Maud Mae Ecklor was born in Minnesota to Civil War Union soldier (deserter) John Ecklor, and his wife Florence Brelsford, of English extraction. Florence married John in Fillmore County, MN at the young age of 18. John was 28 and may have already been married. In fact, by the time Florence was just a few weeks pregnant with their daughter, Maud, John deserted her, and was quickly married yet again.
Florence left little Maud in the home of her parents, Joseph and Emma Drury Brelsford, and was soon married to Elisha Shaw and began a family with him. She was destined to die at a young age.
Maud grew up and married Peter Mader, Jr. in Spring Valley, MN. She bore 6 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood. After Peter's death, Maud high-tailed it out to California with some of her grown children, where she lived until passing over in 1961 at age 84.
A family myth began before Maud died, and has continued since. She was rumored to have been born in South Dakota, and family members still swear to it. After extensive research, there is no evidence of her parents ever having been there, and there is no record of her birth. However, Fillmore County, MN has the record of her birth. There is a logical reason for the myth to have started.
Maud's mother had been sorely mistreated by her father, who did not even remain in Fillmore County long enough to see her born. After Maud was born, her grandparents raised her. In order to avoid embarrassment in Victorian America, a story had to be concocted to account for a baby with no baby-daddy. The story that Maud had been born in South Dakota with a subsequent cover-up for John's behavior may have been the source of the myth. Perhaps Maud's family told a story involving John's death in South Dakota. This also accounts for the fact that no one in the family ever knew anything about John, except for his last name.
The story (or a similar one) allowed the Brelsfords and Florence to save face, and no hint of scandal would taint little Maud's upbringing. By the time Maud was an old woman on her death bed, no one knew the truth, perhaps not even Maud! Maud's daughter, Doris gave the information for her death certificate, which claims that Maud was a native of South Dakota, and that she spelled her name with an "E" at the end. Neither are true.
A hearty woman of few words, Maud worked very hard farming at her husband's side. She was a beautiful woman in her youth, which faded as she coped with child rearing and a "hardscrabble" life. Her grandson, Gene, remembered her, saying that she could cook up a "mighty good" meal on her coal stove. Gene remembered being 4 years old, watching her cook as he perched on a high stool in the kitchen. The adorable, blonde-haired little tyke asked her to please pare the apple he held in his hand: "like mommy does". Maud told him to eat it the way it was. A few years later Gene fell down her basement stairs, landing on a cactus. He survived.
Those wonderful memories!
Florence left little Maud in the home of her parents, Joseph and Emma Drury Brelsford, and was soon married to Elisha Shaw and began a family with him. She was destined to die at a young age.
Maud grew up and married Peter Mader, Jr. in Spring Valley, MN. She bore 6 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood. After Peter's death, Maud high-tailed it out to California with some of her grown children, where she lived until passing over in 1961 at age 84.
A family myth began before Maud died, and has continued since. She was rumored to have been born in South Dakota, and family members still swear to it. After extensive research, there is no evidence of her parents ever having been there, and there is no record of her birth. However, Fillmore County, MN has the record of her birth. There is a logical reason for the myth to have started.
Maud's mother had been sorely mistreated by her father, who did not even remain in Fillmore County long enough to see her born. After Maud was born, her grandparents raised her. In order to avoid embarrassment in Victorian America, a story had to be concocted to account for a baby with no baby-daddy. The story that Maud had been born in South Dakota with a subsequent cover-up for John's behavior may have been the source of the myth. Perhaps Maud's family told a story involving John's death in South Dakota. This also accounts for the fact that no one in the family ever knew anything about John, except for his last name.
The story (or a similar one) allowed the Brelsfords and Florence to save face, and no hint of scandal would taint little Maud's upbringing. By the time Maud was an old woman on her death bed, no one knew the truth, perhaps not even Maud! Maud's daughter, Doris gave the information for her death certificate, which claims that Maud was a native of South Dakota, and that she spelled her name with an "E" at the end. Neither are true.
A hearty woman of few words, Maud worked very hard farming at her husband's side. She was a beautiful woman in her youth, which faded as she coped with child rearing and a "hardscrabble" life. Her grandson, Gene, remembered her, saying that she could cook up a "mighty good" meal on her coal stove. Gene remembered being 4 years old, watching her cook as he perched on a high stool in the kitchen. The adorable, blonde-haired little tyke asked her to please pare the apple he held in his hand: "like mommy does". Maud told him to eat it the way it was. A few years later Gene fell down her basement stairs, landing on a cactus. He survived.
Those wonderful memories!
