MADDERA John

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 18 Feb 1752, Cabin Point, Surry County, VA.; From Father's will
• Will: 10 Jul 1782, Cabin Point, Surry County, VA.

Notes:

John Maddera was the son, probably the only son born to Zacharias Maddera and his second wife Joanna Hurdle. He was probably born between 1720 and 1730. The Maddera family is said to have lived near Cabin Point in Surry County. Most of what we know about him and his family is gleaned from his will, written in 1782. All of his eight children were still under age when he died.

Will:
Item: I give unto my son James the plantation whereon he now lives to him and his heirs. Also my negro man Roger in case my wife should remarry or when she dies.

Will:
Imprimus: I give and bequeath unto my children Micajah Maddera, Rebekah Maddera, Nancy Maddera, Martha Maddera each the sum of 20 shillings specie to them and their heirs forever.
Item: I give to my daughter Diecey Maddera the sum of twenty-five pounds in specie to her and her heirs forever. I also desire her to have one feather bed and furniture after the death or intermarriage of my beloved wife, to her and her heirs forever.
Item: I give and bequeath to my daughter Priscilla Maddera the sum of twenty-five pounds specie to her and her heirs forever. I also desire her to have one feather bed and furniture after the death.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife my best horse, saddle and bridle -with the best bed and furniture I possess, to her and her heirs forever. My will and desire is that my beloved wife shall have the use of my land and plantation with all its appurtenances and shall have, possess and enjoy all my slaves, stock and household furniture so long as she remains my widow, to enable her to raise and educate my children who are now with me and under age: and after her death, or after she shall intermarry I give and bequeath all my land slaves, stock and household furniture to my two sons John and Thomas Maddera to be equally divided between them, if they be both alive; but if one of them only shall at that time survive, my will and desire is that the whole of my lands, slaves, stock and household furniture shall go to him and his heirs forever.
Item: I also give and bequeath to my two sons John Maddera and Thomas Maddera all the ready money I have at the time of my death, with all the debts due to my estate which I desire my executors to collect as soon as possible and put the whole out at interest, to be equally divided between them, when they or either of them arrive at lawful age. But in case my executors shall thinkproper at any time to purchase one certain parcel or tract of land now belonging to Joseph Thorp and lying contiguous to my land, I desire that they may apply apart of the money aforesaid to that purpose, which I desire may go to them after the death, or after my beloved wife shall intermarry, in the same manner as is directed respecting the land I now possess.
Item: My will and desire is that all the rest and residue of my estate not herein before mentioned may remain in the possession of my beloved wife so long as she remains my widow and afterwards to go to my two sons John and Thomas to be equally divided between them, or to revert to the survivor as is before directed in the case of lands, slaves, etc.; I also desire that the ready money and debts given as aforesaid to them the said John and Thomas Maddera may in the case of the death of either of them, go to the other.
I do hereby nominate and appoint my friends William Clinch, Jr. and James Kee my lawful executors to this my last will and testament and do empower them to execute the trust hereby imposed in them as well as see to the education of my young children...............10 July 1782
John Maddera
The will was presented to the Court 27 August 1782.

Family/Spouse: MADDERA Elizabeth --LNU--. Elizabeth died in 1814 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Thomas Maddera ca. 1775 -1826
Thomas Maddera's father, John Maddera, in his will, left his lands, slaves and other property to his wife Elizabeth for as long as she should live or not remarry. And upon her death or remarriage the estate would be equally divided between his surviving sons, John and Thomas.

Thomas appears to have never left home. He continued to live with his mother and run the family plantation. His mother, in her will of 1814, 32 years after his father's death expresses exasperation that Thomas, now in his 40's, is still unmarried.

On 29 April 1819, five years after Elizabeth's death, Thomas, now at least 45, married Rebecca G. Thompson, daughter of William E. Thompson and his wife Frances. Rebecca was only 19 years old. She was born in 1800. The marriage was of short duration. Thomas Maddera died in 1825/6 at about the age of 50, leaving behind one very small son Eldridge Armstrit Maddera, to mark his passing. He did not leave a will and died intestate.

Thomas' widow Rebecca married again, this time to Hugh Hopkins, on 22 August 18,1829. Hugh Hopkins is listed in the 1850 Census as a "stave getter" and was five years younger than Rebecca. Eldridge, still only 8 years old, stood to inherit much of his long deceased father's and grandfather's estates. William West was appointed by the Court as guardian of Eldridge, to look after his interests until he should come of age.
The estate accounts of Thomas Maddera include the information that six negros were hired out in 1826 for a total of $ 66.45. They were Abram, Billy, Wilson, Lizza, Diumma and Mary.

