Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Benjamin Franklin Maynard

Male Abt 1845 - Abt 1894  (~ 49 years)


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  • Name Benjamin Franklin Maynard 
    Born Abt 1845  , , Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died Abt 1894  of, , California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I3595  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Maynard,   b. , , Virginia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Nancy F. or S. White,   b. 11 Nov 1811, , Halifax, Virginia, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1880, of, , Iowa, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age > 70 years) 
    Married Abt 1836  of, Gibson, Tennessee, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F392  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. From Jeannie Aldredge 13 Sep 2003 at notes he was born Abt. 1845 in addition to the following emails:
      a. 08.13.2002: Note from Amy Vuncannon: The place to look for Benjamin Maynard would be in the South Dakota area (Deadwood) around 1880's. The story in our family is that Ben was sitting at the same card table as Wild Bill & got up to pee in the alley & Wild Bill was shot while he was gone. Myth? Maybe, but it's a start.
      b. 08.15.2002: Note from Dorothy Hotchkiss: Uncle Ben Maynard was Gma Emma's 1/2 brother. He had to be her mother Nancy's son, so 2+2, Nancy was a Maynard & I felt as if no legal registered marriage to Samuel Adair will ever be found (a "on the road" or maybe a "take to wife"). I have the same Uncle Ben Maynard picture that you have in my Gma's old album. I have one of older & one that says "Uncle Ben Maynard's Mining Friends. He had a wife & one daughter, don't know if any more. I don't remember him being in Arizona but he was in South Dakota at one time.
      c. 08.16.2002: Note from Dorothy Hotchkiss: Uncle Ben edited a newspaper someplace in NE. Don't remember where but not the same town as Uncle Jot.
      d. Harrison County, Iowa Genealogy & History - Allen Township, excerpt from the 1891 Harrison County, Iowa History: Benjamin Maynard, of section 16, lived there from 1874-1880, sold & removed to Kansas. He is now editing the Courier at Blair, Nebraska.
      e. http://www.signaturebooks.com/reviews/autobiog.html - listed Ben Maynard, Iowa, Mormons, etc. Check this out.
      f. Believes he may have had a female daughter.

      2. Www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/marriage/ba.htm 1853-1905 Marriage Index for Harrison County reports "B.C. Maynard and Carrie Peer, 4 May 1874." Could this be the same Benjamin?

      3. Per FHL book 977.771 V2p" Pottawattamie Co., IA Early Marriages 1848-1869": "Benj. F. Maynard and Alta Boren, 25 Dec 1867." Could this be the same Benjamin?

      4. Censuses:
      1850 US: District 21, Pottawattamie, Iowa, p. 78b, 13 Sep 1850, entry 217:
      Samuel Adair, 46, Laborer, SC.
      Nancy, 39, VA.
      John, 18, AL.
      George, 15, AL.
      Samuel, 12, AL.
      Rufus, 7, MS.
      Mary, 13, TN.
      Robert, 7, TN.
      Benjamin, 5, TN.
      Jemima, 4, IA.
      Joshua, 1, IA.
      Note: this census locates Samuel in Iowa in 1850 with a previously unknown wife [at least unknown among Utah Adair histories]. It appears Nancy brings into this marriage three children of a previous marriage [Mary, Robert, and Benjamin] who were all born in Tennessee.

      1851 Iowa State: Pottawattamie County. FHL film 1022203. The entire state was counted but only Pottawattamie listed everyone by name in the household and their ages; other counties only listed the head of the household and a numerical count without names of the various ages by sex in the household. No date is given when the census was taken but it was certified in Dec. 1851; however, the other counties show a Sep 1851 date which also appears more likely for Pottawattamie as well in light of ages given some children with known birthdays in October. Census return:
      Maynard: Nancy 43, Mary E. 13, Robert 6, Benjamin F. [or T.] 4, Joshua 1. Also in same household is Mary Walker 10 and Charle Hughs 14. [Nancy appears recently separated from her second husband Samuel Adair by the time of this census and living under her first married name of Maynard with her children of the Maynard marriage. Joshua Adair is listed twice - once with Nancy Maynard and once with Samuel Adair; evidently the final custodial arrangements for Joshua were not yet settled by the time of the census. Nancy's next husband Andrew Allen is not in the census confirming that Andrew Allen was not a factor in the breakup of Samuel and Nancy's marriage. It also appears their separation was by Sep. 1851 long before his June 1852 departure to the west for which some family researchers have given as the reason for their separation. Her fourth husband is listed in the county's census put several pages away. Samuel Adair is also several pages away as well.]

