A Brief History of Family X
The following is a chapter in a series about the evolution of the famed family X. Continuing from the last chapter, Maye Haldeman married into the family X in 1970 in South Africa.
Maye’s roots lie in Switzerland in the Mennonite faith. Her Haldeman family was forced out of Switzerland in 1671 and moved down the Rhine River to the German Palatinate region for about 40 years. Finally, the Peter Haldeman family immigrated to the Penn Colony around 1711. Like most American Mennonites, they intermarried with other Mennonites and farmed in Pennsylvania and Virginia until the American Civil War. After the war, many Haldemans moved west to the Midwest and the West. Most of these Westward-bound Haldemans also left the comfort of the communal life of the various Mennonite sects.
Maye’s paternal grandfather was John Elon Haldeman, born in McHenry County, Illinois, in 1871. He was a schoolteacher who died in 1909 at age 38. His wife was Almeda Norman Haldeman, and they had two children together before his passing. Their daughter was Almeda Haldeman, born in Minnesota in 1905 and died in Saskatchewan in 1994. Their son was Joshua Norman Haldeman, born in Minnesota in 1902 and died in South Africa in 1974. Before John Elon Haldeman died, the family moved to Saskatchewan.
Photo of John Elon Haldeman, a schoolteacher.
John’s son, Joshua, became a Canadian citizen in 1910 after his father passed away. His mother, Almeda, married Heseltine Wilson around 1914 in Canada when Joshua was 12.
More about Joshua Haldeman, his family, and their adventures in the USA, Canada, and South Africa in the next chapter.