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Archiver > ILMONTGO > 1998-11 > 0911627832


From: "Shirley E. Williams" <>
Subject: Tribute to Nancy Ellen Mayfield
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 21:57:12 -0800


In 1989, articles were solicited by the Montgomery Co. IL Historical
and Genealogical Society for a proposed book. I wrote the following
article and sent a check to reserve one of the books. Much later I
tried to find out what had happened to the project. The answers I
received were bizarre (I have the letters in my file) and no
responsibility was taken for the check I had sent which had been cashed.
I welcome this chance to send the article.

*********************
Written April 11, 1989
The James and Nancy Mayfield family came from Tennessee, where
their children were born in Hickman Co., to Montgomery Co IL. They were
in Montgomery County in the year 1838 when there is a record of James
and Nancy selling land to Zadok A. Jones in Section No. Five, Township
No. Eight. James was born in TN in 1776 and died 11 Oct. 1856 in
Fayette Co. IL and was buried in the Wright Cemetery in Montgomery Co,
IL. His wife Nancy was b. in VA and d. 28 Mar 1851 and is buried in the
Wright Cemetery, also.
Their children were:
- Mira b.16 Sept 1813,m.Andrew Walker 13 Aug 1835, Mont Co, Il.
- John b. ca 1815, m.Elizabeth Jane Bradley 22 Aug 1839 in Mont
Co, IL. Her father, Richard Bradley, wrote a note to Hiram Rountree,
Clerk, stating: "This is to let you know that there is no danger in
giving a license to John Mayfield, for my daughter is of age, given
under my hand this 17 day of August 1839, "Rich" Bradley." On property
sales in Montgomery Co. IL Richard Bradley's wife is identified as
"Sally" or "Sarah." Information sent to me by Lloyd DeWitt Bookstruck
identifies this Richard as the Richard Bradley who married Sarah Mooney
on 27 Nov 1805 in Wilkes Co, NC, and the son of Lawrence and Winifred
(Winnie) Wisdom Bradley. Lawrence Bradley was in Wilkes Co as early as
1778 and in Burke Co, NC in 1810. His widow, Winnie, was living alone
there in 1820. On the 1830 census, Richard Bradley was in Montgomery
Co, IL, where he was age 40-50. He may have had his mother with him
because he had a female age 70-80 in his household.
- Winnie b.19 Apr 1820, m. John Walker 5 Oct 1839 Mont Co, IL
- Jeanette(Jennie) b.6 Mar 1821, m.John Walker 5 Oct 1839 Mont
Co, IL
- James b. ca 1827, m. Emily Walker 19 Feb 1846 Bond Co, IL
- William b. Feb 1828, m.Sarah Walker 15 Nov 1849, Bond Co, IL
*********************
John Mayfield was my gr gr grandfather. He and Elizabeth Jane
Bradley had the following children:
- Sarah (Sally) b. 1841 IL, m. Thomas Elam
- James b. 1842 IL, m. 29 Nov 1873 Mary Gower in Bond Co, IL
- Nancy Ellen b. 29 Apr 1844 in Mulberry Grove, Bond Co, IL, m.
28 Nov 1878 Jeremiah Bethard in Wrightsville, Greene Co, IL, d. 16 Dec
1899 in Wrightsville.
- Richard b. 1847 in MO, m. 27 Sept 1866 Emily Stewart
- William b. 1848 in MO, m. 28 Dec 1876 Mary Elam
- Jackson b. 1851 in AR
- Lavona b. 1854 in IL, m. Lewis Stewart

By the 1860 census in Bond Co, IL, John Mayfield had died. I
don't know the date of his death or where he is buried. I didn't know
the date of Elizabeth Mayfield's death until I read the minutes of the
Liberty Baptist Church, Bond Co, IL, for 1853-1887, and they recorded
that Elizabeth Mayfield had died 15 Oct 1864. I don't know where she is
buried, but I would suppose in Bond Co, IL.

Times were very hard for John Mayfield's children. My
grandmother, Nancy Ellen's daughter Elizabeth Jane Bethard Rhodes, told
me that Elizabeth called her daughter Nancy to her and said she had to
place her in another home for her room and board. (I wish I could find
Nancy Mayfield on the 1870 census.) She said it was not because she
was the oldest girl but because she was the strongest. She was put in
her uncle's home where she worked as a servant and slept in the attic.
My grandmother said her mother would work all day and then knit
stockings for the family by candle light. She was often cold and very
lonely.
Thomas Bethard and his family had lived in Marion Co, IL, from
1841 to 1844. Evidently there was an acquaintance with the Mayfield
family, or there were mutual friends, because Thomas' son Jeremiah
(Jerry) Bethard, a very prosperous merchant and a widower with three
little boys in Wrightsville, Greene Co, IL, hired Nancy Mayfield as his
housekeeper.
He married her 28 Nov 1878, and my grandmother Elizabeth Jane (their
only child) was born 29 Apr 1880.
Nancy Mayfield took charge of Jerry Bethard's household with
ease. She was known for the excellence of her table, and she ran a
restaurant in their home. Many railroad employees and others in the
town made a habit of taking their noonday meal in the Bethard home. My
grandmother recounted learning to cook before she was tall enough to
reach the stove, standing on a low bench beside her mother. Even though
my grandmother learned all the skills of keeping a home, she had many of
the luxuries of the time. She had her own organ and played it well,
often playing for the church services.
Nancy Mayfield Bethard was also known for her care of the sick
and the poor. When she would hear of a needy family, she would take a
basket and go the her husband's store. My grandmother remembered her
father following her mother up and down the aisles, saying, "Nanny,
don't you think that is about enough?" and Nancy would smile and go on
filling her basket.
Nancy took a terrible fall on the ice in the winter of 1899 and
injured her hip. The infection would not heal, and she died on 16 Dec
1899 when my grandmother was nineteen years old. Before she died, she
gave her blessing for my grandmother to marry Ernest Rhodes. But Jerry
Bethard had heard that my grandfather was just after his money and he
refused to agree to the marriage, disowning my grandmother when she
married Ernest Rhodes 18 Apr 1900 and not reconciling with her until
many years later. My grandmother felt that she had lost both her mother
and her father in that terrible winter of 1899.
The following obituary appeared in the White Hall Register,
V.31, p.1, col. 1, on 29 Dec. 1899:
Mrs. Nancy E. Mayfield Bethard was born April 20, 1844, died
Dec. 16, 1899. She was married to Jerry Bethard Nov. 28, 1878. To this
union was born one daughter, who, with the husband is left to mourn the
loss of wife & mother. She professed a hope in Christ early in life,
being a member of the M.E. church in Wrightsville at the time of her
death. She was always ready to minister unto the sick & needy, & during
the last days of suffering & pain she could sing praise to God with a
triumphant faith. It may truly be said of her, "She hath done what she
could." She will be greatly missed in the community. Funeral services
at Hickory Grove, Dec.17, conducted by W. D. Waltrip, after which the
remains were laid to rest in the cemetery near by.
********************
Article written by Nancy's great granddaughter, Shirley Winn Williams
If anyone knows anything about this family I would love to hear
from you. I would like so much to know where John and Elizabeth
Mayfield and Elizabeth's parents Richard and Sarah Bradley are buried
and visit their graves. My husband is a university president who has to
attend conferences all over the country and I could visit Montgomery
County as a side trip when we are near. Thanks!

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