      1856 Iowa: (From Ancestry.com) Raglan, Harrison, Iowa, p. 5 of 5:
      Andrew Allen, 73, 4 years in Iowa, NH, farmer.
      Nancy, 44, 8 years in Iowa, TN.
      Benjaman, 11 years, 8 years in Iowa, "York".

      1860 US: Magnolia, Harrison, Iowa, p. 808, entry 414: Benjamin Maynard, 15, apprentice blacksmith, TN. He is living with and apprenticed to John W. Williams.

      1870 US: Pioche, Lincoln, Nevada, 470/40, living with two other miners: Ed Bradley and L.E. Carr, 14 Aug 1870:
      B. Maynard, 23, miner, TN.

      1880 US: Tombstone, Pima, AZ, p. 175: "B.F. Maynard, single, male, 33, TN, miner, both parents born VA." He is listed with seven other men with Mr. and Mrs. John McGregor. Note that the 1870 census may have our same Benjamin living in Pioche City, Lincoln, NV, p. 207a, entry 470, has "B. Maynard, age 23, TN, miner" listed living with to two other miners: Ed Bradley, 40 and L.E. Carr, 41, both of Ireland.

      1900 US: Cannot find in online census indices.

      5. The book "History of Harrison County, Iowa," 1891, FHL 977.747-H2n, p. 237: "Benjamin Maynard, of section 16, lived there from 1874 to 1880, sold and removed to Kansas. He is now editing the 'Courier' at Blair, Neb." I wonder if this is the same Benjamin or not.

      6. Not listed in Susan Black's books of LDS or RLDS members.

      BIOGRAPHY:
      1. Civil War Service:
      a. The book "Report of the Adjutant General and Acting Quartermaster General of Iowa, etc.," Jan. 1, 1863, vol. I, p. 572, FHL film 6084439, Civil War rosters: "Fifteenth Infantry - Roster of Company H: Benjamin Maynard, age 18, residing at Magnolia, Harrison, nativity Tenn., rank private, date of going into quarters Nov. 22, '61, date of muster into U.S. Service Feb. 22, '62, Dis. [discharged] disability Aug. 10, '62." Note that Company H originally had 90 men. No Iowa listing for any other Maynard including his brother Robert. Benjamin is found by name only in the same company in the book "History of Harrison County, Iowa," 1891, FHL 977.747-H2n, p. 66.
      b. FHL film 881824, "Iowa Index to Service Records in Civil War": "Benjamin Maynard, Co. H., 15 Iowa Infantry, Pvt., Pvt." [Brother Robert Maynard not listed.
      c. FHL film 541076, "General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934," US Veterans Administration: "Benjamin [F. or T. - penmanship hard to read] Maynard, Service in H., 15 Iowa Inf., date of filing 18 Sep 1889, invalid application 729212, filed from State of AZ." Widow and minors left blank. This is only an index and a form and fee has to be sent in to National Archives to have the actual application copied and sent since these applications are not on film. This application definitely proves that our Benjamin has an association with Magnolia, Iowa and with Arizona.
      d. FHL film 934944 "History of Harrison County, Iowa," 1915, p. 193, also lists him in the same Iowa military unit.

      2. FHL film 934944 "History of Harrison County, Iowa," 1915, p. 462, in speaking of the early days of Allen township [which was named after Andrew Allen, a ex-husband of his mother]: "Benjamin Maynard, section 16, lived there from 1874 to 1880, sold and removed to Kansas. In the early nineties he was editing the 'Courier', a local newspaper at Blair, Nebraska."

      3. Copy of newspaper in my possession from Salt Lake City's "Deseret News," vol. 24, no. 49, 5 Jan 1876: "Information Wanted. - J. T. Adair, Magnolia County, lowa, is desirous of learning of the whereabouts of the following parties supposed to be in Utah, and who left Council Bluffs in 1850 or 1851 - Samuel Adair (father of the inquirer) John Adair, Newton Adair, George Adair (the latter a half brother) and Catherine Adair. When last heard from the parties named were at Washington, Washington County, Utah. Mr. Adair also wishes to hear from B. F. Maynard who when last heard from was in Dry Canyon, Tooele Co. Any of the persons named desiring to communicate with Mr. J. T. Adair, should address as above."