Thomas married THOMPSON Rebecca G. on 29 Apr 1819 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Rebecca (daughter of THOMPSON William Edloe and Frances) was born in 1800 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; died after 1850. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Micajah married THOMPSON Lucy on 22 Aug 1799. Lucy and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Dianna married CRAWLEY Henry on 4 Mar 1809 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Henry and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Pricilla married CHAPMAN Samuel on 22 Jun 1807 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Samuel and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Inheritance: 10 Feb 1839, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States
• Occupation: 7 Mar 1854, Spring Grove, Surry County, Va; Postmaster
• Military: 20 Apr 1861, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; Civil War Vet
• Lived(s) In: 1870, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States

Notes:

Eldridge A. Maddera 1821 - 1881
Eldridge Annstrit Maddera was the only son of Thomas Maddera (bet 1784 -1826) and Rebecca G. Thompson. He was born February 10, 1821 and was only five years old when his father died in September 1826, apparently unexpectedly, for he died intestate. Eldridge's mother married Hugh Hopkins three years later, on 8/22/1829, and William M, West was appointed by the Court as Eldridge's guardian (Surry County Fiduciary Accts. 1831 -1839), to protect his rights in his father's estate.
Thomas Maddera was apparently moderately well-to-do at the time of his death. We presume that he was a plantation owner, because the account of his estate mentions six slaves who were hired out: Abram, Billy, Wilson, Lizza, Diana and Mary. Eldridge received a good education judging by his later occupations and military service, and apparently continued to successfully manage the plantation, which was near Cabin Point, when he reached manhood.
On 12/6/1843 Eldridge married Mary Pocahontas Sledge, daughter of Amos and Mary (Shackleford) Sledge, Jr.. Amos Sledge, Jr. was a wealthy man by Surry County standards. He operated a major dry goods business and owned substantial property as well After he died in 1842, at age 62, his estate was valued at $ 11,451. Mary Pocahontas was only 17 when he died, and required the consent of a guardian, her brother Amos Sledge in, when she and Eldridge were married a year after her father's death. Her mother had died earlier, and she received an equal share of her father's estate, which was divided between Amos Jrs.' seven children. Included in her share of the estate, according to Mary Coleman Braxton, was her great grandfather Emanuel White and "other slave property", which she brought with her marriage to Eldridge Maddera.. Valeria Ann Maddera, the daughter of Eldridge and Mary P. makes it clear that the family lived a very comfortable life on their plantation before the Civil War erupted in 1861.
Earlier we described the Civil War as experienced by Valeria Ann Maddera and her husband-to-be William M Cotton. Briefly, here is how Eldridge A. Maddera went through the war. Like most of the gentry of Surry County he belonged to the Surry Cavalry before the war, commanded by Captain Travis W. Taylor. This was essentially a militia company, and served much the same purposes that the National Guard does today, available to quell any civil disturbance which should be beyond the capabilities of the sheriff and his deputies: for example, a slave insurrection, like Nat Turner's Rebellion; or repel an invasion, such as CoL Tarleton's Raid during the American Revolution; or respond to Indian attacks, such as those that brought on Bacon's Rebellion. In the early days of the colony, when men reached military age, they were required to register, and provide a horse and equipment ready for service, or pay someone else to serve for them. The Surry Cavalry had played a minor role in the American Revolution and had a lot of pride in their Company. My mother, Bertha (Johnson) Bartlett, wrote that her father, Sidney T. Johnson, was a member of the Surry Cavalry when she was a girl, in the first decade of the 20th century. She says he occasionally rode to Surry Courthouse on his black horse for drills, sporting a blue uniform with brass trappings and a gleaming saber at his side. Fortunately, there were no wars during his young manhood.

(Medical):44 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. tall, dark hair, with blue eyes and a florid complexion

Inheritance:
Eldridge, still only 8 years old, stood to inherit much of his long deceased father's and grandfather's estates. William West was appointed by the Court as guardian of Eldridge, to look after his interests until he should come of age.
The estate accounts of Thomas Maddera include the information that six negros were hired out in 1826 for a total of $ 66.45. They were Abram, Billy, Wilson, Lizza, Diumma and Mary.

