Clan Henderson Society loses its High Commissioner for North America and Chieftain, Rex Maddox CommanderRex Maddoxo USN (ret.) died Rex began his naval ser- October I0,2017 after years of uinstinting service vice in World War II and re- to Clan Henderson Society, USA. He lived inAl- tired in 1975 as Commander, exandria, Virginia. United States Nar,y. In 199I, He was appointed the Clan Henderson High he retired agarn as Project Commissioner forNorthAmerica and Chieftain by Manager from Ford Aero- Alistair Henderson of Fordell, Chief of the Name space. and Arms of Henderson, upon the retirement of He is listed inWo's Wo inAmericanAviation. David S. Henderson inApril of 2016. Maddox made his home, for many years, in He became a member of Clan Henderson in Alexandria, Virginia. June of I99l and has held continuous membership He is survivedbyhis wife ofmany, manyyears, since that time. Pat, and four daughters, Christi, Leigh, Kim and Two years after joining, at the suggestion of Pam. Commander Maddox was predeceased by a the then Chieftain and High Commissioner for son, Michael and a daughter, Harley. North America, Claude A. Henderson, he formed the Henderson Bodyguard and became its leader, the Head of the Bodyguard. Serving in this position for several years, he then became the Commissioner for the Mid East Region of the Society and served in this position for two years before becoming President of the Clan Henderson Society. Cmdr. Rex Maddox & David S. Henderson Subsequent to holding the office of President for atotal of six years, he was then appointed Presi- dent Emeritus of the Clan Henderson Society. He was appointed Counsellor to the Chief in 2010 and continued to serve in that position until his death. Over the years, he was honored many Clan Buchanan at the 2017 Edinburgh times by the Clan Henderson Society, Inc. Royal Military Tattoo, pages 17-19 Page 2 Beth's Newfangled Family Tree Section A November ZO|T & kftprt lnsxn Unun edilott BETII''TO3T EXCEllEilT GETEA1OGICAl f,DYEil?UNE! reckon I've done genealogy since before if any work on it. I could read and write...as my grand Just after the beginning of this year, Tom and I mother would tell me tales of her srow- decided to have our DNA done by Ancestrycom. ing up with her family in the West Florida wilder- For me, when it returned, there were not many ness that was her own home. surprises as I already knew I was a Scottish Mutt. My mother gave me a small white Bible when I However, I did not know about the 2% Rus- was six...and discovering the pages for family mem- sian my DNA said I was. I did not know about the bers and their birth, marriage, death dates in the Irish folks either. The results said I was 96%ofuom middle, meant my @less Grannie's heart!) unceasing Great Britain... and the other 2Yo w as S candinavian. questions from me to her about all of our family. Tom came back92Yo GreatBritain andthe rest As I grew vp,I realized I was mostly Scot- from all over the world! tish - Macdonald, Phillips, Cone, Henderson,Allen We decided to joinAncestry.com...and HOLY and a couple of other names which were in the COW! I have learned more in a few months with correct places to be allied to Clan Donald on my Ancesty.com than I leamed during my entire life BC ! mother's side ofmy family. When I go to a genealogy speech anywhere, I I leamed of many other Scottish surnames as try to always tell everyone about the nurhbers involved I studied my father's family as my maiden name, inyour familytree. There's one ofyou. Twoparents Palmer, is alliedto ClanHume - aninfamous Bor- and four grandparents and eight great grandparents...if der Reiver family... and Gibson/Buchanan, Burch, you do that for only twenty times - 20 generations - Hill and some other Scottish District families. you will come to an unbelieveable number of 1,400,000 I would trudge from one genealogy library to + people who are directly related to you in just 20 another and spend days staring at microfilm and generations! The number is TRUE. microfiche...and going patiently through dusty Please now, continue to hear my adventure in book after dusty book. genealogy - as YOU can do the very same thing! Computers had not been invented yet, so far I always tell folks about here in my talks that, as I knew. All of those years I would maybe leam withoutfail, everybody from fancyfolkto the home- one birthdate or place someone was born per doz- less man you see on the comer - EVERYONE has ens of libraries I would