Doddridge County Roots

A West Virginia Genealogy

Franklin MAXWELL

Franklin MAXWELL

Male 1814 - 1892  (78 years)

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  • Name Franklin MAXWELL 
    Born 16 Jun 1814  Harrison Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3
    Gender Male 
    Census 1850, 1860  Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Census 1870  Southwest District, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Census 1880  West Union District, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation farmer  [4
    Residence Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 4, 5
    Died 4 Jul 1892  West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 6
    Buried Franklin Maxwell Cemetery, Maxwell Ridge, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 3
    Notes 
    • Franklin Maxwell was "one of the State's most extensive landowners. He once represented the district of which the county of Doddridge was a part in the West Virginia Senate." [son's obituary]

      Local news item, "The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer," Mar 29 1882, in its entirety:
      "Senator Maxwell, of Doddridge county, left for his home on the Andes yesterday accompanied by his daughter, Miss Susie, who has been here with her father during the session, forming a valuable addition to Wheeling society."

      He is said to have helped many poor laborers to homes of their own by permitting them to live on his lands and by giving them time to make payments, provided that they were honest and industrious. [Minnie Kendall Lowther's "History of Ritchie County," p. 601]

      The 1860 Census showed the value of Franklin Maxwell's real estate to be $50,000, and the value of his personal estate to be $8,000. By the time of the 1870 Census, those values had increased to $80,000 and $40,000. According to his obituary, Franklin Maxwell left an estate worth about a half million dollars.
    Person ID I34244  Doddridge County Roots
    Last Modified 27 Dec 2015 

    Father Abner MAXWELL,   b. 3 Oct 1784, Pennsylvania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 11 Jan 1864, West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 79 years) 
    Mother Susan DAVISSON,   b. 1788,   d. 1 Aug 1826  (Age 38 years) 
    Family ID F10877  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Frances Jane REYNOLDS,   b. 12 Jan 1819, Harrison Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Aug 1897, Clarksburg, Harrison Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years) 
    Married 1840  [2
    Notes 
    • The 1850 Federal Census Slave Schedule for Doddridge County, enumerated on Jul 16 1850, contains the following entry:
      Slave owner: Franklin Maxwell.
      Description of slaves:
      1 black male, age 46
      1 black female, age 23
      1 mulatto female, age 3
      1 black female, age 1

      The 1860 Federal Census Slave Schedule for Doddridge County, enumerated on Jun 1 1860, contains the following entry:
      Slave owner: Frank Maxwell
      Description of slaves:
      1 black male, age 56
      1 black female, age 30
      1 black female, age 12
      1 black male, age 10
      1 black female, age 8
      1 black female, age 5

      The following in an excerpt from an article about Franklin Maxwell's son Lewis that appeared in the February 21, 1932, issue of the "Sunday Morning Exponent-Telegram." Part of it quotes Lewis Maxwell directly:
      "The [Jones-Imboden] raiders went into camp right at my father's home at the head of Bluestone creek," Mr. Maxwell said. "The officers occupied rooms in our home and my mother and a slave, 'Aunt Till,' cooked for and fed them." ...
      Besides "Aunt Till," the Franklin Maxwell family had four slaves, all members of one family. The man slave was "Anthony," who Maxwell bought in the Wood County jail for $250 from a man named Henderson, whose cattle Maxwell bought. The price was low, as Henderson had much trouble keeping Anthony on the West Virginia side of the river, the slave having a natural inclination to live in a free state. The colored couple had two daughters and a son.
      "Aunt Till" was a wedding present to Mrs. Franklin Maxwell, a gift made by her father. Because of that fact, as well as the long period she served in the Maxwell family, "Aunt Till" was very much endeared to the Maxwells, and the colored folk were very fond of their master's family.
      Franklin Maxwell, as stated, once bought a slave, but he never sold one. He was offered $1,600 by a Virginian for the two slave girls, but spurned the offer, and the son declares he would not have sold them at any price.
      The Maxwell slaves were given their freedom before the Civil War, but the old couple remained on the premises, died there, and were buried near their former master and mistress. The children were presented with a farm in Taylor County by their former master. He was kind to them and they respected him to the point of devotion.
      After "Anthony" had been given his freedom, he rode to Parkersburg on the first train that ran over the Grafton-Parkersburg division of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad system a few years before the Civil War began.

