T. Grant Maple sources

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

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This page archives some communications received by Bruce Maple regarding MAPLE genealogy and sources used by T. Grant Maple.

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On 7 November 2001, T. Grant Maple wrote:

"My original information on Jasper Newton Maple (I) was from abstracts of military service and pension records assembled by John Jameson Mapel in the 1920's."

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On 20 January 2003 regarding the ancestry of David Maple of Salt Creek Township, Decatur County, Indiana, T. Grant Maple wrote:

"You are right that I cannot recall all the sources. I believe the connection was based on available data.

As to who got the "old home farm", I think that is from a county history book.

The initial framework for descendants of David Maple Sr. was based on research of Miriam deHaven Page (now long deceased), of the Moody branch. Unfortunately, she labored under the misapprehension that her Jacob Maple was a son of Jacob Maple (of Coshocton C., OH) and Elizabeth Stanford, and only realized her mistake shortly before she died. Hence, she didn't give as much attention to David Sr. as she might have otherwise. She read numerous county records and carried a phenomenal amount of information in her head, but never really organized it. I have some correspondence from her, but it is difficult to follow. She tended to hop all over the place and laced it with a lot of Moody family ancestry not pertinent to the Maple family, but would be of great interest to Moody descendants today."

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On 14 December 2003, with regard to deed records concerning an Elizabeth Maple who died in Decatur County, Indiana before 1857, T. Grant Maple wrote:

"As I see it, Elizabeth Maple, a widow, d. after Dec. 1, 1854, before Feb. 17, 1857, leaving these children:

Francis M. Maple

Benjamin Maple

John Maple m. Hannah_____

Jane Maple m. James Lockhart, Sept. 11, 1857.

See S4. Francis Marion Maple who enlisted July 19, 1862 at Greensburg, Decatur Co., IN.

This last is from the War Service Notes of John Jameson Mapel. According to this, the parents of Francis Marion Maple were William Maple and "Emmeline". This last may be in error and perhaps was Elizabeth.

This William Maple may be 1214. William Maple, bro. to 1211. David Maple who m. Hannah Mahan.

In my opinion, all the Decatur Co., IN Maples descend from David Maple Sr. of Carroll Co., OH, not from Jacob Maple Sr. of Coshocton Co., OH. Frequent usage of the same given names can be confusing.

Jacob Maple Sr. was something of a late-comer to Ohio. He was back in Washington Co., MD until 1804. None of his children or grandchildren were b. in PA. On the other hand, David Maple Sr. was early in Fayette Co., PA, where several grandchildren were born."

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On 16 December 2013, T. Grant Maple wrote:

"After reviewing the JM notes, I do not find a clear link between William Maple and Francis Marion Maple. The notes are info copied by JJM at the National Archives, but seem to lack some important details.

I may have relied on other additional info, but it has been so long since I clobbered the William and Emmeline Maple thing together, I do not recall the reasoning. But it seems unlikely although not impossible for a man who served in the Civil War would have a brother that served in the Mexican War."

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Wayne Maple, descendant of Jasper Newton Maple, was one of many people who corresponded with T. Grant Maple. On 5 February 2002, Wayne wrote:

"We lived in Morgan Hill - just south of San Jose. I crawled around the magnificent libraries of the Bay Area then and spent time at the Bancroft Library at Berkeley. I found a manuscript written by Eli Maple in 1876 describing his trip from Iowa to the Seattle area to find his dad. It was almost illegible so I studied it carefully, copied it to my WordPerfect and added a background on the family and an definition of the old words and the Indian words he used. The Bancroft accepted it and you can check it out now.

Also, at the Bancoft, I found the diaries that Adah Lee Maple kept while she lived in Paris in the early years of 20th century. In them she described her meeting with Ezra Pound and how they became lifelong friends. She also recorded the strange visits with J. J. Maple, a uncle that she never knew but who pestered her with questions about her family. His notes became the material T. Grant Maple inherited and used in his Maple Book."