visit. It was s-l-o-w work. kings and queens and aristocrats intheir families. Today, I call it Genealogy BC (Before Com- To tell the truth,I always thought, while say- puters). ing all that at one of my speeches, "Yeah, every- When I started work in about 1990 for the body but me." library in south Georgia and began my 100 + hour I must tell you that in Clan Henderson, the goal work weeks, genealogy moved down the line in ofgenealogy is to discover that you are from Fordell importance in my life from a 10 to a -5. Castle. Mmmm. So, many years were spent on working with So, early on in myAncestry.com adventure, I genealogy talking about it...but not doing much, Continued on page 5 Beths Newfangled Fanily Tree Section A Novembe? 2OL7 Poge 3 Excellent Genealogical Adventure, continuedfrom page 3 was following my Hendersons back into time. YOU can do this too! I found a lady, Margaretta Bruce, who had Along the way, I've noted - and it's been a been buried at Fordell Castle! "Gee," I thought, couple of weeks since I tried to list them all - so 'oEven if she were a maid or cook or something, therearemorenow. IAMaScottishMuttforsure...l they let her be buried there!" am tied to 86 District Families and Hishland Clans Turned out, she was the wife of Baronet Will- by blood - so far! iam Henderson of Fordell. I'm not nearly finished. I've found men who I went to the next generation...and leamed that have given their lives for Scotland,s freedom in about my 5th great-grandfather was also bom and mar- allthebattlesl,vereadaboutfrompinkietoFlodden ried there at Fordell Castle. Field. Imagine my delight to see - over the next few I've found countless - it seems to me - Lords stolen hours - at the computer and Ladies and folks who were that from my 5th all the way to important to their part of the great grandfathers the 12th world in their time. were Barons Fordell. The of One of my great grand- last, Sir William Henderson, mas was Lady-in-Waiting to was killed at the Battle of Pin- Queen Elizabeth I. kie 10 September 15471 One of my great grandpas I've learned that my my went on the 3rd Crusade with 25th great grandfather was King Richard the Lionheart. Donald Macdonald, 2nd Lord I've found one gentle- of the Isles and 9th Earl of man, Richard Neville, 16th Ross...and further back from Earl ofWarwick, Knight ofthe him was Angus Og, 6th Lord of the Isles my 27th Garter. (22 November 1428 14 April 1471), who great grandfather - which led to Somerled and even - was known as Warwick the Kingmaker. His life further beyond. would make a great movie! Imagine my surprise when Robert the Bruce I've found such sad stories of lives cut short showed up on my computer screen - as my 33rd politics great grandfather. by the of the day and the superstitions of their day...and so many Almost beyond surprise now...I found that children who did not live past infanthood. James Stewart King of Scotland is my lTth great grandfather and that my family includes Robert To me, genealogy is anever-endingtale of lives lived, Stewart, King of Scotland from 1316 - l3l9 - and every life interesting, fascinating and won- ALL of the Stewart Kings of Scotland. derful to know and learn about. Saint Margaret - and I've been in her chapel at I wonder sometimes what these illustrious Edinburgh Castle - is my 38th great grandmother...with people of their times would have thought if they King David my 3Tthgreat grandfather. knew they would have a descendant who tumed out I did find part of my Russian heritage in that to be me. The one thing I can say to them - which I my 39th great grandmother is Anna "Agnes" have to believe is the same thing most ofthese folks Yaroslav of Kiev, known as "Anna of Kiev" - who would say to me if they could - "I've done my best." was also Princess Ingegerd of Sweden. I've always been fascinated by history - and this She married King Henry of France whose first just amplifies that - as now someone whose blood two wives had died. Er, I'm kin to him, too. runs in my own veins was really there taking part. Most surprising of all, my 43rd great grandfa- It is true, we are ALL kin to fancy folk and to ther was Charlemagne...and my 43rd great grand- those not so fancy. mother was Hildegarde - Empress of the Holy Ro- Did I mention that I ADORE, computer gene- man Empire! alogy! If I can learn it myself, you can too! Befh's Newfangled Family Tree Section A Novembe? 20L7 PageS Tom Freeman is a heraldic artist&graphic designer - living in Northeast Georgia.