Duval-Nassau-Marion County FlArchives Biographies.....Maxwell, John Stevens 1866 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 2, 2008, 11:07 pm Author: B. F. Johnson John Stevens Maxwell Gen. John Stevens Maxwell, of Jacksonville, lawyer, soldier, judge and developer, has achieved in his forty-two years of life a large measure of success of the right sort. He was born at Fernandina, Fla., on December 8, 1866. His father, Dr. George Troup Maxwell, was an able physician, served in the Confederate army as Colonel of the First Florida Cavalry and was one of the most distinguished men of his day in Florida. His mother was Martha Ella Maxwell. The Maxwells are of Scotch descent, and one of the old well-known families of that country. Sir John Maxwell was Chamberlain of Scotland in the year 1241. His brother, Sir Aymer, succeeded him, and one of the descendants of Sir Aymer was a valiant companion of William Wallace. In the present generation the family is represented by Lord Herries, Sir J. M. Sterling Maxwell, of Pollock, and the Maxwells of Springkell. General Maxwell's immediate family in America belongs to Georgia, where the family has been settled since the days of Oglethorpe. One branch of the family settled in Leon county, about 1840, and David Elwell Maxwell, who recently died in Jacksonville, a distinguished soldier in the Civil War and who rose to prominence in the railway service after the war, was an uncle of General Maxwell. The general's early education was obtained in the public schools of Florida, Delaware and Georgia. He entered Princeton University, class of 1889, but left after his Freshman year. Prior to that, in the fall of 1886, he had acquired a little business experience in a real estate office in Ocala, and in January 1887 he entered the office of the auditor of the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, at Jacksonville, Fla., where he remained until January, 1889, having been advanced several times during his services there. In that same year he entered the law office of W. W. Hampton, at Gainesville, as a stenographer, for the purpose of studying law. From there, in February, 1890, he went to Jacksonville, and became a stenographer in the law office of A. W. Cockrell and Son. In July, 1890 he went to the University of Virginia and took the summer law course under Prof. John B. Minor, and in September resumed his duties with Cockrell and Son. In the spring of 1892 he was admitted to the bar, and remained at the practice until May 12, 1898, when he went to Tampa, Fla., to be mustered into the United States volunteer army for the Spanish-American War. After being mustered out of the service in December, 1898, he returned to Jacksonville and began the general practice of law. In 1899 he was elected City Attorney by the City Council, but after a contest in the courts the election was declared void. He lost his law office in the great fire of May 3, 1901, but immediately resumed practice after the fire. In January, 1902, he formed a partnership with the Hon. Cromwell Gibbons (who was in 1903 the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the State Legislature), under the firm name of Gibbons and Maxwell, which partnership still continues. In June, 1907, he was appointed Judge of the Criminal Court of Record for Duval county, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Samuel T. Shayler, who had been removed, and which term he is now serving. In May, 1908 he was nominated in the Democratic primaries for a four-year term, which appointment was not made until May, 1909. This will carry him up to 1913 in this position. On December 15, 1905, he married Miss Willie Mae Dancy, and they have one child, Martha Elizabeth Maxwell. His wife's parents were William McLaws Dancy and Mae (Young) Dancy. Her father's name betrays also a trace of Scotch blood and of Georgia origin. General Maxwell is an Episcopalian and a Democrat. Of social organizations he is a member of the Elks, the Florida Yacht Club, and President of the Robert Burns Association of Jacksonville. Outside of his profession, he is also a business man, and is now serving as Secretary of the Ucita Investment Company, which is erecting a ten-story steel, fire-proof building on the corner of Hogan and Forsyth streets, Jacksonville. General Maxwell, like many other members of his family in this and previous generations, has always had a strong predilection for military life. On July 6, 1892, he became a private in Company A, First Battalion, Florida State Troops, also known as the Jacksonville Light Infantry. This was during a riot. In August, 1892 he was promoted to Sergeant. In 1893, for business reasons he asked to be returned to the ranks. On November, 1894, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant. In May, 1896 he was commissioned Captain. His company volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War, and in May 1898 he went to Tampa, and was appointed as captain of Company E, First Florida Volunteers, U. S. A., on the nineteenth of that month. He served with his company at Tampa, Fernandina and Huntsville, Ala., until mustered out of service at Tallahassee on December 4, 1898. In September and October of 1898 he was Provost Marshal of the Fourth Army Corps, at Huntsville, Ala. In January, 1899, he resumed his connection with the Florida State Troops, as Captain of Company A, First Battalion, and when the State troops were reorganized into two regiments he was commisssioned as Senior Major and assigned to the first regiment. On May 20, 1903, he was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel of infantry and assigned to the First Infantry. On February 28, 1906, he became Colonel of his regiment, and on July 27, 1907, he was commissioned as Brigadier-General in the Florida State Troops and assigned to command the First Brigade, which position he still occupies. In Georgia and in Florida for one hundred years past General Maxwell's family have made history as strong, faithful, patriotic citizens, and his record so far shows that in his hands there will be no loss of prestige, but an added luster. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/duval/photos/bios/maxwell20gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/duval/bios/maxwell20gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 7.0 Kb