Family trees online at Ancestry.com show Mahala’s ancestry in fairly well documented detail, with her parents being James R. Weddle and Charity Curry of Scott Co., Virginia and later Hawkins Co., Tennessee, James’ parents being John Weddle and Mary Walling of Baltimore Maryland and later Hawkins Co., Tennessee, Charity’s parents being William Curry and Nancy Walling, plus at least one generation further on all lines (the Weddle line going back to Holland and the Walling to New Jersey and Rhode Island.) I am not entering the information, because I have no Maxwell or Weddle ancestry, and just did the search because some descendants of William Jones and Ida Mae Maxwell were asking about her origin.

I’m including census notes for this family mainly for the benefit of descendents of their granddaughter Ida Mae Maxwell who married William A. Jones.

1850 census of Jackson Co., Indiana, Salt Creek township, enumerated 2 Sept, lists on pp. 123A-123B as family #384/387:
John Maxwell, 35, b. Ky; Mahala, 35, b. Tenn; Ellen E., 15; James J., 13; Enoch W., 9; David H., 7; Bazell E., 5; Annis L., 2. All children born in Indiana.

(Nearly the entire two page spread consists of families in which at least one of the heads of household was born in Kentucky, and all their children born in Indiana. There must have been word spread in some part of Kentucky in the early 1830’s that Jackson Co. Indiana was a good place for young families starting out to move to, similar to the way there was a big migration from east Kentucky to Butler Co., Ohio in the 1920’s.)

1860 census of Jackson Co., Indiana, Carr township, enumerated 12 July, lists on p. 89 as family #635/633:
John Maxwell, 47, b. Ky; Mahala, 48, b. Tenn; David, 17; Edward, 15; Anna, 13; Mary, 9; Nancy, 8; John, 4. All children born in Indiana.

1870 census of Barry Co., Missouri, Shoal Creek township, Cassville P.O., enumerated 30 July, lists on p. 25 as family #168;
Maxwell, John, 57, b. Ky; Mahala, 57, b. Va; Mary J., 19, b. Ind; John W., 16, b. Ind.