      1870 Census, Doddridge Co, WV (Southwest Twp), enumerated on Aug 22 1870:
      Franklin Maxwell, 55, farmer, value of real estate $80,000, value of personal estate $40,000; Frances, 50; Rector, 22, farmer; Williams B, 20, farmer; Harriet P, 16; Franklin, 12; Frances J, 10; Susan A, 8.

      1880 Census, Doddridge Co, WV (West Union District), enumerated on Jun 4 1880:
      Franklin Maxwell, 66, farmer; wife Frances, 52; son Rector, 31; dau Harriet, 25; dau Susan A, 18; servant Sarah Waldo, 28, single; ward Rebecca Shreeves, 12.
    Children 
    +1. Leeman MAXWELL,   b. 30 Nov 1840, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Sep 1920, Bluestone, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 79 years)
    +2. Lewis M. MAXWELL,   b. 21 Feb 1843, Bluestone, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Oct 1934, Bluestone, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 91 years)
    +3. Porter MAXWELL,   b. 3 Apr 1847, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Sep 1928, Harrison Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 81 years)
     4. Rector MAXWELL,   b. 16 Feb 1848,   d. 10 Feb 1886  (Age 37 years)
     5. Dexter MAXWELL,   b. 1850, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1850, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 0 years)
    +6. William Brent MAXWELL,   b. 27 Apr 1850, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Jun 1930, Clarksburg, Harrison Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 80 years)
     7. Harriet Payne "Hattie" MAXWELL,   b. 12 Sep 1853, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Sep 1890  (Age 37 years)
     8. Mary Martha MAXWELL,   b. 23 May 1855,   d. 5 Dec 1860  (Age 5 years)
     9. Franklin Post MAXWELL,   b. 7 Dec 1857,   d. 15 Feb 1880  (Age 22 years)
     10. Frances Jane MAXWELL,   b. 20 Sep 1859,   d. Dec 1878, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 19 years)
     11. Susan Alice "Susie" MAXWELL,   b. 19 Jul 1861, Bluestone, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 5 Aug 1883  (Age 22 years)
    Family ID F13448  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsDied - 4 Jul 1892 - West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    34244_MAXWELL_Franklin_1814-1892_FranklinMaxwellCem_MaxwellRidge_DoddridgeCoWV.jpg
    34244_MAXWELL_Franklin_1814-1892_FranklinMaxwellCem_MaxwellRidge_DoddridgeCoWV.jpg
    34244_MAXWELL_Franklin_1814-1892_FranklinMaxwellCem_MaxwellRidge_DoddridgeCoWV_Closeup.jpg
    34244_MAXWELL_Franklin_1814-1892_FranklinMaxwellCem_MaxwellRidge_DoddridgeCoWV_Closeup.jpg
    34244_Antony_SlaveofFranklinMaxwell_ca1804-ca1864_FranklinMaxwellCem_MaxwellRidge_DoddridgeCoWV.jpg
    34244_Antony_SlaveofFranklinMaxwell_ca1804-ca1864_FranklinMaxwellCem_MaxwellRidge_DoddridgeCoWV.jpg

    Documents
    34244_MAXWELL_FranklinB_1814-1892_Obit_WheelingRegister_Fri_22Jul1892.jpg
    34244_MAXWELL_FranklinB_1814-1892_Obit_WheelingRegister_Fri_22Jul1892.jpg
    34244_MAXWELL_FranklinB_1814-1892_Obit_WheelingRegister_Sat_9Jul1892.jpg
    34244_MAXWELL_FranklinB_1814-1892_Obit_WheelingRegister_Sat_9Jul1892.jpg

  • Sources 
    1. [S5] Headstone.

    2. [S293] History of Ritchie County, Minnie Kendall Lowther, (1911, reprinted 1999, McClain Printing Co, Parsons WV, http://McClainPrinting.com), p. 601.

    3. [S1563] Doddridge County Death Records, West Union, WV.

    4. [S967] 1870 Census, Doddridge County, WV (South West Twp).

    5. [S2148] 1880 Census, Doddridge County, WV (West Union District).

    6. [S1563] Doddridge County Death Records, West Union, WV, DR p. 56 : http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=5048197&Type=Death.
      Identified as Franklin Maxwell, white male, married, farmer, born in Harrison County; died Jul 4 1892 in Doddridge County, age 78, cause of death old age, burial at Blue Stone, W.Va. on Jul 6 1892. Undertaker: R. Harshbarger, West Union.