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Marjorie A. Younce
May 4, 2018 · Shared with Public
A Trip Down Memory Lane with Great-Aunt Mae’s Quilt…
An old trunk, and a few news clippings are, seemingly, all that remain of this remarkable woman who loved children and wanted them to know the Savior. She was born on February 3, 1874, in Toledo, Ohio. Her parents were Elias Kirk Max, a stationary railroad engineer, and her mother was Mahala Heiston Max.
In 1874, a stationary engineer did not drive trains. A stationary engineer ran the steam boilers and powerhouse at a railroad terminal where they would need steam, heat, and electric. A stationary engineer could also run steam boilers and powerhouses for any type of industry before electricity. From the occupation of “stationary engineer” grew the many-faceted field of engineering occupations of today.
Great-aunt Mae’s maternal grandparents were Samuel Max and Nancy Elizabeth Hyatt Max. Nancy Elizabeth Hyatt Max was the daughter of Henry Hyatt, founder of Hyattsville, now merged into Tipp City, Ohio.
In 1887, when Great-aunt Mae was 13, Samuel and Nancy Elisabeth Max, and the whole family, except Minnie and Daniel Haines—married children, grandchildren, and all, moved to Missouri. The family took the train to Wayne County, Missouri, “lock, stock, and barrel.” Samuel and Nancy settled on a farm place near Patterson, Missouri, with their daughters, Lillie Ann, Nettie Irene, and Nancy.
Son, Charles Edward Max, goes to work for the Iron Mountain & Pacific Railroad as a station agent in Piedmont. Son, E.K., or Kirk Max, goes to work for the same railroad. He and his family live in a home in North Piedmont and their fourth child, daughter Kate, will be born in 1890.
In 1887, downtown Piedmont was typical of your raucous, wild-west atmosphere. It was your basic railroad, logging, boomtown full of “dram shops, saloons, hotels, railroad boarding houses, and some “fine establishments.”
Fast forward to November 1, 1894. It is seven years later in the life of Great-aunt Mae, and she marries a man 20 years her senior. She was educated as a teacher, and had been serving as a Sunday School Missionary for the Methodist-Episcopal Church in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Rev. William Webster Rife would have to be someone she met in the course of her missionary work there.
In the 1880s, Piedmont in Wayne County, Missouri , seemed to be a single girl’s dream. All those single men working for the railroads, the timber companies, the mining companies, and all the supportive industries of grocers, restaurant, and hotel managing, that go with it. Good providers, all.
However, “Mr. Right” for Great-aunt Mae would have to be a believer, who was as dedicated to serving the Lord as she was. Let’s read it as reported in the Piedmont Banner.
“Nov. 1 1894 News Item: Piedmont Banner, Hymnal, Miss May Max of this place and Rev. W.W. Rife of Altus, Arkansas, were married by Rev. William Pascoe last Wednesday at 10 a.m. The marriage occurred at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.K. Max, in North Piedmont, in the presence of only a few relatives and friends. Mr. Rife is a local minister of the M.E. Church, South, but is at present in the drug business at Altus. Miss May had lived here from her girlhood and so quietly had the "sparking" been done no one even suspicioned her of thinking of marrying. She is a most excellent Christian woman and her removal from Piedmont will be regretted by many of her friends. She had a class of little boys in the Sunday School who sadly miss her presence.” (In 1894, many newspapers carried columns from every church in their town, with excerpts of the last Sunday’s sermons, and birth, death, and marriage announcements. Quite a change from today.)
W.W. (William Webster) Rife was a druggist, and had a business in Altus, Arkansas, when he and Great-aunt Mae Max married in 1894. Yes, he was 40 and she was 20; but I expect everyone thought that was quite all right as he was a minister! The newlyweds moved to Altus, Arkansas, where his business was located. Later, he and Great-aunt Mae moved to Fredericktown, Missouri; presumably because that was where he was a minister. They came from Fredericktown to attend Kirk Max's funeral in 1898.
News Item: Piedmont Banner, Oct. 27, 1894. “A letter from Altus, Ark., by Mrs. May Max Rife appears in the paper. She recalled pleasant associations at Piedmont. She is now in her new home. She recalled the boys in the Sunday School class she taught.”
The facts of the rest of Great-aunt Mae’s life story occupy very few words.
