Hence Maddox was born on June 16th 1889 in Cashpoint, Tennessee. He went to school until the 2nd or 3rd Grade at Neebow. He eventually started doing carpentry work and learned to read blue prints. People would come to his house so he could read the prints for them. Maw Maw said, �they�d just be lined up.� On April 11th 1907, at the age of 19 Hence was employed at Dallas Mill working as a weaver. The kids and grandkids called him Popa.
He first married Kate Lou Allen and they had one child, Mable. Mable married Lance Frierson and lived in Houston, Texas. Hence and Kate were divorced.
Eula Lee Vann was born on October 19th 1896 in New Hope, Alabama. Her parents were Mot and Minnie Vann. She attended school in New Hope until 7th or 8th grade. She then moved to Huntsville and went to work at Dallas Mill working in the spool room. At the age of 17, she was listed as a Dallas Mill employee on August 27th 1909. She was listed again on January 26th 1912 at the age of 19.
In 1910 Hence�s and Eula�s families were both living on Dallas Avenue. At that time Hence was farming and Eula was working as a weaver at Dallas Mill. Hence and Eula were married, probably in the spring of 1912.
In 1916, Hence and Eula were living at Douglas Hill and he was working at Lowe Mills. In 1920, they were living at 408 Stevens and Hence was working as a carpenter for Dallas Manufacturing Company
Hence was the supervisor of building mill houses, he built the shotgun houses for the Merrimack Mill Village. He also built houses for the Dallas Mill Village. While supervising the building of these mill houses he lived at 508 Stevens. Three other bosses lived on Stevens also, Brother Stillman (Pastor of the 5th Street Church), Barry Hills and the Burkette�s. Brother Stillman had a daughter Clara, about the same age as Maw Maw. They were both losing teeth when they were living next door to each other. Maw Maw wouldn�t let her daddy pull her teeth, she�d let Brother Stillman pull them; Clara wouldn�t let her dad pull her teeth, she�d get Hence to pull them. Maw Maw said that Hence was the first person to own a car in Huntsville�s Dallas Mill Village, he had a Model T. Brother Stillman asked to borrow Hence�s car one day. Hence told him he couldn�t let him borrow it but he�d drive him anywhere he wanted to go.
Hence bought a lot on O�Shaugnessy for $25 and built a house. He then quit work on the mill houses and started his own business. When the boom hit he went to work in Florida for two years building houses. They went to Hollywood, Florida via the train. They were all amazed at how big the town was when they got there.
In 1922, they were living at 814 O�Shaugnessy Avenue and Hence was working as a carpenter according to the Huntsville Directory of that year. In 1924, they were living at 1008 O�Shaugnessy Avenue and Hence was still working as a carpenter. In 1931, they were still living on O�Shaugnessy and had 12 children.
At the house on O�Shaugnessy, Hence rented the lot across the street to grow sweet potatoes. The family also had a garden by the house where they grew beans, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, corn, etc.
Hence also built the house next door to the one the family lived in on O�Shaughnessy. It is located to the right of Thomas� Produce store and is yellow and gray and the street address is now 1257 .
Hence and Eula had 13 children!
1. Stella Pauline was born 1913.
2. Floyd Herman was born in 1914. He served in the Navy for three years . He married Jewel. They owned a shoe store on Meridian Street. They lived on Pratt Avenue. Floyd and Jewel had thee children: Shirley (married Turney Deakins), they live in Birmingham, Alabama; Gail lives in Arizona and Steve. Gail had 2 daughters Delisha (she had a daughter, Noelle) and Joy. Floyd died ? , and is buried at Valhalla Memorial Gardens
3. Lorene was born 1915? She married William Hooper. They had four children: Billy, Tommy, Susie and Charles. Lorene is buried in a family plot at Maple Hill.
4. Geneva was born on Valentine�s Day 1916. She married three times. Her first husband was Jasper Gutherie, her second husband was Hubert Woods and her third husband was Fletcher Woodis. She had one daughter named Beverly Giehart, she lives in Owens Cross Roads. Geneva died of cancer and is buried at Valhalla.
