Was Steve Maxwell adopted?

[uber frau]

Not just that, but Steve has said before that his father ran off with his best friend's wife.

This info is bananas, you guys. He changed his last name at 17? Wow. That seems to me to show a tremendous resentment towards his father. Which we already knew he had, but he's always said it was because his dad blew up the family and exposed Steve to immoral things. Now we know his rage at his father predates his cult by many years and probably has very little to do with his strict Maxwellian theology, contrary to what Steve has intimated before. Perhaps even contrary to what Steve himself believes.

Maybe. Or maybe he had to change all his details legally before he reached the age of majority.

Even now it's quite possible to fudge your way through grade school without the appropriate paperwork, especially in a small town, even more so in the fifties and sixties (hell, my daughter just handed me note from school saying they didn't have a copy of her birth certificate or proof of residence on file and she's been at that school for seven years. Apparently it's possible in suburban Australia in 2014 too). It's another thing entirely to get a college loan or to join the army or to most of the other things that legal adults* get to do.

*Other than the legal adults in the Maxwell household, that is.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Ok, this site is hard to decipher because it is one long list of a family tree. It is correct because it has Steve and his sisters and his kids, and also the Gadbury's, his mother's family. This is what it has for Steve:

juch.net/download/Gadbury.GED

1 NAME Steven Ray /Bargar/ Maxwell

1 SEX M

1 BIRT

2 DATE 7 AUG 1951

2 PLAC Ft._Dodge, Webster Co, IA

And Teri:

1 NAME Teri Leigh /Frazer/

1 SEX F

1 BIRT

2 DATE 17 AUG 1955

2 PLAC Ft._Leonard_Wood, MO

And James:

NAME James Christie /Maxwell/

1 SEX M

1 BIRT

2 DATE 19 MAY 1926

[no date of death listed, it could be unknown]

1 FAMS @F356@

0 @I0232@ INDI

But even knowing his birthdate now, I still cannot find much about him! Ancestry has nothing.

newspaperarchive.com/us/missouri/jefferson-city/jefferson-city-news-and-tribune/1976/12-12/page-38

has the sisters wedding announcement. Says daughter of Dr. and Mrs. James C. Maxwell. Steve and Teri were not a part of the wedding.

Spokeo shows an 88yo James C. Maxwell living in New Mexico still, but married to another woman. And property records show owned it with a first husband and then changed her name to hyphen Maxwell and James joined the deed in 2006. I thought maybe it was him but a few things made me doubt it.

Then I found this

google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Fgrsa%2Fparknews%2Fupload%2Fpublic_lands_day_2009_updated9_22.doc&ei=UXaBU_nzNtKGogTh_4K4Ag&usg=AFQjCNEArYFGODKOAlWfz96uWNtbdN3vYg&sig2=1MzbFbMObRWCYsrqlbMddA

Which had a James Maxwell PHD presenting some astronomy thing in New Mexico. And says he works at an observatory. I have no idea if this is the same James Maxwell.

It's kind of driving me crazy.

[feministxtian]

In a similar vein...my husband used his stepfather's last name but it wasn't made legal...UNTIL...his high school graduation. He discovered that they were going to put his "legal" last name on it. He went and changed his last name legally so his diploma would have the "right" name. If you trace him on Ancestry, he still comes up with his birthfather's last name.

My maiden name is very German and very unusual (maybe 3 families in the whole country). My half brother dropped my father's last name and changed his name to his stepfather's when he was about 18-19.

So name changing isn't THAT unusual...

But Steve Maxwell is batshit crazy and so is his wife.

[PennySycamore]

Ok, this site is hard to decipher because it is one long list of a family tree. It is correct because it has Steve and his sisters and his kids, and also the Gadbury's, his mother's family. This is what it has for Steve:

juch.net/download/Gadbury.GED

But even knowing his birthdate now, I still cannot find much about him! Ancestry has nothing.

newspaperarchive.com/us/missouri/jefferson-city/jefferson-city-news-and-tribune/1976/12-12/page-38

has the sisters wedding announcement. Says daughter of Dr. and Mrs. James C. Maxwell. Steve and Teri were not a part of the wedding.

Spokeo shows an 88yo James C. Maxwell living in New Mexico still, but married to another woman. And property records show owned it with a first husband and then changed her name to hyphen Maxwell and James joined the deed in 2006. I thought maybe it was him but a few things made me doubt it.

Then I found this

google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Fgrsa%2Fparknews%2Fupload%2Fpublic_lands_day_2009_updated9_22.doc&ei=UXaBU_nzNtKGogTh_4K4Ag&usg=AFQjCNEArYFGODKOAlWfz96uWNtbdN3vYg&sig2=1MzbFbMObRWCYsrqlbMddA

Which had a James Maxwell PHD presenting some astronomy thing in New Mexico. And says he works at an observatory. I have no idea if this is the same James Maxwell.

It's kind of driving me crazy.

There was a James Clerk Maxwell who was a Scottish mathematical physicist in the 19th Century. He studied the electromagnetic field, discovered that the rings of Saturn were particles of rock, made the first color photograph, and studied the movement of molecules in gasses. We learned about him in physics and Neil DeGrasse Tyson mentioned him on Cosmos. I don't think though that this James Maxwell is the astronomer or Steve's dad. He died in 1879.

