Moses Mault (Malt, Mott)

Moses Mault is listed as being one of the first pioneers in the area according to the History of the Lower Scioto Valley. Little is known about him prior to coming to Scioto County. He was born circa 1740 and died in 1839. He married Polly Bellar [Bellau] and they were thought to be French Huguenots who came to North Carolina after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Moses can be found in the North Carolina Census for Surry County in 1784 with 2 male and 4 female children. In 1802, while in migration to Ohio, he appears in Prestonburg, Ky, in the Big Sandy Valley. His arrival in Scioto County is heralded by his claim to Congress Lands Nov. 19, 1817.

Moses and Polly Bellar Mault had at least 6 children; Aaron Mault married Mary McDaniel, Annie Mault married a Mr. Sims, Lavinia Mault married Jacob Coburn, John Mault, Jesse Mault, and Chloe Beller Mault who married a will-known Jackson County native, Solomon Dever.

The first generation of Maults in Madison and Harrison Townships after the pioneer, can be traced through the descendants of Aaron Mault and Mary McDaniel Mault. [Marry is thought to be the daughter of James McDaniel, Revolutionary War veteran of Jackson County, Ohio]. Their children were: Sarah Mault who married James Toland, Moses Mault who married Melissa Darling, Mahala Mault who married James Millirons, James Mault who married Rachel Sweet, and Anderson Mault who married Lucinda Searls.

The second Moses Mault, son of Aaron, was born in Madison Township May 27, 1820. He died July 4, 1892. He is buried in the Mault Cemetery [now called Wheeler Cemetery] located in Madison Township to the north and east of Kentucky Trail.

Moses Mault married [1st] Melissa Darling, daughter of James C. Darling, April 27, 1843. Their children were: James Mault who married Margaret Erwin, Mahala Mault who married Silas Miller, Aaron Mault who married Nancy Jane Hanes, George Mault who married Harriet Titus, Sarah Mault who married David Beck, Edward Mault who married Phoebe Truitt, Polly Mault who married Alfred Canard, and Moses Mault Jr. who married [2nd] Cordelia Banks. His children by Cordelia Banks Mault were: Tillie Mault, Cordelia Mault, Hurd Mault, Elizabeth [Bessie] Mault, and Jane Mault.

The second generation after the pioneer is traced through Aaron Mault and Nancy Jane Hanes Mault, daughter of Civil War veteran, Archibald Hanes. Aaron Mault was born on the home place on Kentucky Trail December 19, 1848. He died at the home of his daughter, Malissie Jane Mault Adams in New Boston, Ohio, July 7, 1933. He and his wife are buried in the Old Mausoleum at Greenlawn Cemetery in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Aaron and Nancy Hanes Mault had the following children: Archibald "Archie" Moses Mault who married Jesse, Noah Mault who was a bachelor, Stella Elizabeth Mault who married Homer McGraw, Aaron Norman Mault, Lewis Harrison Mault, George Edward Mault who married Bertha Poetker, Malissie Jane Mault who married George William Adams, Margaret F. Mault who married Joseph McGraw, Ester Minnie Mault, and Peter Mault who died very young.

Of special note at this point is the ancestry of Malissie Jane Mault who married George William Adams, a World War II veteran. Their first born son was Dr. Ray Harrison Adams who served the Minford community as a physician for forty-six years.

Although Dr. Adams grew up in New Boston, Ohio, he returned to Minford when he began to practice medicine. He married Sally Chinn who served as his office nurse during his years of practice. They are the parents of two children: Roy Harrison Adams Jr., deceased, and Dr. Rita Diane Adams-Slone. Dr. Adams has two brothers, George Lester Adams and Paul Noah Adams.

Malissie Jane Mault Adams died December 18, 1980, in her 87th year.