Flora Louisa Maddison Long Maiben 1835-1922
2010
Flora Louisa Maddison was born in Belgium to Maria Susannah Merrick and John Maddison. Her parents were not married but were living as husband and wife. Her father John was married to Georgianna Curtis until his death. With Georgianna, John already had two daughters and with Flora’s mother he had four children. Three of the four survived childhood. They were Hubert, John and Flora. The family lived in various places in England. At some point John and Flora’s mother parted ways. Flora’s father then lived with Christina Stewart and fathered children with her. Flora’s mother heard the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized. Those of her three children who were of the age of accountability were baptized also. Maria Susannah Merrick emigrated with her children from England to America and settled in Utah. Flora first married Emanuel Long with whom she had one son. The marriage lasted less than one year. She then married Henry Maiben. She was the second wife in a polygamous household. Together, Flora and Henry became the parents of 12 children including direct ancestor Flora Louise Maiben who married Nephi James Bates (Jr.). Flora and Henry lived most of their lives in Provo, Utah and Salt Lake City. When Flora died, she was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery where she lies with her husband Henry Maiben and his plural wife Caroline Penn.
Research surrounding Flora was made complicated by the fact that existing family history was compiled of stories but not facts. Thus, when it was discovered that many of the stories that had been told about Flora, her mother Maria, her father John Maddison and the circumstances of their lives simply were not true, many a descendants were unhappy with the revelations and wanted to hold on to the old stories. The histories of Flora and her mother Maria have been published and widely circulated. Our personal records include documentation and a time line of the life of John Maddison and the chronology of his association with three women: Georgianna, Maria and Christina. Georgianna remained John’s wife until her death. Sometime after her death, John married Christina Stewart, with whom he had been living for many years and with whom he had several children.
None of these statements are meant to tarnish the names or lives of any person. However, when ancestral stories are told so as to hide vital statistics or keep secrets, the real stories in the lives of wonderful people are lost. Efforts to set the record straight, using documents and chronologies have been met with resistance. The truth of the matter actually makes the trials and sacrifices of Flora’s mother Maria Merrick all the more compelling. Flora was a wonderful person as remembered by her posterity.
The migration of Flora Louisa Maddison Long Maiben
Belgium to England to Utah