Editing Charles Manson (section)

=== Childhood ===
Charles Milles Maddox was born on November 12, 1934, to 16-year-old Ada Kathleen Maddox of [[Ashland, Kentucky]], in Cincinnati General Hospital, now the [[University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center]], in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=Mar 31, 2025 |orig-date=Dec 3, 1934 |title=Official birth certificate of Charles Milles Manson |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Milles_Manson_-_Original_birth_certificate.jpg |url-status=live |website=State of Ohio Department of Health: Division of Vital Statistics |publication-date= |via=the Butler County Department of Health, Ohio}}</ref>{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–137}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reitwiesner |first=William Addams |title=Ancestry of Charles Manson |url=http://www.wargs.com/other/manson.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010208/http://www.wargs.com/other/manson.html |archive-date=2016-03-05 |website=wargs.com}}</ref> Manson's Ohio birth certificate simply lists his name as "Manson."<ref name=":3" /> His biological father appears to have been Colonel Walker Henderson Scott Sr.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Manson,Charles.html |title=Charles Manson |website=Internet Accuracy Project |access-date=October 28, 2012 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224141140/https://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Manson,Charles.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of [[Catlettsburg, Kentucky]], against whom Maddox filed a [[Paternity (law)|paternity]] suit that resulted in an [[stipulated judgment|agreed judgment]] in 1937.<ref name="mom">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Dave |title=Mother Tells Life of Manson as Boy |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 26, 1971 }}</ref> Scott worked intermittently in local mills and had a local reputation as a [[con artist]]. He allowed Maddox to believe that he was an army colonel, although "Colonel" was merely his given name. When Maddox told Scott that she was pregnant, he informed her that he had been called away on army business. After several months, she realized he had no intention of returning.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=22}} Manson never knew his biological father.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Tom |title=What Was Charles Manson's Life Like Before He Formed 'The Family' Cult? |url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/charles-manson-early-life-before-the-family-cult |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=A&E |date=June 25, 2019 |language=en |ref=none}}</ref>

In August 1934, before Manson's birth, Maddox married William Eugene Manson (1909–1961), a laborer at a [[dry cleaning]] business. Maddox often went on drinking sprees with her brother Luther Elbert Maddox (1916–1950), leaving Charles with babysitters. On April 30, 1937, Maddox and her husband divorced, after William alleged "gross neglect of duty" by Maddox. Charles retained William's last name of Manson.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=23}} On August 1, 1939, Kathleen and Luther were arrested for assault and robbery, and sentenced to five and ten years of imprisonment, respectively.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=27}}

Manson was placed in the home of an aunt and uncle in [[McMechen, West Virginia]].<ref name="ketchup">{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/books/a-new-look-at-charles-manson-by-jeff-guinn.html |title = Long Before Little Charlie Became the Face of Evil |date = August 7, 2013 |work = [[The New York Times]] |access-date = January 7, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150930225705/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/books/a-new-look-at-charles-manson-by-jeff-guinn.html |archive-date = September 30, 2015 |df = mdy-all |last=Maslin|first=Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin}}</ref> His mother was paroled in 1942. Manson later characterized the first weeks after she returned from prison as the happiest time in his life.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=36}} Weeks after her release, Manson's family moved to [[Charleston, West Virginia]],{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=38}} where he frequently played [[truancy|truant]] and his mother spent her evenings drinking.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Lansing |first=H. Allegra |title=The Manson Family: More to the Story |date=June 29, 2019 |publisher=Self-published |isbn=978-1075489884 |chapter=Son of Man: The Early Life of Charles Manson |chapter-url=https://medium.com/@themansonfamily_mtts/son-of-man-the-early-life-of-charles-manson-c89d41d03bf8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228032216/https://themansonfamily-mtts.medium.com/son-of-man-the-early-life-of-charles-manson-c89d41d03bf8 |archive-date=2022-02-28 |url-status=dead |via=[[Medium (website) | Medium]]}}</ref> She was arrested for [[grand larceny]], but not convicted.<ref name="ketchup" /> The family later moved to [[Indianapolis]], where Maddox met alcoholic Lewis Woodson Cavender Jr. (1916–1979) through [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] meetings, and married him in August 1943.<ref name=":4" />