Woman with 234 great-great-grandchildren posts amazing family photo

MaeDell Taylor Hawkins is a 98-year-old woman from Kentucky with over 623 direct decedents, and her grandchildren are now great-grandparents themselves. The matriarch recently went viral online due to a photograph of her posing alongside six generations of her family – including her recently born great-great-great-granddaughter, who was born last month in February.

Newborn Zhavia is now seven weeks old but recently met her great-great-great grandmother Maedell who is almost one hundred years old. Gracie Snow Howell is Maedell’s great-granddaughter and posted a picture on Facebook that has now gone viral showing six generations is just one family. 

She wrote on February 24 alongside the photograph: “SIX (living) generations, MaeDell, Frances, Gracie, Jacqueline, Jaisline, and Zhavia.)

The other woman in the photo is MaeDell’s daughter Frances, granddaughter Gracie, great-granddaughter Jacqueline and great-great-granddaughter Jaisline. The sister of Gracie and Maedell’s other granddaughter, Sheryl was also present but not in the photograph as she took the family photo. 

MayDell has over 106 grandchildren, 222 great-grandchildren, 234 great-great-grandchildren and 37 great-great-great-grandchildren combined.

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Gracie, who is 77 years old, spoke with Fox News about MaeDell and said it was difficult coordinating such a visit as half of the family now live out of state in other parts of the United States. 

Gracie herself lives in Ohio, while other members of the family are based in South Carolina and other parts of the country. However, the family catch-up went well and MaeDell got to meet the next generation of her family.

In an interview, Gracie said: “We spend three hours with [MaeDell] that afternoon, we had a really good visit”. 

At 98 years old, MaeDell has lived through many historical events, which include living through the second world war, the moon landing, and at least 16 presidents. 

MaeDell was born and raised in Kentucky and married her first husband Bill in 1940 when she was 16 years old and went on to have 13 children.

Gracie said to Fox News: “She was 16 when she married him. He was 50. That’s a big difference. He already had 10 children. His wife died having twins at home. He worked on the railroad. He had to get back to work. He needed somebody to take care of the kids.”

She added that MaeDell had to take care of a household without any “modern conveniences” such as indoor plumbing, electric kitchen appliances, washing machines, and radiators.

Despite these difficulties, Gracie seemed to admire the matriarch’s work ethic. She said: “She took care of everybody, I’ve never heard my mom say anything about hearing her complain.” 

Gracie added: “She would often say, ‘Hard work is what keeps you going.”

Maeldell will celebrate her 99th birthday in July this year, and meet her third great-great-great-grandchildren before then, as another member of the Hawkins family is expecting.

Gracie said: “If everything goes well, the baby’s doing well, Grandma’s doing well — we’re all going to meet back in June and get another picture. We’re hoping to get all three of the great-great-great grandchildren with her.”