Military:
Cavalry Lt.
As noted earlier, when the Civil War broke out, William Cotton and Eldridge Maddera had both enlisted as privates in the Surry Cavalry on April 20 1861, only eight days after the beginning of the bombardment of Fort Sumpter. The Surry Cavalry was designated as Company E, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry, attached to the 3rd Regiment Virginia Infantry. Together they saw bloody action on many a field of battle. In Sept./Oct. 1862, Company K, 13 Regiment Virginia Cavalry was formed up under Captain Samuel H. Burt and assigned to dashing Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's famed Cavalry Division of the Army of Northern Virginia. William Cotton was appointed 2nd Sergeant of the new Company K and Eldridge Maddera its 2nd Lieutenant. They participated in nearly every major battle in the eastern theater of the War from then until the end of the War. They were at "the greatest cavalry battle of the War, which took place on June 9,1863, at Brandy Station, seven miles north of Culpepper Court House. The battle lasted , without let-up, for twelve hours, as Rebel cavalrymen under Stuart and Union cavalrymen under Pleasanton, slashed at each other with sabers and fired their pistols at point blank range." (Story County at War 1861 -1865; Willis W. Bohannan; p. 41)
Like most of the gentry of Surry County he belonged to the Surry Cavalry before the war, commanded by Captain Travis W. Taylor. This was essentially a militia company, and served much the same purposes that the National Guard does today, available to quell any civil disturbance which should be beyond the capabilities of the sheriff and his deputies: for example, a slave insurrection, like Nat Turner's Rebellion; or repel an invasion, such as CoL Tarleton's Raid during the American Revolution; or respond to Indian attacks, such as those that brought on Bacon's Rebellion. In the early days of the colony, when men reached military age, they were required to register, and provide a horse and equipment ready for service, or pay someone else to serve for them. The Surry Cavalry had played a minor role in the American Revolution and had a lot of pride in their Company.

On the morning of April 12,1861 a rabid secessionist, Edmund Ruffin, a Virginian, pulled the lanyard to fire the first cannon shot into Fort Sumpter, in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. On April 20, 1861 Captain Travis Taylor's Cavalry Company was mustered, and its members enlisted to serve one year, in what was expected to be a short war. No one believed that the North would conduct a major war to prevent the South from seceding, which they viewed as their right under the Constitution. Eldridge Maddera was enrolled as a private. By September, Captain Travis Company was designated as Company E, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry and attached to the 3rd Regiment of Virginia Infantry. They spent the winter of 1861-1862 at Camp Cook, on the lower James River directly across from Newport News. The Confederate forces were positioned on the south shore of the James River to protect the network of railroads that connected Norfolk, Suffolk, Petersburg, Richmond and North Carolina. The Union Army held the virtually impregnable Fort Monroe on the Virginia Peninsula, which they used as a base of operations throughout the war.

In May 1862, McClellan assembled an army of 125,000 men and began his Peninsular Campaign. At Williamsburg - in the streets of the town and on the campus of William and Mary College - on May 5,1862, a sharp engagement between the Federals and the rear guard of the Confederate Army took place. "JEB" Stuart, Lee's dashing cavalry commander, was there and fighting with him that day was the Surry cavalry. McClellan's army now pursued the Confederates up the Peninsula - to within six miles of Richmond. At Seven Pines the first great battle of the campaign was fought on May 31 to June 2. General Johnston was borne from the battlefield seriously wounded, and General Robert E. Lee was immediately appointed to succeed him as commander of the Army ofNorthern Virginia. The Surry Cavalry was in the defenses east of Richmond, and there took part in the bloody Seven Days Battles. McClellan, his nose bloodied, withdrew his army from Richmond, finally retracing its steps to Fort Monroe, to take ship back to Northern Virginia - its invasion ended.
Company K, 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was organized in August 1862, mostly composed of Surry men, under the command of Captain Samuel H. Burt. Eldridge Maddera was elected 2nd Lieutenant on August 13,1862, a post he held throughout the remainder of the war. His son, Waverly T. Maddera, age 16, enlisted in the same Company. Almost immediately the 13th Virginia Cavalry was assigned to of "JEB" Stuart's Cavalry and took part in the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), where they defeated General Pope before he could launch his offensive against Richmond. Lee invaded Maryland, and the Surry Cavalry fought at Sharpsburg, on Antietam Creek, and on December 13, 1862 at Fredericksburg. The end of 1862 marked the high tide of the Confederacy.
Company K missed few engagements for the remainder of the war. They were an integral part of "JEB" Stuart's Cavalry Division of the Army ofNorthern Virginia. They fought at Brandy Ford on April 15,1863, the greatest cavalry battle of the war. When "JEB" Stuart was killed in action, they fought under Major Gen. W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee and General Wade Hampton. As the Confederate Army slowly weakened under the punishing attacks of General Grant, they were finally brought to bay at Petersburg. That bloody siege is legendary for its heavy casualties and suffering. Lieutenant Maddera was wounded near Petersburg on September 30,1864, but recovered and returned to duty within a month or two. Grant used his superior numbers to gradually outflank the outnumbered Confederate Army, and the Confederates were forced to abandon Petersburg and move westward toward Appomattox Courthouse. Lieutenant Maddera was captured along the way at Dinwiddie Courthouse on April 1,1865. General Lee would surrender at Appomattox 9 days later, on April 9.

