Decendants of John T. & Mahala Maxwell -KY/IND/MO
My Branch of the Maxwell family tree begins with Bazel Maxwell. Bazel grew to manhood in Tennessee, moved to Kentucky, and finally Indiana. Little is known about Bazel Maxwell. However, I have collected a good deal of documentation about him. Bazel's oldest son John was born in Wayne Co. Kentucky, near Mill Spring, in 1813. Together with his four children, after the death of his second wife, Nancy (Turner)in Tennessee, Bazel removed to Indiana. There, John married Mahala Weddle and eventually settled in Barry County Missouri. After the Civil War, several of their children came from Indiana to Barry County. Son John Wesley Maxwell, had recieved a homestead in 1862 near Cassville, in Barry County. In 1885, John and brother Edward, together, purchased 120 acres for $350, from The Missouri Land Company of Scotland. This homestead was located in Rock House Hollow, in Mineral Springs, near Cassville, County Seat of Barry County.David Harvey Maxwell, my grandfather,and his wife Louisa Jane (Thompson), my great grandmother came to join the family about 1869. Together, they came to Barry County, then to Stone County. Wallace Weaver Maxwell, my grandfather was born in Cape Fair, Stone County. He married Minnie Wessey Crabtree in Galena, Stone County. This family moved to Lawrence County, where my father, Ervin Richard Maxwell was born in Stotts City. They finally settled in Monett, Barry County where Ervin married my mother, Betty Jean Kring. The Kring family were also from Barry County, although she was born in Kansas City. Dad died at the age of 36, and even though mother remarried twice after, she had no other children taan me. ................................................................ DAVID HARVEY MAXWELL AND THE HISTORY OF STONE COUNTY AND BRANSON! The Goodspeed's History of Barry County shows that David Harvey Maxwell was a Physician, as does several Census reports. There has been much speculation about where he recieved his medical degree. The answer is, he probably never had one. His last assignment in the Civil War was in a field Surgical Unit. Today, we would call this a M.A.S.H. unit. Post Civil War, in the Ozark Mountians, was extreamly wild and dangerous. At the time of David's arrival, John Kemberling and Jim Philibert had begun construction of the Wilderness Road of the Ozarks. Using Civil War Vets for labour, they hacked out a road from Springfield, Missouri to Barryville, Arkansas. The new railhead was to be built in Springfield. So, it was important to have a way to move goods and livestock to the railhead. Hundreds were employeed to work on the Wilderness Road. Soon, even more hundreds settled and started farming along the Wilderness Road. These People need medical services, and with his training during the Civil War, David provided those services. About this time, a young minister, Harold Bell Wright, came to the Ozarks. His Church was in Pierce City, in Lawrence County. But, he spent much of his time in the Ozarks. He loved the people so much that he wrote several books about the people and the area. One book, The Shepherd of the Hills, was a best seller. So many came to Stone County to see where the book was written, that it soon became a popular tourest area. At first there was just a few places to see, but with the construction of Table Rock Lake on the James and White River, it became even more popular. Silver Dollar City, sprang up, and nearby Branson in Taney County became one of the most visited areas in the U.S. Until his death in 1905, Dr. David Harvey Maxwell provided medical services to the workers on the Wilderness Road, and to the locals that Harold Bell Wright wrote about in The Shepherd of the Hills. You can still find the Wilderness Road on a map, just look for HWY 13 from Springfield to Kemberling Cit, and on ito Arkansas. | Decendants of John T. & Mahala Maxwell -KY/IND/MO Updated August 5, 2009 |
Richard E. Maxwell Branson,MissouriA-United States [email protected] | |
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