In September 1897, Rev. William Webster Rife and Great-aunt May Rife have a son, Raymond. It was a very happy time of rejoicing for the parents, the grandparents, Kirk and Mahala; and the great-grandparents, Samuel and Nancy Max. Very likely everyone traveled to Fredericktown for the dedication of little Raymond Rife in the Methodist-Episcopal Church.
In September of 1898, Great-aunt Mae’s father, Kirk Max, is shot in the back on the street in Piedmont.
Between 1898 and 1900, Great-aunt Mae’s husband, Rev. W.W. Rife, passes away.
In 1904, little Raymond passes away at the age of seven.
Imagine the heartache she endured. But she did not give up on her love of children. Another news clipping will end this story…or will it?
Grand-aunt Mae Max Rife passes away on October 13 1957.
News Item: Troy Daily News, October 14, 1957. "Mrs. Mae Rife, Ex-Missionary, Dies at Hospital. Mrs. Mae Rife, 83, of 115 South Union Street, died at 1:30 P.M. Sunday at Stouder Memorial Hospital where she had been a patient since Sunday morning.
Mrs. Rife was a native of Toledo, born Feb. 3, 1874, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. E.K. Max. She and her husband, the late Rev. W.W. Rife, were Sunday School missionaries in the Ozark Mountains for many years. After the death of her husband she taught school in Freeport, Ill., and moved to this city in 1942 from Freeport. She was a member of the Berean Bible Class at Piqua.
Surviving are a brother, W. W. (incorrect) Max, of Troy and several nieces and nephews. A son, Raymond, is deceased.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Irvin-Deeter funeral home. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from noon Tuesday and Wednesday until the time of the services."
I asked my husband, “What can you remember about Great-aunt Mae?” He could remember very little. He said her little home in Troy was right across from an elementary school. I looked it up on Google and there it is. Right across from an elementary school. Not in very good shape, now, but still evidence of the love of one woman for children.
When she died, she left all to her brother, and my husband’s grandfather, Walter Earl Max. Her worldly goods seemed to consist of some vintage housedresses, all sewn with tiny stitches, by hand. These and some other hand-sewn items were in an old trunk. In the trunk she left a considerable sum of money to Grandpa Max. He gave some of it to us for a down payment on our first home. (The story of how Grandpa Max trusted the Lord will be for Father’s Day).
I remember the trunk. It wasn’t fancy and it had pieces of stripped-off wallpaper all over it.
I still have the quilt. When you see the tiny, hand-sewn stitches, you have to admire this silent servant of the Lord. I can picture her sitting and stitching away by lamplight, a guest in some mountain home. She must have spent hours doing this. Even though it looks a little tattered, I hope my children will view it as a family heirloom.
In the 1880s, there was no public education in the Ozark Mountains, and the churches of that time rushed to fill the gap. They also built schools and colleges so that the personnel they sent out were well trained. Probably her fine example of needlework was taught to many who lived in places where the marvel of electricity had not yet appeared. And while they were sewing, I am sure they talked about how to go to Heaven. Remember, she was a missionary and that was what she was doing.
I cannot recall anyone saying that she was unpleasant in her words or deeds at any time. She was always included in family gatherings.
Her picture shows a beautiful, tall, slender woman of dignified bearing. She did not gather a lot of worldly praise, but I am sure the Lord had a lot to say when He welcomed her home to Heaven. She was just Great-aunt Mae, but she must have been a “wonder of a woman!” I wish I had known her.
Is this story ended? Not in the least. It goes on forever in Heaven where Great-aunt Mae is rejoicing around the God’s throne with her husband and son, and all the children she has pointed to the Savior.
There will never be an end to this story. It goes on forever, and one day I will get to meet this fine Christian lady in person.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (1) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3)
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3).
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Have a Blessed Mother’s Day
Marjorie A. Younce shared a memory.
May 4, 2022 · Shared with Public
And, for Mother's Day, here is the rest of Great Aunt Mae's Story...
6 Years Ago
See your memories
Marjorie A. Younce
May 4, 2018 · Shared with Public
A Trip Down Memory Lane with Great-Aunt Mae’s Quilt…
An old trunk, and a few news clippings are, seemingly, all that remain of this remarkable woman who loved children and wanted them to know the Savior. She was born on February 3, 1874, in Toledo, Ohio. Her parents were Elias Kirk Max, a stationary railroad engineer, and her mother was Mahala Heiston Max.
In 1874, a stationary engineer did not drive trains. A stationary engineer ran the steam boilers and powerhouse at a ra… See more
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