Isaac Thomas Maddy, the son of Jacob Andrew and Calinda Kelsey Maddy, was born on June 16, 1858, near Weller, Iowa.
From Dr. Keith Maddy:
I remember Grandpa Isaac telling of the return of the soldiers who lived through the Civil War, and of the great grief of families of those men who did not return. Isaac was 7 years old at the end of the Civil War. He spoke of bison and elk still running wild in southern Iowa when he was a boy. He recalled reading newspaper accounts of the Indian wars and particularly of Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn.
Isaac married Nancy Jane Roberts on March 10, 1878, at Attica, Marion County, Iowa. To this union were born 8 children.
The following four paragraphs are from Isaac's grandson, Audrey Martin McVay:
Isaac had a saw mill and ran a general store. He also farmed and raised livestock. Isaac's saw mill, on English Creek, was run by a steam engine. Around 1880, the engine blew up and Isaac went flying into the creek!
Isaac became the first President of the Rural Telephone Company at Reasnor, Iowa, before moving to Minnesota. In the first decade of the 1900s, Isaac moved his family to Stephen, Minnesota, (in the extreme northwestern corner of the state) to farm a large acreage. They were there for only a brief period. It proved to be a disaster. The farmland did not measure up to Iowa's productivity. The weather proved to be unbearable – very hot, very cold, and terribly windy. The oldest daughter, Calinda Jane, had recently married; she and her husband went along. She died giving birth; the baby also died. Disheartened, the family put everything they owned into railroad cars and returned to Iowa. Isaac lived all his life in Iowa with the exception of the time in Minnesota.
About 1917, Isaac and son-in-law, Mart (Alfred Martin) McVay, went to Omaha and bought 55 train carloads of sheep. They brought them back to the farm, raised them for 6 months, then shipped 75 carloads to Chicago. They had up to 6000 cattle at one time.
Isaac purchased the 1st Model A automobile in Marion County in 1928. The last land Isaac farmed was near Pershing, Iowa. (Isaac and Nancy lived at "Sunnyslope," the Roberts Homestead from 1912. The barn was put together with wooden pegs, and was still standing in 2015.)
According to Iowa and Missouri marriage records on Ancestry.com
Isaac was married 3 times:
1) March 10, 1878, at Attica, Marion County, Iowa, to Nancy Jane Roberts, who died on August 4, 1927.
2) January 17, 1928, to Emma Perry Jordan, who died in 1931.
3) June 26, 1933, to Kittie Buchan Hines, who survived him.
During his lifetime, Isaac took part in building 8 or 10 churches, and was President of the Attica School Board when the consolidated school was built. Isaac was a Christian and church member all his life; he was a charter (founding) member of the Primitive Methodist Church in Knoxville.
Isaac Thomas Maddy died on March 1, 1940, at the home of his daughter, Zella May (Douglas) Simmons, in Attica, at the age of 81 years, 8 months, and 15 days. According to granddaughter Joyce G. Maddy Russell: "They'd lost the farm due to an $8,000 bank loan he'd made that they were unable to repay due to the price of corn dropping from $1.00 bushel to a dime. A biographer could say even though he was of advanced age and perhaps had other health problems, he probably suffered a broken heart." The family moved from the farm on March 1, 1940, the day Isaac Thomas Maddy died, but he was living with Zella at the time.
Isaac's funeral was Sunday, March 3, at Zion Church in Pershing. Burial followed in Zion Cemetery in back of the church.
He is survived by his children: Jesse Goldsbury "Golie" Maddy of Pleasantville, Rosa Lois Maddy McVay of Madrid, Aura Herman Maddy of Knoxville, Zella May Maddy Simmons of Attica (all in Iowa); Leo Sylvester Maddy of Quantico, Virginia; and Elmer Charles Maddy of Shreveport, Louisiana. He was predeceased by his first two wives, and by two children: Ada Caroline Maddy, who died in infancy; and Calinda Jane Maddy Jones.
Information on Isaac's 3 marriages from Jeremy Cochran. Remaining information from grandsons Dr. Keith Thomas Maddy (Memorial #40647123) and Audrey Martin McVay (Memorial #41147567), from granddaughter Joyce G. Maddy Russell, and from his obituary, courtesy of great-granddaughter Sandra, Member #47879030. Merged and submitted by great-granddaughter Angela, Member #48520699.
