Llano County, TX - Biographies: Maxwell ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/llano/llantoc.htm ************************************************ Submitted by: krussell@moment.net (Karylon A. Russell) January 06, 2001 Maxwell Family of Llano Co. TX Posted by Karylon A. Russell on Fri, 05 Jan 2001 Surname: MAXWELL, DAVIS, LOFLAND, PARKS, WATSON, COFFEY, TRENTHAM, PATTON, PULLEN, SPILLERS, ODEN, CORNELIUS, MARR, PARKER, CHADWICK, BEAL, WOLF, AIKMAN Among the first non-German settlers in Llano Co. were the descendants of Isaac D. Maxwell and Nancy L. Byler, who married in Bedford Co. TN and lived there briefly before moving west with Isaac's brother, John H. Maxwell and wife, Elvira Byler, who was Nancy's sister, to become early residents of what became Lauderdale Co. TN. By the end of 1840, Isaac D. and Nancy had 6 children--Delcenia H., Mary B., Solomon G., James Taylor, Isaac Byler, and Elvira Ella. Some time in 1841, Nancy Byler Maxwell died, leaving Isaac D. with a houseful of minor children. No wonder in Feb. 1842, Isaac remarried Mary Ann Parker. The same fate fell on John H. Maxwell when wife #1 Elvira Byler died in the 1830's, leaving him with minor heirs as well--Abraham ABRAM B., Elizabeth, Bedford C., and John. John H. also remarried, but the name of his second wife has not as of yet been proven. Several more children were born to this relationship--William, Nathan H., Elvira, and Jane. In 1844, both John H. and Isaac D. made the decision to leave Tennesse and move to Yell Co. AR. It was here that both men would live out the rest of their lives, but by the year 1880, all but one of Isaac's children and many of John H.'s descendants would relocate in Llano Co. TX. The first Maxwell descendant to make the transition was Isaac D.'s second daughter, Mary B., called AUNT POP, who left Yell Co. AR when her husband, Edward W. NED Davis, and his family made the trek to first Williamson CO. TX in 1852, then on permanently to what became the Tow/Bluffton area of Llano Co. around 1853. The family settled on the southern side of the horseshoe bend of the Colorado River on the Christian Lange survey, adjacent to Ned's other Davis siblings who occupied the greater northern portion of the bend on the Franz Gross survey. It was here that the couple raised their children--Nancy, Delcenia Elzira, Nola P., Caleb A., Viola, and Joseph JOE. In April 1870, Mary B. Maxwell Davis found herself a young widow when NED died of pneumonia. He was buried in the original Bluffton Cemetery along with 2 of his other children who died in their youth--Margaret and Edward A. Aunt Pop remained in Llano Co. for another decade, but when her children gradually began to seek their fortunes elsewhere, she joined Viola, now Mrs. Charles R. Crews, and lived out her life in Runnels Co. TX where she is buried in Ballinger in the Crews plot. Coming to Llano in Sept. 1854 was Mary B.'s youngest brother, Isaac Byler IKE Maxwell, at age 17, whose biographical details have already been described elsewhere. During the Civil War, Yell Co. AR was a very unstable environment with many skirmishes and both Northern and Southern activity in and out of the county. In 1863, Delcenia H. Maxwell's husband, Wilburn Lofland, was home on leave, and while standing on his front porch, he was fatally shot by a Yankee bushwhacker. For safety reasons, Delcenia was sent to Llano CO. TX to live with her sister and brother for the duration of the war. However, once the war was over, she returned to Yell Co. AR where she lived, unmarried, until her later years when she answered the call for help from a recently widowed son who needed his mother to care for his young children in Rockwall Co. TX. Delcenia died there and is buried at Chisholm. Solomon G., called HORSE, because of his large size and strength--at least 6'6", around 250-300 lbs., came to Texas prior to 1860, settling in Parker Co. TX, where he married Jane COFFEY, and began his family. Prior to 1870, he joined the other Maxwell descendants in Llano Co. TX, bringing with him, his mother-in-law, Delia/Delila Trentham Coffey and his wife's brother, John H. Coffey. The land he purchased also fronted the Colorado River, so he decided to take on a project that would both serve the community and provide his family with financial means. He built and operated the first ferry used to cross the Colorado River in the area, a venture that continued with his son, Richard DICK Maxwell, in later years. Other children born to Solomon G. and Jane were Mary Byler Maxwell(m. Patton); Martha MATTIE (m. Watson); and Betty (m. PULLEN). Although all the girls married local men, only Dick and his family still have descendants in the county. When Uncle John H. Maxwell and his son, Abram B. Maxwell, both died between 1875-1878 in Yell CO. AR, the last child of Isaac D. Maxwell, James Taylor JIM Maxwell and his wife, Elsie Spillers, sold their