When people search for Lula Mae Maxey, they are almost always looking for one specific person — the woman documented as the wife of classic Western actor Dale Robertson. The name turns up in genealogy databases, fan discussions, and family tree records, but solid biographical detail about her personally is hard to find.
This article covers what genealogical records actually confirm about Lula Mae Maxey, who Dale Robertson was and why his personal life draws curiosity, and how to avoid confusing her with several other women who share the exact same name.
Who Lula Mae Maxey Was and Her Connection to Dale Robertson
The clearest documented link between Lula Mae Maxey and celebrity comes from MyHeritage’s Biographical Summaries of Notable People. That record identifies Lula Mae Maxey as the wife of actor Dale Robertson, with a marriage date of November 13, 1959.
Multiple Ancestry.com family trees reinforce this connection. Researchers who have built trees around Dale Robertson’s family consistently list Lula Mae Maxey as his spouse — specifically noting Dale L. Robertson, born 1923. While these are user-compiled trees rather than primary legal documents, the consistency across multiple independent entries does carry weight.
Based on what is publicly available, Lula Mae appears to have lived as a private individual. There is no documented public career, media presence, or widely published profile attached to her name beyond her connection to Dale Robertson.
Dale Robertson’s Career and Why His Personal Life Draws Attention
To understand why people search for Lula Mae at all, it helps to know who Dale Robertson was. He was an American actor born July 14, 1923, in Harrah, Oklahoma. He built his career in Western films and television during the 1950s and became best known for the TV series Tales of Wells Fargo, which aired from 1957 to 1962.
Robertson was a recognizable leading man in classic Hollywood Westerns. His rugged screen presence made him a fan favorite during the genre’s golden television era. Even decades after his peak years, he maintained a loyal following among fans of vintage Westerns.
That lasting popularity is precisely why his personal life draws interest. Fans researching his story naturally want to know who he married, when, and what those relationships looked like. Genealogists tracing Oklahoma or Southern family lines sometimes encounter the Robertson and Maxey surnames and want to understand how they connect.
Because Dale Robertson was the public figure in the marriage, he has an extensive documented record. Lula Mae, as a private individual, does not. That imbalance is common when researching spouses of historical celebrities — and it explains why she appears mostly in genealogical databases rather than entertainment news archives.
What Public Records Actually Say About Lula Mae Maxey
It is worth being straightforward here: the confirmed public record on Lula Mae Maxey herself is thin.
The MyHeritage entry gives her name, identifies her as Dale Robertson’s wife, and records the November 1959 marriage date. That is the core of what is formally documented from that source. No widely sourced public record clearly establishes her birth date, birthplace, occupation, or later life.
A Facebook fan group post does reference the marriage as lasting from 1959 to approximately 1977. However, this is an informal fan recollection, not a primary source. It should be read as community memory rather than confirmed fact.
The safest claim, backed by genealogical records from more than one source, is that the marriage began in November 1959. What happened after that, and when or how it ended, remains poorly documented in accessible public records.
Similarly, no verified public information about children or descendants from this marriage has been confirmed across multiple credible sources. That does not mean those details do not exist — it simply means they are not publicly confirmed in sources that can be independently checked.
A Simple Timeline of the Key Documented Facts
- July 14, 1923 — Dale Robertson is born in Harrah, Oklahoma
- 1950s — Robertson’s Western film and television career rises
- 1957 — Tales of Wells Fargo premieres
- November 13, 1959 — Marriage to Lula Mae Maxey recorded in genealogical sources
- Late 1970s (unconfirmed) — Fan sources informally suggest the marriage ended around 1977
This timeline places Lula Mae’s appearance in Robertson’s life clearly within his established career period, which is useful context for anyone building a family tree or researching his biography.
Other Women Named Lula Mae Maxey in Genealogy Records
One of the most common points of confusion for researchers is that several entirely different women share the name Lula Mae Maxey in historical records. Mixing these individuals up is an easy mistake to make, and it can send a family tree in the wrong direction.
Here are the distinct individuals researchers frequently encounter:
- Lula Mae Maxey (born May 1, 1880, Arkansas) — FamilySearch records this woman as the daughter of James Monroe Maxey and Eliza Jane Maxey. She died December 11, 1952. She predates Dale Robertson’s wife by several decades.
- Lula Mae Maxey (born June 1882, Jones County, Mississippi) — A separate FamilySearch profile lists this woman as the daughter of Charles Jeremiah Fleming Maxey. Different parents, different state, different timeline.
- Lula Mae Maxey (September 11, 1925 – July 17, 1926) — Find a Grave documents this individual as an infant who died before her first birthday, buried at Mount Zion United Methodist Church Cemetery.
- Lula Mae Rogers (née Maxey, approximately 1879–1951) — Geni.com carries a profile for a Lula Mae Maxey who later appears under the married surname Rogers.
None of these individuals can be reliably identified as Dale Robertson’s wife. The Arkansas woman born in 1880 and the Mississippi woman born in 1882 both come from a generation that does not align with a 1959 marriage to a man born in 1923. The infant, tragically, died before any of this is relevant.
The practical takeaway for researchers is simple: always cross-check birth year, location, and spouse name before assuming two records refer to the same person. The same name in genealogy records does not equal the same individual.
How to Think About Genealogy Sources in Cases Like This
A MyHeritage biographical summary works a bit like a compiled index card drawn from multiple records — useful as a starting point, but not a substitute for checking the underlying documents. The same applies to Ancestry family trees, which are built by individual users and can contain errors or gaps.
This does not make these sources worthless. When multiple independent family trees on Ancestry consistently list the same spouse for the same person, that pattern is meaningful. It suggests researchers working separately have reached the same conclusion. But it still falls short of what a marriage certificate or verified primary document would establish.
For anyone researching the Robertson or Maxey family lines seriously, genealogy platforms are a smart starting point — but the real confirmation comes from primary documents like marriage records, census entries, and official vital records where they exist.
If you enjoy exploring celebrity family histories and want more profiles like this one, TheBizBay covers a range of public figures and the stories behind them.
Why So Little Is Known About Lula Mae Compared to Dale Robertson
This question comes up naturally for anyone who researches celebrity spouses from earlier eras. Dale Robertson gave interviews, appeared in trade publications, and built a public record simply by doing his job in the public eye. Lula Mae, as a private individual, had no equivalent paper trail in public archives.
Many spouses of mid-century celebrities appear in historical records only through brief mentions — a marriage date here, a family tree entry there. This is not unusual. It reflects a time when private individuals, especially women who were not themselves public figures, rarely generated the kind of documented footprint that makes genealogical research straightforward.
The result is a short, factual entry in genealogical databases rather than a detailed narrative. That is not a failure of research — it is an accurate reflection of the available record.
A Final Word for Researchers
If you are trying to confirm whether Lula Mae Maxey is connected to Dale Robertson, genealogical sources from MyHeritage and multiple Ancestry family trees consistently say yes — with a marriage beginning November 13, 1959. That is the strongest documented claim available from public sources.
Details beyond that starting point, including her background, the marriage’s end, and any children, remain either undocumented or sourced only from informal fan content. Any serious researcher should treat those details as unconfirmed until stronger primary sources emerge.
And if you encounter a Lula Mae Maxey in older census or vital records, check the dates and parents carefully before assuming it is the same woman. The name appears across multiple distinct individuals in genealogy records spanning nearly a century. Getting that distinction right is the foundation of accurate family history research.
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