Lt. Maddera was transported to Johnson's Island, a Depot for Prisoners of War near Sandusky, Ohio. He took the oath of allegiance at Johnson's Island on June 19,1865 and was released under General Order 109. At the time he took the Oath he gave his place of residence as Cabin Point, Virginia. He was described as 44 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. tall, dark hair, with blue eyes and a florid complexion. How he made his way home, we don't know. He and his horse had obviously been long separated so he could not fell under Grant's generous permission for Confederate cavalry to take their mounts home. They were, after all, personal property.

Name: Eldridge A Maddera Birth Date: abt 181? Age: 44 Enlistment Date: 1862 Military Unit: Thirteenth Cavalry (Sixteenth Battalion, Cavalry; Fifth Cavalry; 12 Months, 1861-62)

Name: Eldridge A Maddera Residence: Surry Court House, Virginia Enlistment Date: 20 Apr 1861 Rank at enlistment: Private Enlistment Place: Surry Court House, Virginia State Served: Virginia Survived the War?: Yes Service Record: Transferred to. Enlisted in Company E, Virginia 5th Cavalry Regiment on 20 Apr 1861.Promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 13 Aug 1862. Sources: The Virginia Regimental Histories Series

Lived(s) In:
. From the sequence of visitations shown in the report of the Census of 1870, it appears that Eldridge Maddera, his wife Mary, and five children: Mary 18, Eldridge 15, Adelia 13, George 9 and an infant 2 lived next door, perhaps on The Marl Spring Farm. Eldridge's occupation is listed as "lumber dealer". This is confirmed by Valeria's recollection many years later that her father operated a sawmill. No value of land and personal estate is given.

Eldridge married SLEDGE Mary Pocahontas on 6 Dec 1843 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Mary (daughter of SLEDGE Amos, Jr. and SHACKLEFORD Mary) was born on 25 Oct 1825 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; died on 6 Oct 1872 in Cabin Point, Surry County, VA.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Aug 1862, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; Confederate War

Notes:

Military:
Enlisted 8/1862 in Co. K, 13th Va. Cavalry. Served until April 9, 1865.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Lived(s) In: 1900, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; Census of 1900

Notes:

Lived(s) In:
Mill Track Farm
The Census of 1900 shows Valeria King, a widow, as head of a household. Her daughter Cornelia Ann "Annie", age 22, and her husband Morton Algernon Grubbs, 27, from Allegany County, Pennsylvania, lived with her, still on the Mill Tract. The Grubbs built a new two story house and presumably Algy Grubbs ran the farm. From that time on the Mill Tract became known as "the Grubbs Place". Algy and Annie Grubbs both died in the great flu epidemic of 1918.

Valeria married COTTON William Madison on 19 Dec 1866 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. William (son of COTTON William Henry and PARSONS Sarah (Sally) Weathers) was born on 3 Jun 1826 in Sussex County, VA; died on 13 Jun 1883 in Surry, Surry County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Valeria married KING William Allen in 1888 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. William was born about 1835; died in 1900. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married FAISON Claudius Algernon on 7 Mar 1872 in Cabin Point, Surry County, VA.. Claudius (son of FAISON Robert Warren and COKER Frances W.) was born on 19 Oct 1847; died on 24 Feb 1930 in Richmond, Virginia, USA; was buried on 25 Feb 1930 in Dendron, Surry County VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Death or a citizen of Surry county. - Major E, A. Maddera, a citizen of Surry county, died on Thursday, at his residence near Cabin Point of pneumonia. Major M. was in this city for several days last week, and left for home on the Steamer Chipoax. He was taken sick on last Monday. He was about 60 years of age and unmarried, and was a member of the Masonic Lodge at Cabin Point.

Petersburg Index, December 24, 1881

Isabelle married FAISON Thadius on 24 Dec 1889 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Thadius (son of FAISON Robert Warren and COKER Frances W.) was born in 1852; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]