[halcionne]

1968. Steve turned 18 in 1969 and I doubt he would have changed his name after that point, although Curtis Roosevelt grandson of FDR was born Dall, then changed his name to Boettiger after his mother remarried then to Roosevelt after she divorced John Boettiger and he was over 18 then.

SPHASH, I interpreted the 1968 figure as your estimation of the latest date Stevie might have changed his name, because after that he would be an adult and probably wouldn't bother; other FJers seem to have taken it as a definite date of the name change. Can you please clarify this?

Speaking of 1968, when was Steve in the service? His name was Maxwell by then, right?

Ok, this site is hard to decipher because it is one long list of a family tree. It is correct because it has Steve and his sisters and his kids, and also the Gadbury's, his mother's family. This is what it has for Steve:

juch.net/download/Gadbury.GED

But even knowing his birthdate now, I still cannot find much about him! Ancestry has nothing.

newspaperarchive.com/us/missouri/jefferson-city/jefferson-city-news-and-tribune/1976/12-12/page-38

has the sisters wedding announcement. Says daughter of Dr. and Mrs. James C. Maxwell. Steve and Teri were not a part of the wedding.

Spokeo shows an 88yo James C. Maxwell living in New Mexico still, but married to another woman. And property records show owned it with a first husband and then changed her name to hyphen Maxwell and James joined the deed in 2006. I thought maybe it was him but a few things made me doubt it.

Then I found this

google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Fgrsa%2Fparknews%2Fupload%2Fpublic_lands_day_2009_updated9_22.doc&ei=UXaBU_nzNtKGogTh_4K4Ag&usg=AFQjCNEArYFGODKOAlWfz96uWNtbdN3vYg&sig2=1MzbFbMObRWCYsrqlbMddA

Which had a James Maxwell PHD presenting some astronomy thing in New Mexico. And says he works at an observatory. I have no idea if this is the same James Maxwell.

It's kind of driving me crazy.

NotALoserLikeYou, your google-fu is truly impressive! I have been googling along with this thread (I don't speak up much on FJ because whatever I find/opine will usually be mentioned by someone else eventually--I'm shy, and late to most threads, anyway) and I found a lot of the same information.

Nathan would've been born within days of the sister's wedding, so that would definitely explain their absence. That doesn't rule out any family strife, of course.

When I googled James Christie Maxwell I got a bunch of academic papers pertaining to geology. That was yesterday, though, let's see if I can reproduce it...

Here's his thesis/dissertation from Columbia, 1961: http://www.worldcat.org/title/quantitat ... /612836788

---

Here is an obituary for Mrs Mary under her first married name. No mention of any spouses at all. :think:

https://www.messengernews.net/page/cont ... l?nav=5011

[SPHASH]

SPHASH, I interpreted the 1968 figure as your estimation of the latest date Stevie might have changed his name, because after that he would be an adult and probably wouldn't bother; other FJers seem to have taken it as a definite date of the name change. Can you please clarify this?

Speaking of 1968, when was Steve in the service? His name was Maxwell by then, right?

NotALoserLikeYou, your google-fu is truly impressive! I have been googling along with this thread (I don't speak up much on FJ because whatever I find/opine will usually be mentioned by someone else eventually--I'm shy, and late to most threads, anyway) and I found a lot of the same information.

Nathan would've been born within days of the sister's wedding, so that would definitely explain their absence. That doesn't rule out any family strife, of course.

When I googled James Christie Maxwell I got a bunch of academic papers pertaining to geology. That was yesterday, though, let's see if I can reproduce it...

Here's his thesis/dissertation from Columbia, 1961: http://www.worldcat.org/title/quantitat ... /612836788

---

Here is an obituary for Mrs Mary under her first married name. No mention of any spouses at all. :think:

https://www.messengernews.net/page/cont ... l?nav=5011

I chose 1968 as the latest date Steve changed his name, but Jan 1-Aug 1969 is a possibility too.

[halcionne]

Steve's sister Toni has lost her father-in-law as well. My condolences to her family.

http://www.messengernews.net/page/conte ... l?nav=5011

[nelliebelle1197]

I found Steve's nephew Nick and niece in law Andi on Facebook. They look relatively normal.

[gustava]

I found Steve's nephew Nick and niece in law Andi on Facebook. They look relatively normal.

Compared to Stevehovah, most of us look normal. :mrgreen:

[Trynn]

Andddddd cue blog response from Steve (because we know he reads here) in 5....4...3...2.....

[FloraDoraDolly]

Andddddd cue blog response from Steve (because we know he reads here) in 5....4...3...2.....

A response about his mother passing or a response about his two dads? Or both?

[Trynn]

A response about his mother passing or a response about his two dads? Or both?

Probably both, addressed in separate posts, with "explanations" a out why he didn't post about it earlier.

An F-U FJ post, x2.

[nelliebelle1197]

I don't think he will post anything on the deaths. He had a reason for not writing a post before and for not mentioning his mother very much. I am sure it has something to do with multiple husbands and his lack approval towards his mother. There may even be estrangement. Teri's sister comments on the blog. Teri's parents are part of the "family". Steve never mentions his siblings except in negative ways (remember the fabled egg hunt?).

[RosyDaisy]

I think Steve's closet is full of skeletons that he keeps under lock and key. That whole family gives me a sinister vibe, so there's no telling what he's hiding, and I'd rather not find out.