Betty Mary (Roberts) Maxwell (1925 - 2016)

Born 23 Nov 1925 in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas

Ancestors

Daughter of Benjamin Edward Roberts and Sarah Louise (Bethel) Roberts

Wife of Lewis Samuel Maxwell — married 8 Jun 1946 in Miami, Dade County, Florida

Died 8 Apr 2016 at age 90 in Tampa, Florida

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Peter Roberts [send private message]

Betty (Roberts) Maxwell is part of a Bahamian family.

Biography

Betty Mary Roberts was born in 1925 in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas. She is the daughter of Bennie Roberts^[1] and Sarah Bethel^[2]. ^[3]

Betty was born to homemaker Sarah Louise (née Bethel) and boat builder Benjamin Edward Roberts in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas. At age 3, Betty and her family moved to Nassau, where she would spend the remainder of her childhood and early adult years. She grew especially close to her sister Una, who helped to raise her. Betty graduated from Queen's College, Nassau, Bahamas. Betty worked at the Nassau Stop-N-Shop retail store and at the Bahamian Port Authority.

Betty met professional entomologist, plant pathologist, and wartime U.S. Navy liaison officer to the Bahamian government Lewis S. Maxwell during his World War II tour of duty in Nassau. The two were married on June 8, 1946 in Miami, Florida, with Betty’s mother and her sister-in-law Lois in attendance. The newlyweds would make south Florida their home, living in two different locations in Eagle Lake before ultimately settling in Tampa. Betty was an accomplished seamstress who sewed much of the couple's own clothing, including tailored three piece suits and overcoats. At age 29 in 1954, Betty began studies at the University of Tampa, going on to graduate cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1959. Betty was employed by the Hillsborough County Public Schools from August 17, 1960 to October 14, 1960 and taught Science at Sulphur Springs Junior High School during the 1960-61 school year.

Beginning in 1959, Betty edited and co-authored along with her husband Lewis a highly successful and classic series of nine Florida horticulture books: Florida Birds, Florida Flowers, Florida Fruits, Florida Insects, Florida Lawns and Gardens, Florida Plant Selector, Florida’s Poisonous Plants-Snakes-Insects, Florida Trees and Palms, and Florida Vegetables. In addition to their books, the couple published a bi-monthly publication entitled, "Florida Garden Guide," a mainstay that was made complimentarily available to customers of local nurseries and other horticulture related businesses. Betty's writing, editorial, administrative, and sales skills were invaluable to their publishing success. During more than thirty years in their final home in Tampa, Betty & Lewis developed their entire parcel of property into a living personal laboratory full of delicious and sometimes exotic things to eat. Some of the fruit they grew included pineapple and grapefruit as well as Betty's favorite fruit from her island childhood, sugar apple, Annona squamosa, which grew attractively at their front door. They joyfully shared their lifetime of expertise about gardening in Florida for more than 50 years of marriage until Betty was widowed in 1998. Betty continued to manage the inventory, logistics, and sales of her books independently and later developed an Internet-based channel of distribution in 2005, serving individual and corporate customers. Some of her book sales clients included pest extermination firms, landscapers, survivalist trainers, and botanical garden gift shops, etc.

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DNA Notes

I should merge Family Finder and 23andMe results into a Superkit (8 Jun 2020)

Sources

"Bahamas Civil Registration, 1850-1959," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GR34-9447?cc=1922411&wc=Q4ZP-FM9%3A216282401 : 8 October 2014), Births 1924-1925 > image 401.

Florida, County Marriage Records, 1823-1982, Record Details. Name: Betty M Roberts. Gender: Female. Marriage Date: 8 Jun 1946. Marriage Place: Florida, USA. Spouse: Lewis S Maxwell. Film Number: 002115802.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Paternal relationship is confirmed by a 1828.2 cM Family Finder match between Peter Roberts GEDmatch RN449431C1 and his paternal aunt Betty Maxwell (nee Roberts) GEDmatch YC018055C1.
2. ↑ maternal relationship is confirmed by a 1828.2 cM Family Finder match between Peter Roberts GEDmatch RN449431C1 and his paternal aunt Betty Maxwell (nee Roberts) GEDmatch YC018055C1.
3. ↑ Entered by Peter Roberts, Saturday, July 13, 2013.

auDNA TGs linked to WikiTree's Relationship Finder

auDNA Triangulated Groups

Ethnic Admixure

GEDmatch's Eurogenes K36

23andMe's Ancestry Composition

Principal Component Analysis using Eurogenes K15 and https://gen3553.pagesperso-orange.fr/ADN/K15.htm