Friend Lemon Maxwell -- Madison Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Geneva Williams ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From Tallulah Madison Journal August 18, 1999 Col. Friend Lemon Maxwell came with the conquerors, he liked what he saw, and when the conflict was over, he returned to spend the rest of his life in Madison Parish. General Grant brought his army to our country on his jaunt to conquer Vicksburg. Col. Maxwell led his regiment, the 59th Indiana Infantry in battle and subsequently received the brevet rank of Colonel. This invasion of Madison Parish Introduced the young Yankee soldier to the low-lying lands across the Mississippi River in Madison and Tensas Parishes and he vowed to return. A native of Sullivan County, Indiana, Col Maxwell was born October 31, 1839, son of John Maxwell and Polly (Polk) Maxwell. The Maxwell family settled in Sullivan County, Indiana about the close of the war of 1812, having migrated from Kentucky. It has been said that no family was more prominent in the early history of Sullivan County than the Maxwells. He first purchased land in Tensas Parish. He lost all this property from three successive floods, and then moved to Madison Parish, and made another start. He never lost faith in the possibilities of investment in these lands and eventually acquired and developed extensive plantation holdings in the Mound community. In 1898, he served as a member of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention and served in that body with distinction. His presence was always sought in local and state agricultural meetings in which his sage experience and success would lend the light of assistance to others. He was the first President of the Levee Board of North Louisiana, which is now the Fifth district Levee Board. His personal efforts gave definite advancement to the policy of flood control and consequent improvement of land value and farming conditions general Col. Maxwell was President of the Madison Parish Police Jury at the time of his death. At all times during his career, he exercised a profound influence in the progressive improvement of rural life, and was one of the strongest supporters of those working for the betterment of the farmers. Colonel Maxwell first married, Alma Taft Everard, who died in 1901. She was a daughter of Judge Rufus Taft of Barre, Vermont. Judge Taft came from a distinguished American family and was a cousin of William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This couple was the parents of two daughters. Flora Maxwell who married John H. Potts, prominent lawyer of Monroe, La. and Ednah Pearl Maxwell, who married George Sizer Yerger, Sr., prominent planter of Mound, La. Ednah Maxwell Yerger lived her entire life In Madison Parish and was loved by all who knew her She was affectionately referred to as "Mom" Yerger. The stately two-story house that is visible from I20 at the Mound exit was built by her husband and they raised their family there. The home is still owned by members of the family. After his wife died, Col Maxwell again married, this time to Mathilda Routh Bowie, daughter of Captain Allen Thomas Bowie and Mathilda (Routh) Bowie of Natchez, Mississippi. The Bowies were a very prominent antebellum family of Tensas Parish and Natchez. A part of the Bowie lands were situated just across the river from Davis Island (which at that time was a part of Mississippi with the river running close to the Louisiana bank around the Island.) This prominent family also had a very famous relative, Jim Bowie. From this union were born three daughters, Routh Maxwell, who married John Paul Arbuthnot of Canton, Mississippi, Dorothy Maxwell, who married Edgar C. Woodyear, prominent planter of Mound Louisiana, and Miss Alma Maxwell of Tallulah. All of these citizens and their children listed here are no longer with us, but their descendants living in the immediate area are very numerous. Two of these daughters married local men and remained in Madison Parish until their deaths. They raised their large families at Mound with many of the descendants still living in the same place. Many have migrated to Tallulah. Ednah and George Yerger were parents of six sons, Maxwell Yerger, George Sizer Yerger, Jr. Andrew Learned Yerger, Edward Maxwell Yerger, William Yerger and Rufus Taft Yerger. Both Ednah and George Yerger lived and died in Madison Parish leaving a legacy through six sons. Dorothy and E. C. "Blue" Woodyear were parents of four daughters and one son: Susan Ingram, Dorothy Anne Millikin, Emily Neumann, Mary Woodyear Gallent and Carneal Woodyear. In the death of Colonel Friend L. Maxwell, on August 16, 1915, at the age of 76 years, Madison Parish and the State of Louisiana lost one of their most valuable citizens. http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/madison/bios/maxwellfl.txt