      4. Email from Peter Brand brando@bigpond.com 20 May 2009. Peter is an historian based in Australia working on a history of Tombstone, Arizona, in the time period of Wyatt Earp:
      "I just heard from a lady named Amy Vuncannon, who tells me that Dorothy Hotchkiss has passed away.
      Benjamin Franklin Maynard was born in TN in approx. 1845, or so he said. He was living in Pioche, NV in 1870 as a miner. In 1873 he was living in Salt Lake City, Utah. In Utah, he was known as "Big Ben" Maynard, due to his physical size, and it appears he worked for the police in some undercover capacity. Here, he had a gunfight with a saloon owner on August 18, 1873. The trouble grew from his undercover work. He was cleared of wrong doing and went back to Pioche. I lose him for a while, and then he appears in 1880 in Tombstone, Arizona, again as a miner.
      In January 1882, he was arrested by Wyatt Earp and forced to join Earp on a search for some outlaws. Maynard objected and tried to have Earp charged with false arrest. He was unsuccessful. On Jan 17, 1882 he had a fight with a faro dealer in Tombstone and on Feb 14, 1882 he came to blows with one of Earp's men in a Tombstone saloon. Later, he ran for election as the town marshal, but lost the nomination. He also part owned a saloon in Tombstone for a while.
      He appears to have lived in Tombstone from 1880 to 1886. After that, he moved to Mohave county, AZ and stayed there until about 1890. In 1892 he was down in Bisbee, AZ.
      I have requested his Civil War Pension file and I hope that it will contain some more information. I will let you know as soon as it arrives.
      As you can see, he was a colorful character."

      5. From Peter Brand July 17, 2009: "I have obtained Benjamin Maynard's Civil War pension file from the NARA. It helps somewhat in establishing his whereabouts later in life, but it is vague on the early parts of his career. When I add the Civil War pension details to your own family research and my information, I have come up with the following time line. I do not have any details of his death. He was last heard of by the Veterans Affairs at Vanderbilt, California in 1894. This was a mining boom town, that quickly fizzled out. The VA tried several times to write to Ben at various addresses, but their mail was returned. He must have passed away somewhere just after 1894. Also note that he was only 16 when he fought in the Civil War. Benjamin Franklin Maynard (1845 - ?):
      1845 Born TN to Nancy Maynard.
      1850 Census, Iowa, Mother – Nancy aged 39, Samuel Adair 46, Ben 5.
      1860 Census, Iowa, Magnolia – Ben Maynard, aged 15, Apprentice Blacksmith.
      1861 Nov. 22. Ben, aged 16, enlisted as a Private, Company H. 15th Iowa Infantry.
      1862 Aug. 10th. Ben discharged due to illness at Corinth, Miss.
      1862-1865. Iowa
      1865-1867 Possibly in transit west – via Wyoming.
      1868 White Pines, Nevada – mining.
      1870 Census, Pioche, Nevada – mining. b. TN aged 23.
      1873 August – Salt Lake City, Utah
      1873 September. – Pioche, Nevada.
      1876 January - Joshua Adair places an ad in the Salt Lake City newspaper asking for the whereabouts of B.F Maynard – last heard of in Utah.
      1875 or 1876. Travels to Arizona – mining in Mohave or Yavapai counties.
      1880 Census – Tombstone, AZ – mining. b. TN aged 33.
      1881 September – charged with assault in Tombstone, AZ
      1881 December Great Register – Tombstone, AZ – mining. Aged 35, b. TN.
      1882 January – March. Tombstone, AZ – clashes with Wyatt Earp, Lou Rickabaugh & Dan Tipton.
      1882-1886 Tombstone, AZ – mining and saloon business.
      1883 – Tombstone AZ – part owner of a Saloon in Tombstone
      1886-1890 Mohave County, AZ – mining.
      1889 Filed for a disability pension, while living in Mohave County, AZ.
      1890 December, visited Springdale, Arkansas.
      1891 Palace Hotel, Mohave County, AZ
      1892 Bisbee, AZ
      1894 Vanderbilt, CA – mining. Last known address for Ben Maynard."

      BIRTH:
      1. Birthplace consistently given as Tennessee in censuses and civil war service records. Older sister born in Gibson Co., TN.