Samuel Bell Maxey:

An Inventory of the Photograph Collection at the Texas State Archives, 1870-1960 (bulk 1870-1920)

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.

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's wife, Marilda, was the daughter of George N. Denton, a Baptist preacher and farmer of Overton County, Tennessee.

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. She married Henry William Lightfoot and had two children, Sallie Lee Lightfoot and Thomas Chenoweth Lightfoot.

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 married Lala Williams, daughter of J. S. "Sheb" Williams.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

This collection consists of approximately 1200 photographic images, dating 1870-1960 (bulk 1870-1920), from the Samuel Bell Maxey House in Paris, Texas. The images, which consist primarily of albumen and silver gelatin prints, include views of the Maxey house (interiors and exteriors) and grounds, and the environs. The Maxey family and friends are represented by commercial portraiture done in various places. Family activities and travels are documented both by commercial views and by amateur snapshots. Included is a suede "Kodack" album and loose album pages picturing travels in the late 1890s. These and later travels ranged from the western U. S. to New York, to the Yukon and Alaska, and to Europe and Egypt.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are required to wear gloves provided by the Archives when reviewing photographic materials.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Samuel Bell Maxey Photograph Collection. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession number: 1981/177

The collection was transferred to the Texas State Archives by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on July 14, 1981.

The photographs were acquired by the Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife along with the Maxey House and its grounds in Paris, Texas. The house and grounds have been developed by Parks & Wildlife as the Samuel Bell Maxey House State Historic Structure. The photograph collection was transferred to the Archives as it already holds the Samuel Bell Maxey Papers. Parks & Wildlife retains copy negatives of the images.

Processing Information

None.

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Detailed Description of the Collection