My Genealogy Hound

John R. Maxwell is a native of Arkansas County, of which he has always been a resident, with the exception of eight years spent in the city of Cincinnati, from 1851 to 1858, where he was engaged in mechanical pursuits. In 1858 he returned home and the same year was appointed deputy sheriff, discharging the duties of that position until the breaking out of the war. Enlisting in June, 1861, in the Arkansas State troops, he served four months and immediately enlisted in the Confederate army, where he continued until the close of the war, a part of the time being on detached duty. He was elected second lieutenant in 1862, and afterward elected to captain, and participated in the battles of Wilson’s Creek, Shiloh, Prairie Grove, Jenkins’ Ferry and several other hard-fought engagements and a number of skirmishes. After the war Mr. Maxwell returned to this county and engaged in farming the first year, since which time he has been occupied in the mercantile business. He was born in Arkansas Post, on November 27, 1829, being the son of James and Elenor (Bringle) Maxwell, natives of North Carolina and Arkansas, respectively. Joseph Maxwell, the grandfather of the principal of this sketch, lived in Indiana, and died at the battle of Tippecanoe, in the War of 1812. He was the father of the following children: William, John, James, Nimrod, David, Mary (now Mrs. Berry), and Anna. All of the sons came to Arkansas at different periods, between 1818 and 1837. James and John were interested for a number of years in trading with the Indians along the Arkansas and White Rivera. James, the father of John R., located at Arkansas Post in 1824-25, at which time he was married, and subsequently worked at his trade of gun-smithing. He was a well-educated man, and held several Government positions, being Government surveyor at the time of his death, in 1838. His wife died in 1880, at the age of seventy years. They were the parents of six children, two still living: John R. (our subject) and Cynthia Ann (widow of John G. Quertermous, of New Mexico). Joseph, one of the sons (now deceased), held the position of sheriff at the breaking out of the war, and was afterward elected county clerk, which office he filled at the time of his death, in 1872. Capt. Maxwell was married in 1869 to Miss Ann Quertermous, a native of Kentucky. They are the parents of two daughters, Vallenia and Ella. Capt. Maxwell is a strong Democrat and a leading merchant of De Witt, and is recognized as one of the most influential men of this locality, being widely known and highly esteemed.