Were you there?

The little lapel pin shown here was generated to promote a Maiden Family Reunion over the 4th of July holiday in 1984.

Only trouble is, we don't know which Maiden family line was promoting the event -- or where it took place!

We'll have to admit that our memory chip isn't as robust as it once was, but these little pins (we found two tucked away in a chest) have really befuddled us.

At first, we confused it with a family reunion that took place out in the Pacific northwest in about the same era.   Then, we recalled that the gathering was actually a reunion of Durham family members.  Our records include a written notice about a "Durham Family Reunion" on August 14, 1982 at the Rainier Sportsman's at Rainier, Washington.  It was organized by Helen Vincent and Tom Durham.  Tom, we believe, was a grand nephew of Leota Irene (Durham) Maiden.   We did not attend that reunion.

Our Maiden family tie with the Durhams was through  Leota Irene Durham (1891-1951), the daughter of David and Alatha (Norman) Durham.  She married William J. Maiden (1886-1972), the son of William H. and Dora (Derrick) Durham at Belle Fourche, South Dakota, 15 December 1915.

We'll hope that a Maiden cousin somewhere might happen across this posting and provide us with information about the 1984 Maiden reunion.    

A soldier and his family

This is one of my favorite Maiden family photographs -- probably taken in late 1952 in Germany, where Hank Maiden was serving a hitch in the U.S. Army. On Hank's lap is younger son, Jim, while the oldest child, Bill, is behind mother Harriet, who is holding baby Dorothea.

Hank was the only surviving son of William J. and Leota (Durham) Maiden, who raised their family -- comprised mostly of girls -- near the banks of White River about 13 miles northeast of Chadron, Nebraska. Harriet was the daughter of Henry and Claudia (Johnson) Linklater and grew up near Hulett, Wyoming. Both Hank and Harriet are deceased; last we knew, Bill was living in Vancouver, Washington; Jim was in Idaho; and Dorothea (DeDe) and family were in Viriginia.

It's all John C. Derrick's fault

In shaking the family tree for information, relationships sometimes get a bit bewildering. A classic case is the relationship between the Derrick, Maiden and Miller families of western Nebraska, and it all seemed to start with this old guy.

John C. Derrick was probably born in Holland, although we’ve not been able to document it. We do know he married three times and that his second bride was Adelia Pamelia Kellogg. They had two children together – Walter Earnest in 1860 and Dora Ellen in 1862. While the family was living in Carroll County Iowa in 1880, Dora married William H. Maiden, whose family came from Tama County Iowa. They moved to Dawes County Nebraska, where their only child, William Joseph Maiden, was born in 1886.

Pretty easy, so far, huh? Continue to the next level: William J. “Bill” Maiden married Leota Irene Durham in 1915; they had seven children together – one of whom was Lettie, born in 1920. In 1938, Lettie married John Miller, whose sister, Marie, was already married to William Derrick, son of Walter Earnest and a grandson to John C. Derrick. So Lettie and Bill were cousins – as well as brother/sister-in-law.

Oh, did we forget about another son of John C. Derrick -- Albert? He was the son of John C. and his first wife, Martha Hulbert. Born in 1857, Al was just a few years older than his half-brother, Walter Earnest, and his half-sister, Dora Ellen. When he was 21 years old – living in Tama, Iowa – Albert took a bride, Martha Maiden. Martha was a daughter to Joseph Maiden – a half-brother to William H. Maiden.

Not yet confused? Visit the Maiden Genealogy web site and you’re bound to become even more disoriented. Happy hunting!