Kathleen Maddox was popularly known as the woman who gave birth to the 20th century’s most notorious criminal, Charles Manson. She had Charles Manson when she was just 15 years old and a runaway from home.
She was described as a rebellious and impulsive teenager, a juvenile delinquent, and an alcoholic prostitute. After she gave birth to her son, she never took time to take care of him as she was always in trouble with the authorities.
Kathleen Maddox was quite close to her family and depended on them even when she was serving jail time. After she was released, she tried all she could to regain the time she had lost with her son which proved futile.
Facts about t Charles Manson’s Mother
1. Kathleen Maddox’s early life and background
Ada Kathleen Maddox was born on January 11, 1919, in Morehead, Kentucky. Her father Charles Milles Maddox was a railroad conductor while her mother, Nancy Lorraine Ingraham Maddox, was a housewife.
Her father died when she was just 12 years old leaving her mother of providing for Maddox and her three siblings.
She was from Ashland, Kentucky and her family was a devoutly religious family.
2. Her son was tagged ‘no-name Maddox’ at birth
Kathleen Maddox got pregnant after she ran off to the city. She gave birth to Charles Manson on November 12, 1934, in the University of Cincinnati academic health center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Manson was first named “no name” Maddox for some weeks before he was called Charles Milles Maddox. His father is known to be Colonel Scott.
3. Kathleen Maddox once exchanged her son for a bottle of beer
The juvenile delinquent mother was known as a neglectful mother. It was said that she once gave her son to a cocktail waitress in exchange for a beer and left him there for several days.
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4. Kathleen Maddox’s son was eight years old when she was released from prison
Maddox was arrested for armed robbery in 1939 when her son was 5 years old and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Her son was put in her sister’s custody. By the time Maddox was released from prison, her son was already 8 years old. She started working in a McMeschen bar before she regained custody of her son. She noticed he had grown manipulative; he would not go to school and would beg for money on the street just to buy candies.
5. She married a man named Lewis Cavender
When Kathleen Maddox realized her son was becoming wayward, she decided to get a proper family for him. She went in search of a husband until she met Lewis Cavender.
She married Cavender in August 1945. He was said to be a West Virginian circus worker. Unfortunately, he was not the type of father she wanted for her son, it was not long before he lost his job.
She was determined to make the marriage work so she stayed with him.
Prior to this, Maddox was previously married to a man named Manson just after she had her son. Unfortunately for her, the marriage did not last.
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6. Kathleen Maddox sent her son to a school for wayward boys
Her marriage to Lewis Cavender made her choose either her son’s side or her husband’s side as the two were always quarreling.
Maddox decided to send her son to Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana. The school was a Catholic institution for wayward boys.
Charles Manson detested the school as he frequently told his mother the place was a ‘torture chamber’ but she never believed him.
7. Kathleen Maddox moved to Washington to stay close to her son
After Charles Manson was arrested for stealing a ’53 Mercury, Kathleen Maddox felt guilty for all he was doing and she wanted to stay close to him.
Hence, when he was transferred to the McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington State, Kathleen Maddox moved to Washington just to be close to him and stand by him.
8. Charles Manson blamed his mother and others for his woes
Kathleen Maddox believed she overindulged her son because of the guilt she felt for the time she was absent. In the same way, Charles Manson never admitted anything as he was always blaming his mother, his followers, and the people around him for his misfortunes.
9. Charles Manson’s father was a fake ‘Colonel’
Charles Manson’s biological father was Colonel Walker Henderson Scott from Catlettsburg, Kentucky. He lied to Maddox that he was an army colonel and when she got pregnant, he left her saying he was going away for army business. She later realized the name colonel was just a nickname.
10. Kathleen Maddox died of a brain hemorrhage
Kathleen Maddox died on July 31, 1973, in Spokane, Washington at the age of 54. She died of a brain hemorrhage.