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Betty Kersey corresponded with T. Grant Maple about the MAPLEs of Salt Creek Township, Decatur County, Indiana. On 25 April 2002, she wrote:

"As for Grant Maple's book he has put a lot of work in it and I don't belittle his work but there are lots of mistakes in it...."

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Much of our knowledge of the Maple family comes from the research of T. Grant Maple, who privately published "Genealogical History of the Maple/Mapel Family in America" in 1993. While an extremely valuable reference, this book does have significant errors, particularly in the descendants of David Maple Sr. In writing his book, Grant believed that the descendants of David Maple Sr settled predominately in Carroll County, Ohio, while the descendants of Jacob Maple Sr settled mainly in Coshocton County, Ohio. It appears that this was an oversimplification, however, and that some of David's descendants were incorrectly placed in the line of Jacob Maple Sr.

In 2003 I asked a Guernsey County Addy/Clark lookup for information about the Joanna Addy that married a David Maple in Coshocton County in 1818. I was given the following information that had come from Ruth Maple, one of the researchers who shared information with T. Grant Maple:

Chapter 10

DESCENDANTS OF JOANNA ADDY

9. Joanna Addy, b ca 1790-1794 in VA, married David Maple in Coshocton Co OH 15 Oct 1918. We know very little about this family except that tragedy struck very early in their lives. Prior to her marriage, Joanna is shown in William Addy's account with James Miskimen as Annah or Anny. She did spinning to apply against her father's account, and also picked up items for him at the post.

Joanna and David Maple are in the 1820 census, Linton tp, with one male 26/45 and one female 26/45. In the 1830 census, both LINTON and PERRY tp names appear at the top of the page; David is shown with one male under 5, one 5/10, one female under 5, he is 20/30 and Joanna is 30/40.

David was b ca 1794 and died 15 Oct 1839 without a will, his brother William B Maple was appointed Administrator of the estate, which was not settled until October term 1848. Named as heirs were Elizabeth, Thomas and John Maple, said to be "living out of state", no mention of just where or with whom. Joanna was not mentioned, and it is assumed that she had died either before David, or before the 1840 census, as that family does not appear in the Coshocton Co census.

We found no guardianship case for the children, and they were probably just sent to live with relatives, but with whom or where, we do not know. Perhaps they were in Peoria Co. IL where several Maple/Addy families had settled, but we have found no concrete evidence of this. David was a cousin of Abraham Maple who also married into the Addy family, not just once, but three times! David served on the Mansfield Frontier in 1812-1214;

Third Generation

Descendants of Joanna Addy (Wml) and David Maple

91 John Maple

92 Thomas Maple

93 Elizabeth Maple

I asked the correspondent, Brant, if he had any independent information (other than Ruth Maple's) about Joanna Addy. He replied:

"No - the information I had previously only listed Joanna as one of William Addy and Elinor Clark's children, and stated: Joanna Addy married David Maple. The album I purchased from Ruth Maple states on page 12 that sometime after 1790, Joanna Addy was born (exact birthdate unknown in eastern Berkeley Co, VA, which was soon divided to become Jefferson County. Apparently they resided within 3 miles of Harpers Ferry. The date listed for her marriage is 15 Oct 1818 in Coshocton Co, OH."

The conclusions presented here appear to be unwarranted, a product of research that, to put it mildly, was not very careful. It was a stretch to link the Davids of the 1820 and 1830 censuses with the David who died in 1839. It was actually in the 1820 Census that records for Linton and Perry Townships were intercalated (and that David was clearly on a page for Linton Twp). The 1820 David Maple who married Joanna Addy was likely a son of Jacob Maple Sr. The 1830 David was enumerated as younger man, living in Perry Township, on the far side of the county. We know now, from deed records, that the David who died in 1839 was an older David Maple Jr, the subject of this profile. Coshocton County records do not support Ruth Maple's conclusion that David had three minor children when he died,

- Bruce Maple

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