Re: Eltira F. Saxon, Chickasaw County, MS
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In reply to:
Re: Eltira F. Saxon, Chickasaw County, MS
Ron Head 6/21/07
Thought I would update you on the apparent solution to the mystery of Eltira Saxon II. It seems that Eltira Franklin Saxon, born 1879, was indeed the grandson of Lucinda Foster and that Eltira's (Tie's) mother was the Elmira Howard who was in the house with Lucinda in 1880. Elmira went on to have three more out of wedlock sons and these boys went by the name of Howard. There were no birth certs in MS before 1913, so there is no record to refer to on this. Circumstantial evidence points to the above conclusion. Tie Saxon was raised by Eltire's sister, Ella, further giving credence to his being the son of Eltire. Tie said his mother was named Felie. I believe this was an incorrect statement and he was referring to Eltire's second wife, Annie Ophelia Evans, who was likely called Felie. She and Eltire were married in 1898. Tie would have been 18 y/o at this time. I don't know if he actually knew who his real mother was. Sometimes families kept big secrets. Elmira Howard concocted a bizarre tale for her children to cover the fact that the three sons were out of wedlock. She claimed to have married a Howard and he abused her and the boys and that she had to kill him and run away. She claimed to be named Foster...the maiden name of her mother. However, the wife of one of these sons said he was teased at school about being a "bastard." Anyway, on Elmira's death certificate, the youngest daughter, who gave the information, said she was a Foster instead of a Howard. I suspect the daughter believed this to be true. I don'tknow if Eltire Saxon ever publicly recognized Tie as his son or if the community just knew this, since there were no secrets in those communities. This was a complicated puzzle for a genealogist.