1873, Aged __ yrs & 23 days."

Mahala's stone was mostly legible: "Mahala, wife of W. Way, Died Sep 26, 1875." The bottom part of the stone was set in cement and may have already been broken off when the stone was restored. If her age at death had been inscribed, it was no longer visible.

Lorraine Keith photographed both stones and submitted them to Find A Grave, where the appear, as well as on several Ancestry family trees where they were copied without permission or citation.

William Way signed his will on 23 June 1873. He began his will, "I, William Way of the township of Reeve, county of Franklin, Iowa." He also stated that he was 78 years old. He named his grandson, Charles Way, his wife, Mahala Way, and his four children, I. T. Way, Achsah Ann Fraser, Lydia M. Brown and Mary Jane Harriman.

He left part of his real estate to his grandson, Charles, and the remaining portion to his wife, Mahala, for her use during her widowhood. After her death, the land was to be sold and the proceeds divided among his children. J. W. Meyers and I. T. Way petitioned the court for probate of Wm Way's estate, claiming that he died on 15 July 1873.[7]

Sources

  1. Merton Edwin Krug, History of Reedsburg and the Upper Baraboo Valley (Sauk Co., WI) p. __?
  2. Sauk County, Wisconsin, Marriage Register, vol. 1, p. 244, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Madison, WI.
  3. Sauk County, Wisconsin, Deeds, Vol. 26, p. 475, deed dated 22 April 1873 for part of NE 1/4, of SE 1/4 of section 31, T13N, R3E.
  4. Obituary for Mrs. Geo. W. Ganfield, Rock County Herald, Luverne, Minn., Oct. 11, 1918, p. 8.
  5. Isaac T. Way to William Way, Franklin Co., IA, Deed Book N, p. 574.
  6. Cemetery Records of Franklin County, Iowa, Maynes Grove Cemetery, Bradford, copied by Graves Registration WPA Project, ca 1939.
  7. Franklin Co., Iowa, probate file 133 for Wm. Way.

https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25755416





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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Mahala by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Mahala:

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Comments: 1

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I have no reason to believe that Thomas Mason was a Quaker minister but I may have missed something. If you have a source, please cite it.
posted by Lorraine (Hall) Keith

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