In 1925 Christmas day was on a Friday. School was out, a weekend loomed ahead, there was no rain, no snow and the temperature was about 51. Morris Lee Maddux who was 14 and three of his friends decided to go on a hunting trip to Ferris Texas. Ferris is about 20 miles south of Dallas. If you have ever traveled North on Interstate 45 to Dallas or South to Houston you have passed through Ferris. Morris lived in Palmer Texas which is about 9 miles south of Ferris and sits just off of Interstate 45.
Morris and his friends reached Ferris on Saturday and set up camp. They were in high spirits, and loaded with new hunting weapons, ammunition, warm clothing and homemade treats. They filled their days with hunting and their nights with tales of the days adventures.
Monday evening things went very wrong for the boys. One of the boys had left his shotgun out in the brush away from the camp site. It was supposed to have been unloaded, empty, and just set aside. It was not. They went back for the gun and as boys will be boys a scuffle started and the shotgun went off.
By now the sun had set and the sky was getting darker. Morris lay on the ground blood pooling around his left side. He had been shot. His friends get him to a hospital in Ferris where he dies less than 2 hours later. The funeral was on Wednesday at 2:30 and Morris was buried in Palmer at Palmer Cemetery.
Morris was the son of Greenwood and Freddie Maddux. He is my 7th cousin 3 times removed. In simpler terms we share a very great grandfather. Alexander Maddux 1613 - 1659.
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