Samuel Bell Maxey:

An Inventory of Papers at the Texas State Archives, 1847-1948

Biographical Sketches

Samuel Bell Maxey

Samuel Bell Maxey spent his early years in Tompkinsville, Monroe County, Kentucky. His family lived in nearby Clinton County when Maxey was appointed to United States Military Academy at West Point. Upon graduation in 1846, he was breveted a Second Lieutenant in the regular army and served in the Mexican War until its close in 1848. In 1849 he resigned from the United States Army and returned to his home in Clinton County, Kentucky, where he studied law under his father, Rice Maxey. In 1850 he entered law practice with his father and in 1857 they moved their families and business to Paris, Texas.

In 1862 Maxey was made a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and served briefly in the Trans-Mississippi Department. In December, 1863, he was made Commander of the Indian Territory where he served until February, 1865.

As an attorney, Maxey became acquainted with many of the prominent lawyers and politicians of Texas. He traveled to Austin and other places over the state in order to conduct his legal business. He was acquainted with Richard Coke, James W. Throckmorton, Oran M. Roberts, Guy M. Bryan, John H. Reagan and others of political note in Texas. He maintained his acquaintance with his political friends in Kentucky, namely, Governor Preston J. Leslie and U. S. Attorney-General James Speed. The culmination of this period of Maxey's life came in 1874 when he was elected to the United States Senate.

Among Maxey's contributions during his Congressional career were his support of the establishment of new mail routes in the frontier West in his capacity as chairman of the Senatorial Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, the introduction of bills for river and harbor improvements across the nation, and his speeches for the improvement of Indian relations.

Maxey was defeated for reelection in 1887. In 1888 he returned to his law practice in Paris, Texas, and spent his last years there. He had five law partners during his lifetime. They were Rice Maxey, William H. H. Long, Henry William Lightfoot, Ben H. Denton, and W. F. Gill.

Samuel Bell Maxey Chronology

	1825	Born in Tompkinsville, Monroe County, Kentucky.
	1846	Graduated from United States Military Academy, West Point
	1846-1848	Served as a commissioned officer (Second Lieutenant), 7th Infantry, in the Mexican War.
	1848-1849	Officer in the United States Army, stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.
	1849	Resigned his commission from the Army.
	1850	Studied law under his father, Rice Maxey. Received licence to practice law in Kentucky (Clinton County).
	1853	Married Marilda Cassa Denton.
	1857	Moved to Paris (Lamar County), Texas with his wife and his mother and father.
	1857-1861	Formed law partnership with his father and opened office in Paris, Texas.
	1861	Elected to the Texas Legislature but declined to serve in order to join the forces of the South.
	1862-1863	Engaged in campaigns in Tennessee and Mississippi.
	1863-1864	Assigned as commander in the Indian Territory.
	1865-1867	Sought Special Pardon from the President of the United States in order to regain his license to practice law in Texas.
	1867	Received Special Pardon from the President of the United States.
	1873	Appointed state district judge of the 8th Judicial District of Texas.
	1875-1887	Elected United States Senator from Texas. Served two terms.
	1887-1895	Practiced law in Paris, Lamar County, Texas. Died at Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Marilda Denton Maxey

Samuel Bell Maxey's wife, Marilda, was the daughter of George N. Denton, a Baptist preacher and farmer of Overton County, Tennessee. The letters she received from Maxey during the years 1875 to 1887 were almost a daily journal of the events taking place in Washington at that time.

Dora Rowell Maxey

Dora Rowell Maxey was the daughter of Thomas Rowell of Florida. Her father was a Confederate soldier who died in the Civil War. She was left an orphan and was legally adopted in 1863 by Samuel Bell Maxey and his wife. She attended a girl's school in Danville, Kentucky, from 1872 to 1874. The bulk of her letters is contained in the correspondence of Mrs. Samuel Bell Maxey.

Sam Bell Maxey Long

Sam Bell Maxey Long, grandnephew and foster son of Samuel Bell Maxey, attended Schools in Washington, D. C., and was a page in the United States Senate, and later obtained a degree from the University of Texas in 1892. He accompanied Maxey to Washington in 1876 when he was a small boy and continued to do so for a number of years. He accompanied Maxey everywhere, even when Maxey called on government officials. Sam Bell Maxey Long's letters to Mrs. Maxey and to his mother, Mary Gatewood Long, reveal details of events in Washington.

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Scope and Contents of the Papers

The Samuel Bell Maxey Papers, dating 1847 to 1948, contain approximately 10,000 items, (including some fifteen bound items). They consist of correspondence and other papers of Samuel Bell Maxey (1825-1895), attorney, general in the Confederate Army, and, from 1875-1887, United States Senator from Texas. The collection also contains the correspondence of Samuel Bell Maxey's wife, Marilda Cassa (Denton) Maxey (1833-1908), and his father, Rice Maxey (1800-1876).

A collateral collection acquired as a part of the Maxey Papers consists of correspondence of relatives who were members of the Lightfoot, Long, and Williams family; notable are the correspondence of the great-nephew and heir of Samuel Bell Maxey, Sam Bell Maxey Long (1869-1948), who served as a page in the United States Congress and was later an attorney in Paris, Texas, and the correspondence of the adopted daughter of Samuel Bell Maxey, Dora Rowell Maxey (1856-1884), who married Henry William Lightfoot.

The collateral collection also contains some correspondence of Henry William Lightfoot (1846-1901), law partner of Samuel Bell Maxey during the years 1872 to 1895; Democratic delegate to the National Convention at St. Louis which nominated Tilden and Hendricks; a Texas State Senator from 1880-1882; and Chief Justice of the Fifth Supreme Court of Appeals at Dallas, 1893-1897.

This same collection contains correspondence of J. Shelby (Sheb) Williams (1850-1931), who was appointed United States Marshal for East Texas and the Indian Territory by President Grover Cleveland and who was reappointed by President William McKinley. Williams was owner of the first ship above White Horse Rapids in the Yukon Territory and of the first steam dredge for mining gold there. He was advisor to the United States Department of Agriculture, Chairman of the American Cotton Congress, and campaign manager for Governor Oscar B. Colquitt.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

Under the Copyright Law of 1996 as amended in 1998, unpublished manuscripts are protected at a minimum through December 31, 2002 or 70 years after the author's death. Researchers are responsible for complying with the Copyright Law.

The letterpress and other volumes are extremely fragile and may not be photocopied.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Samuel Bell Maxey Papers. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1966/090, 1968/020

The papers were deposited in the Archives Division of the Texas State Library in 1966 by Mrs. Sam M. Stone of Paris, Texas, the niece of Samuel Bell Maxey Long's wife.

Processing Information

Louise Horton, 1969

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Detailed Description of the Papers

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