Doddridge County Roots

A West Virginia Genealogy

Frances Jane MAXWELL

Frances Jane MAXWELL[1]

Female 1859 - 1878  (19 years)

Personal Information    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Frances Jane MAXWELL 
    Born 20 Sep 1859  [2, 3
    Gender Female 
    Census 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 
    Died Dec 1878  Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 4
    Cause: consumption 
    • Death date on headstone is Dec 17 1878, but death record shows it as Dec 21 1878.
    Buried Blockhouse Hill Cemetery (old SDB section), West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Person ID I34261  Doddridge County Roots
    Last Modified 13 Jun 2017 

    Father Franklin MAXWELL,   b. 16 Jun 1814, Harrison Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 4 Jul 1892, West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years) 
    Mother 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  [1
    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.
    Family ID F13448  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Benton C. BLAND,   b. CA 1852, Blandville, Doddridge Co, (W)VA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Apr 1895, West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 43 years)  [6
    Family ID F24305  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Blockhouse Hill Cemetery (old SDB section), West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

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

    2. [S5] Headstone.

    3. [S1864] Death Record - Birth date calculated from age at death.

    4. [S1563] Doddridge County Death Records, West Union, WV, DR p. 30, Line 10 : http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=5043540&Type=Death.
      Identified as F. J. Bland, white female, age 19y 3m, b. Doddridge Co, dau of F. Maxwell, wife of B. C. Bland, died Dec 21 1878, cause of death consumption. ("History of Ritchie County," p. 601, reports birth-death dates as 1859-1880.)

    5. [S1793] West Union WV Cemeteries (Doddridge County), (Wes Cochran, 2515 10th Ave, Parkersburg, WV 26101 (July 1990)).

    6. [S1588] Death record of wife.