Margaret Eveline Waits
1832–1908
Born 1 April 1832 in Ohio. Married Delos C. Malott on 17 November 1853 in Clermont County, Ohio. Died 14 March 1908; buried at Greenbush Cemetery, Brown County. Whether she is the widowed “Mary Malott” of the 1900 and 1910 censuses is uncertain.
Also written Evaline. Recorded in the family tree as Margeret E. Waits, and as “Mary Eveline” on her husband’s 1864 hospital card.
Life events
| Born | 1 April 1832 | Ohiodate from her Find a Grave memorial; aged 22 at her marriage in 1853 and 38 in the 1870 census agree; the 1900 census gives June 1826 |
|---|---|---|
| Married | 17 November 1853 | Clermont County, Ohio, to Delos C. Malottlicense 16 November; married by James Perrin, J.P.; she is recorded as “Margaret Evalin Waits, 22” |
| Residence | 1870 | Green Township, Brown County, Ohioaged 38, keeping house, with her husband Delos and children David D., William S. and Sarah M.; she could not read or write. Susan Waits, 25, and her four children lived with them. |
| Residence | 1900 | Sterling Township, Brown County, Ohio, widowed, aged 73, a carpet weaver in a rented home, with her son Fred; mother of eight children, five living. Recorded as Mary Malott, two doors from her son William |
| Residence | 1910 | Sterling Township, Brown County, Ohiorecorded as Mary Malott, aged 83, a widow who owned her home, with her son Frederick, 52; mother of eight children, three living |
| Died | 14 March 1908 | Brown County, Ohiofrom her Find a Grave memorial; Mark Malott’s Ancestry tree gives 14 April 1908 |
| Buried | Greenbush Cemetery, Green Township, Brown County, Ohioher stone, inscribed “Mother,” gives her name as M. E. M. Mallott |
Marriage and children from Lucille, a descendant of Prather and Sarah (Reeves) Malott through their son Andrew Jackson Malott, in a 1996 letter to Mark Malott, drawn from the Malott family book she published in 1986. Birth and 1900 residence from the 1900 U.S. census, Sterling Township, Brown County, Ohio, enumeration district 20, sheet 1B, enumerated 1 June 1900, where she appears as Mary Malott, widow.
Research note: she probably died in 1908
Her Find a Grave memorial at Greenbush Cemetery gives her dates as 1 April 1832 – 14 March 1908, and a photograph of her stone there shows a birth year of 1832; Mark Malott’s Ancestry family tree gives her death as 14 April 1908. If that is right, the widowed “Mary Malott” of the 1900 and 1910 censuses, born about 1826 and living with her son Frederick, was a different woman, and Fred would not be Margaret’s son after all. Her death certificate, which would exist if she died in Ohio after 1908, or a burial record would settle it.
Research note: how old was Margaret?
The records disagree about her age. Her marriage register gives her age as 22 in November 1853, and the 1870 census as 38; both point to a birth about 1831–32. Only the 1900 census, taken when she was an elderly widow, gives June 1826. The two earlier records agree with each other, so about 1831 is the more likely year. Her Find a Grave memorial gives 1 April 1832, which fits them. Census ages often drift, but the difference matters: if she was born nearer 1832, it is easier to see her as the mother of the two later sons that Malott headstones suggest, Theodore “Dode” (born 1871) and Prather (born 1875). Her death record could settle it.
Sources: Clermont County, Ohio, marriage register, page 138, entry 543; license 16 November 1853, marriage solemnized 17 November 1853 by James Perrin, J.P.; 1870 U.S. census, Green Township, Brown County, Ohio, page 15, dwelling 123, family 115, lines 6–15, enumerated 16 August 1870 (post office Five Mile); 1900 U.S. census, Sterling Township, Brown County, Ohio.
Documents
