Elizabeth Ann Madison connection to President? & the 'Madison Basket'
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Elizabeth Ann Madison connection to President? & the 'Madison Basket'
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Posted: 30 Jun 2009 10:30PM GMT |
Classification: Query
Surnames: Madison, Bennett
Family lore has it that my grt grandmother, Eliza (Elizabeth) Ann Madison Bennett, 1818-1882, (w/o of John Kerns Bennett) was closely related to President James Madison.
Circa 1956, there was an article in an Illinois newspaper about a basket that was given by Dolly to Grandmother Eliza.
Article ----
"Rushville Lady has Dolly Madison Basket. Mrs. Grace Applegate, of this city, has in her possession a very old basket, once owned by the famous Dolly Madison, wife of the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, After using the basket for many years, Mrs. Madison gave it to her husband's sister, Eliza A (Madison) Bennett, the wife of John K. Bennett and grandmother of the present Mrs. Applegate. The John K. Bennetts resided in Bainbridge township where he is buried in the Newburytown cemetery. Mrs. Bennett resided here in Rushville in what was known as the Branstool property and is buried in the Rushville Cemetery. After the death of Eliza Bennett her daughter, Adelaide E. (Mrs. Edward t. Morgan) kept the basket and later gave it to her daughter, the present Grace Morgan Applegate, who was born in 1869. Her mother died in 1885 and she kept the basket since that time. The above information was furnished The Times by Mrs. Aplegate, who is indeed proud of this prized heirloom."
(end of article)
Of course, the problem with this is that even if Eliza was of the right age (which she wasn't), Pres. Madison's sister, Elizabeth, died at the age of 7 and I'm unable to
find any other connection.
The only other clue to Eliza's family comes from papers belonging to her husband, John Kerns Bennett. Among them were several Madison documents from land transactions and tax receipts on Lot 92, Lewistown, Fulton Co. Illinois. They are for William Henry Madison. They start out at the same time Eliza was there in 1834 and go through 1857 with the land being up for sale for failure to pay tax several times, and John Kerns Bennett paid the tax. Several of the documents say William Henry was from Clayton County, IA. There is also a letter written to Eliza after John's death that begins "Dearest Sister", that was written by Sarah Madison (who refers to her husband as 'Billy')of 'Duck Crick, Iowa. Is Sarah's husband William Henry Madison?
Would love to team up with someone to work on this.
Thx much.
Katt
Circa 1956, there was an article in an Illinois newspaper about a basket that was given by Dolly to Grandmother Eliza.
Article ----
"Rushville Lady has Dolly Madison Basket. Mrs. Grace Applegate, of this city, has in her possession a very old basket, once owned by the famous Dolly Madison, wife of the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, After using the basket for many years, Mrs. Madison gave it to her husband's sister, Eliza A (Madison) Bennett, the wife of John K. Bennett and grandmother of the present Mrs. Applegate. The John K. Bennetts resided in Bainbridge township where he is buried in the Newburytown cemetery. Mrs. Bennett resided here in Rushville in what was known as the Branstool property and is buried in the Rushville Cemetery. After the death of Eliza Bennett her daughter, Adelaide E. (Mrs. Edward t. Morgan) kept the basket and later gave it to her daughter, the present Grace Morgan Applegate, who was born in 1869. Her mother died in 1885 and she kept the basket since that time. The above information was furnished The Times by Mrs. Aplegate, who is indeed proud of this prized heirloom."
(end of article)
Of course, the problem with this is that even if Eliza was of the right age (which she wasn't), Pres. Madison's sister, Elizabeth, died at the age of 7 and I'm unable to
find any other connection.
The only other clue to Eliza's family comes from papers belonging to her husband, John Kerns Bennett. Among them were several Madison documents from land transactions and tax receipts on Lot 92, Lewistown, Fulton Co. Illinois. They are for William Henry Madison. They start out at the same time Eliza was there in 1834 and go through 1857 with the land being up for sale for failure to pay tax several times, and John Kerns Bennett paid the tax. Several of the documents say William Henry was from Clayton County, IA. There is also a letter written to Eliza after John's death that begins "Dearest Sister", that was written by Sarah Madison (who refers to her husband as 'Billy')of 'Duck Crick, Iowa. Is Sarah's husband William Henry Madison?
Would love to team up with someone to work on this.
Thx much.
Katt