Maud Mae Ecklor was born in Minnesota to Civil War Union soldier (deserter) John Ecklor, and his wife Florence Brelsford, of English extraction. Florence married John in Fillmore County, MN at the young age of 18. John was 28 and may have already been married. In fact, by the time Florence was just a few weeks pregnant with their daughter, Maud, John deserted her, and was quickly married yet again.
Florence left little Maud in the home of her parents, Joseph and Emma Drury Brelsford, and was soon married to Elisha Shaw and began a family with him. She was destined to die at a young age.
Maud grew up and married Peter Mader, Jr. in Spring Valley, MN. She bore 6 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood. After Peter's death, Maud high-tailed it out to California with some of her grown children, where she lived until passing over in 1961 at age 84.
A family myth began before Maud died, and has continued since. She was rumored to have been born in South Dakota, and family members still swear to it. After extensive research, there is no evidence of her parents ever having been there, and there is no record of her birth. However, Fillmore County, MN has the record of her birth. There is a logical reason for the myth to have started.
Maud's mother had been sorely mistreated by her father, who did not even remain in Fillmore County long enough to see her born. After Maud was born, her grandparents raised her. In order to avoid embarrassment in Victorian America, a story had to be concocted to account for a baby with no baby-daddy. The story that Maud had been born in South Dakota with a subsequent cover-up for John's behavior may have been the source of the myth. Perhaps Maud's family told a story involving John's death in South Dakota. This also accounts for the fact that no one in the family ever knew anything about John, except for his last name.
The story (or a similar one) allowed the Brelsfords and Florence to save face, and no hint of scandal would taint little Maud's upbringing. By the time Maud was an old woman on her death bed, no one knew the truth, perhaps not even Maud! Maud's daughter, Doris gave the information for her death certificate, which claims that Maud was a native of South Dakota, and that she spelled her name with an "E" at the end. Neither are true.
A hearty woman of few words, Maud worked very hard farming at her husband's side. She was a beautiful woman in her youth, which faded as she coped with child rearing and a "hardscrabble" life. Her grandson, Gene, remembered her, saying that she could cook up a "mighty good" meal on her coal stove. Gene remembered being 4 years old, watching her cook as he perched on a high stool in the kitchen. The adorable, blonde-haired little tyke asked her to please pare the apple he held in his hand: "like mommy does". Maud told him to eat it the way it was. A few years later Gene fell down her basement stairs, landing on a cactus. He survived.
Those wonderful memories!
Florence left little Maud in the home of her parents, Joseph and Emma Drury Brelsford, and was soon married to Elisha Shaw and began a family with him. She was destined to die at a young age.
Maud grew up and married Peter Mader, Jr. in Spring Valley, MN. She bore 6 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood. After Peter's death, Maud high-tailed it out to California with some of her grown children, where she lived until passing over in 1961 at age 84.
A family myth began before Maud died, and has continued since. She was rumored to have been born in South Dakota, and family members still swear to it. After extensive research, there is no evidence of her parents ever having been there, and there is no record of her birth. However, Fillmore County, MN has the record of her birth. There is a logical reason for the myth to have started.
Maud's mother had been sorely mistreated by her father, who did not even remain in Fillmore County long enough to see her born. After Maud was born, her grandparents raised her. In order to avoid embarrassment in Victorian America, a story had to be concocted to account for a baby with no baby-daddy. The story that Maud had been born in South Dakota with a subsequent cover-up for John's behavior may have been the source of the myth. Perhaps Maud's family told a story involving John's death in South Dakota. This also accounts for the fact that no one in the family ever knew anything about John, except for his last name.
The story (or a similar one) allowed the Brelsfords and Florence to save face, and no hint of scandal would taint little Maud's upbringing. By the time Maud was an old woman on her death bed, no one knew the truth, perhaps not even Maud! Maud's daughter, Doris gave the information for her death certificate, which claims that Maud was a native of South Dakota, and that she spelled her name with an "E" at the end. Neither are true.
A hearty woman of few words, Maud worked very hard farming at her husband's side. She was a beautiful woman in her youth, which faded as she coped with child rearing and a "hardscrabble" life. Her grandson, Gene, remembered her, saying that she could cook up a "mighty good" meal on her coal stove. Gene remembered being 4 years old, watching her cook as he perched on a high stool in the kitchen. The adorable, blonde-haired little tyke asked her to please pare the apple he held in his hand: "like mommy does". Maud told him to eat it the way it was. A few years later Gene fell down her basement stairs, landing on a cactus. He survived.
Those wonderful memories!
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