Arkansas property and made a permanent move to the Colorado River area of Central Texas. Coming with them were their children, another Isaac D., Sarah Jane, Nancy, Mary Delcina, and James William Spillers Maxwell. When Elsie died early in 1881, Jim married Minta/Minnie, called "Aunt Mint", Oden. The older children did not approve of their father's remarrying, so even though most had married into Llano Co. families, all left the county except for James W.S. who still has descendants here today. James Taylor JIM and Minnie Oden Maxwell raised a large family which included Lou, Pleasant El, Zella M., Ellie, John Jackson, Lora L., and Liller Estelle. In June, 1912, James Taylor, who had developed some mental instability in his later years, over-reacted to a drought in the area at the time as a doomsday sign, took his own advice, and slit his own throat in a dry creekbed on his own property. Ironically, relatives related that it rained the day of his funeral. Members of the James Taylor Maxwell family still live in Llano Co. today with the names of Morgan, Milliron, Key, Bauman, Walton, among others. Although the youngest child of Isaac D. and Nancy L. Byler Maxwell, Elvira Ella, called ELLIE, was in and out of Texas following the Civil War, she and husband, Capt. Jordan Stokes Parks, returned to their home in the Yell CO. AR area (actually, just across the line in Scott CO. AR near Parks, AR) prior to 1870 when Jordan died. Ellie is listed as a widow on the census in that year with the following children: Annie L.; Alexander ALEX Thomas; Delcenia DELLA; William Jordan; Isaac H.; and Robert BOB Parks. Shortly thereafter, Ellie also moved to Llano CO. TX., living near her brother, Ike Maxwell. In 1889, Elvira Maxwell Parks decided to remarry--John Samuel Watson, an already twice-widower on the Burnet CO. side of the river, whom Ellie had known back in early Yell Co. AR. The marriage only lasted a few years because John S. Watson died in 1891, leaving Ellie a widow known the rest of her life by many as "Aunt Ellie Watson." Ellie continued to live in Llano Co., but around 1905, she went to visit her son, William Jordan Parks, in Wise Co. TX, near Alvord. That area of Texas is aptly titled "tornado alley," because while she was there, Ellie lingered inside the house longer than she should have with an impending tornado on the loose. Failing to reach the safety of the shelter where the other family members were, she was killed, and is buried in the Hopewell Cemetery, Alvord, TX. Most of her descendants in Llano Co. today stem from her son, Alex Parks who m. Arcena CENA/CENIE Davis. Although many of John H. Maxwell's children died young or never married, several of his descendants also came to the Llano Co. area prior to 1880. Following the death of son, Abram B. Maxwell, John H.'s minor grandchildren, under the guardianship of Abram's oldest son, Thomas A. Maxwell m. Harriet Marr, came to TX about the time James Taylor Maxwell did. These minor children included John William who m. Sarah Wolf in Llano Co.; Viola Ann m. in Llano Co. Wm. Hardin Oden; Mary J., whose Arkansas fiance also came--Ben Aikman; Malcolm C. MACK; and Abraham, Jr. Not to be outdone was Thomas A. Maxwell's oldest sister, Elvira who had married John Allan Marr, Harriet's sister. Elvira Marr and two of her infant children are buried at Bluffton. Eventually, most of these children removed their families to either Oklahoma or areas of Texas near Oklahoma. Remaining permanetly, however, was MACK Maxwell, whose home was located near the original Bluffton up until the community was covered by Lake Buchanan. Although Mack had 3 different wives-- Mary C. Chadwick, Lenna Davis, and Mary Parker Beal--he was left with no children to survive beyond a few years. Two more of John H. Maxwell's family also moved to Llano Co. Son, John Maxwell, from marriage #1 to Elvira Byler, never married, and spent most of his life in various adventurous activities in California and other parts unknown. However, as he grew old, he sought more security, especially the security of family, causing him to seek Llano Co. for his place of residence at the time of his death. He lived with his Bluffton area relatives, dying at age 69 in 1905. He, too, is buried at Bluffton. Another daughter of John H. Maxwell by wife #2 was Elvira Maxwell, who married as a young teen in Yell Co. AR to William Cornelius. She died in 1860, still in her teens, but left one child, John William Cornelius. When the other Maxwells left Yell Co. AR pre 1880, John William Cornelius came with them to Llano Co. and married a Llano Co. native, Telitha Davis, daugher of early settler, M.D.L. Davis. All the Corneliuses in this area today are descendants of his. The fact that this biography is a mini-novel is indicative of the impact the two Maxwell lines of Isaac D. and John H. Maxwell had on the development of the early days of Llano County.