Isaac Thomas Maddy, the son of Jacob Andrew and Calinda Kelsey Maddy, was born on June 16, 1858, near Weller, Iowa.
From Dr. Keith Maddy:
I remember Grandpa Isaac telling of the return of the soldiers who lived through the Civil War, and of the great grief of families of those men who did not return. Isaac was 7 years old at the end of the Civil War. He spoke of bison and elk still running wild in southern Iowa when he was a boy. He recalled reading newspaper accounts of the Indian wars and particularly of Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn.
Isaac married Nancy Jane Roberts on March 10, 1878, at Attica, Marion County, Iowa. To this union were born 8 children.
The following four paragraphs are from Isaac's grandson, Audrey Martin McVay:
Isaac had a saw mill and ran a general store. He also farmed and raised livestock. Isaac's saw mill, on English Creek, was run by a steam engine. Around 1880, the engine blew up and Isaac went flying into the creek!
Isaac became the first President of the Rural Telephone Company at Reasnor, Iowa, before moving to Minnesota. In the first decade of the 1900s, Isaac moved his family to Stephen, Minnesota, (in the extreme northwestern corner of the state) to farm a large acreage. They were there for only a brief period. It proved to be a disaster. The farmland did not measure up to Iowa's productivity. The weather proved to be unbearable – very hot, very cold, and terribly windy. The oldest daughter, Calinda Jane, had recently married; she and her husband went along. She died giving birth; the baby also died. Disheartened, the family put everything they owned into railroad cars and returned to Iowa. Isaac lived all his life in Iowa with the exception of the time in Minnesota.
About 1917, Isaac and son-in-law, Mart (Alfred Martin) McVay, went to Omaha and bought 55 train carloads of sheep. They brought them back to the farm, raised them for 6 months, then shipped 75 carloads to Chicago. They had up to 6000 cattle at one time.
Isaac purchased the 1st Model A automobile in Marion County in 1928. The last land Isaac farmed was near Pershing, Iowa. (Isaac and Nancy lived at "Sunnyslope," the Roberts Homestead from 1912. The barn was put together with wooden pegs, and was still standing in 2015.)
According to Iowa and Missouri marriage records on Ancestry.com
Isaac was married 3 times:
1) March 10, 1878, at Attica, Marion County, Iowa, to Nancy Jane Roberts, who died on August 4, 1927.
2) January 17, 1928, to Emma Perry Jordan, who died in 1931.
3) June 26, 1933, to Kittie Buchan Hines, who survived him.
During his lifetime, Isaac took part in building 8 or 10 churches, and was President of the Attica School Board when the consolidated school was built. Isaac was a Christian and church member all his life; he was a charter (founding) member of the Primitive Methodist Church in Knoxville.
Isaac Thomas Maddy died on March 1, 1940, at the home of his daughter, Zella May (Douglas) Simmons, in Attica, at the age of 81 years, 8 months, and 15 days. According to granddaughter Joyce G. Maddy Russell: "They'd lost the farm due to an $8,000 bank loan he'd made that they were unable to repay due to the price of corn dropping from $1.00 bushel to a dime. A biographer could say even though he was of advanced age and perhaps had other health problems, he probably suffered a broken heart." The family moved from the farm on March 1, 1940, the day Isaac Thomas Maddy died, but he was living with Zella at the time.
Isaac's funeral was Sunday, March 3, at Zion Church in Pershing. Burial followed in Zion Cemetery in back of the church.
He is survived by his children: Jesse Goldsbury "Golie" Maddy of Pleasantville, Rosa Lois Maddy McVay of Madrid, Aura Herman Maddy of Knoxville, Zella May Maddy Simmons of Attica (all in Iowa); Leo Sylvester Maddy of Quantico, Virginia; and Elmer Charles Maddy of Shreveport, Louisiana. He was predeceased by his first two wives, and by two children: Ada Caroline Maddy, who died in infancy; and Calinda Jane Maddy Jones.
Information on Isaac's 3 marriages from Jeremy Cochran. Remaining information from grandsons Dr. Keith Thomas Maddy (Memorial #40647123) and Audrey Martin McVay (Memorial #41147567), from granddaughter Joyce G. Maddy Russell, and from his obituary, courtesy of great-granddaughter Sandra, Member #47879030. Merged and submitted by great-granddaughter Angela, Member #48520699.
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