Mary Jane had nine children of her own and raised two stepdaughters. During the Civil War the family lived not far from the Wilsons Creek battlefield and it is said Mary Jane was always willing to feed a hungry soldier, regardless of his uniform. Because she had been kind, the Union soldiers warned her in advance that her home was to be burned. The Hadens had taken apart a wagon and buried it - and hidden a horse, or maybe a mule, in the woods to prevent confiscation by the soldiers. Mary Jane and her older children put the wagon back together and they left for Texas; her seventh child was only an infant. At the time, her husband William was in a Yankee jail in Ft. Smith, accused of spying, so she left word at various crossroads, so he could find her when released. She went to Grayson Co, TX where friends had also fled. After the war, William did find his family - they lived for a short while in Lamar County, eventually settling near Ladonia. Her son Joseph built a large Victorian house in Ladonia in 1895 - and built his widowed mama a house across the street. Both homes are still occupied, although they have been out of the Haden family for years.
Mary Jane had nine children of her own and raised two stepdaughters. During the Civil War the family lived not far from the Wilsons Creek battlefield and it is said Mary Jane was always willing to feed a hungry soldier, regardless of his uniform. Because she had been kind, the Union soldiers warned her in advance that her home was to be burned. The Hadens had taken apart a wagon and buried it - and hidden a horse, or maybe a mule, in the woods to prevent confiscation by the soldiers. Mary Jane and her older children put the wagon back together and they left for Texas; her seventh child was only an infant. At the time, her husband William was in a Yankee jail in Ft. Smith, accused of spying, so she left word at various crossroads, so he could find her when released. She went to Grayson Co, TX where friends had also fled. After the war, William did find his family - they lived for a short while in Lamar County, eventually settling near Ladonia. Her son Joseph built a large Victorian house in Ladonia in 1895 - and built his widowed mama a house across the street. Both homes are still occupied, although they have been out of the Haden family for years.
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