5. Mary Magdalene was born October 6th 1917 . She married Ruben Jeff Evett, he worked at the Lincoln Mill and lived in the Village. They moved to Birmingham and Jeff went to work. They had three children: Kenneth, Barbara, and Gary. The Christmas before Mary died, she came to spend the holiday with Maw Maw and her family she brought Lynn and Debbie silk pajamas, one of them got pink and the other got green and she brought Don an electric train. She had light brown hair and was very sweet. The next winter she was planning to come see Maw Maw but slipped on ice and broke her arm. She died of cancer on March 21st 1969. She is buried in Birmingham. Her son Gary died when he fell from a hotel window in Birmingham. Barbara died in 2004.
6. H. M. was born March 2nd 1920. H. M. just had initials when he went into the military so they named him Hence Melvin. While in the military H. M. and a friend decided they didn�t like it so they left. They were caught and sent to Ft. Leavenworth Prison for two years. He never had any children. He died April 24th 1982 of cancer, at the time he was living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was buried at Maple Hill near Hence and Eula plot 1C lot J.
7. Russell was born . He married Ruth. She was killed in a car accident. He had a set of twins. He lives in Florence, Alabama.
8. Joe (Jewell) was born about 1924. He married Faye and they had two daughters, Mollie and Pat. Joe, Faye and Mollie live in Florence and Pat lives in Killen, Alabama. Joe said that when he would come home late on a cold night after some of the other boys were sleeping he would scoop one of them up and move them into his own bed. Then he could sleep in their bed that they had already gotten warm.9. Lucille was born March 14th 1929. After their mother died Lucille when to live with Stella and her family. She married Jack Kelly. They adopted a daughter, Lisa. They also took care of Betty�s daughter Maggie. When Lucille was old enough to draw her Social Security she went to the courthouse with Linda and Stella to get a copy of her birth certificate. She then found out her name was actually Lou Lucille Maddox. Lucille died of cancer on September 26th 199?. Lisa is married and now lives in New Jersey and has two sons.
10. Gaynell was born . She married Leonard Wwindell and they moved to Akron, Ohio. They had three children: Larry, Sandy and Terry. She died and is buried �up north.� Her husband now lives in Madison.
11. Juanita was born She married a doctor J. D. Daughtry. They lived in California. They had no children of their own but took care of Betty�s daughter, Cindy.
12. U. O was born in 1927; He was named after a man named U. O. Red that had helped Hence do a lot of work. He was in the army for about six years and fought in World War II. He married Margies and they had six children: Judy Beard, Bonnie Szymczak, Brenda Kay, Rhonda Duncan, Donna Satterfield and Billy. U. O. died December 1987, from cancer and is buried at Valhalla Memorial Gardens.
13. Betty Jean was born in 1932 or 1933, she was the only child of Hence and Eula�s to be born in a hospital, all of the other children were born at home. She married Doyle Kilpatrick and had three children: Maggie, Cindy, and Tommy. She later moved to California and re-married. Maggie went to live with Lucille, Cindy went to live with Juanita, and the Kennamer family in Florence, Alabama adopted Tommy. Betty lives in California. Maggie lives in Huntsville and has one daughter, Megan. Tommy lives in Nashville, Tennessee and has two children, Kacy and Matt.
Eula had severe arthritis. So the doctor told her to help the arthritis she should get all of her teeth pulled out. She did but it didn�t help any.
On October 2nd 1942 Eula died after being sick for six years. They say she died of arthritis, she is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery, lot 8, plot J.
After Eula�s death Hence married again. First he married Myrtle Vest, a mill worker. Lucille told Linda that she would have been very good to them but the kids were so mean to her she left. After Myrtle left Hence sold the house, U. O. said that him and Russell slept in a ball field. Hence then married Maudie Hill, they lived in West Huntsville. They lived in a house with someone they rented a room from. Hence and Maudie were gone visiting all the time. They were still married at the time of his death. (Maudie re-married after Hence�s death)
Hence died September 1st 1961 and is buried next to Eula at Maple Hill Cemetery.