JAMES MADDUX

James Maddux, deceased, who resided in Sacramento, was born in Clinton county, Illinois, on the 21st of June, 1821, and is the son of Wingate and Sarah Maddux, both of whom were natives of Maryland.  The father was of French extraction, and at an early day he and his young wife removed from the south to Clinton County, Illinois, locating on a farm in that state.  Mr. Maddux followed agricultural pursuits throughout his life and was called to his final rest in 1824, his wife surviving him for seven years.  They had eight children, but Mrs. Susan Adams, a widow living in Berkeley, California, is the only surviving member of the family.  She is now in her ninety-first year, and retains all her faculties with the exception of her hearing, being yet an intelligent and energetic old lady.

  The subject of this review was reared on the home farm in Clinton County, Illinois,  and acquired his education in the public schools of that state.  At the age of sixteen, his parents having died in the meantime, he and his brother David accompanied their sister Susan and her husband to Van Buren County, Arkansas. James remained  with his sister until twenty-one years of age.  In 1842 he and his brother established a general mercantile store in Clinton, Arkansas, and were so successful that in 1846 they opened a branch store in Louisburg, that state, both undertakings being crowned with a high degree of prosperity.  They also owned a cotton gin in Clinton, which brought to them a good financial return.  In 1850 they sold both stores and gin and started across the plains to California.  They organized a company of eighteen men, furnishing all of the provisions and the complete outfit.  They traveled with horse and mule teams and their journey was a pleasant one, being terminated when they arrived at Sacramento in August of that year.  In the capital city Mr. Maddux and his brother opened a grocery and provision store, which they conducted until 1855, when David was elected county treasurer and James Maddux was appointed deputy.  After their official term had expired, they established a clothing store, which they conducted most successfully for three years.  James Maddux was then appointed deputy assessor and occupied that position until his death, which occurred July 2, 1866.

   In May 1847 he married Miss Sarah Jane Mason, a native of Arkansas, born in Little Rock, November 18, 1832.  She was the daughter of Dudley D. and Christina (Bird) Mason, the former born in Connecticut of French extraction, while the latter was a native of Kentucky and of German lineage.  Mr. and Mrs. Maddux became the parents of six children, four of whom are yet living, namely: Sarah, the wife of G.B. Crawford; Mrs. Varena M. Rush; J.N., a foreman in De La Montanya's hardware store in San Francisco; and Joseph M., a respected citizen of Sacramento. Mr. Maddux was a self-made man, a loving and devoted husband and father and was greatly admired and esteemed by all who knew him.

 

Source: “A Volume Of Memoirs And Genealogy of Representative Citizens Of Northern California” Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. Chicago. 1901. Page 68-69.

 

Submitted by: Betty Tartas.