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CAPT. S. THOMPSON MAXEY, one of the representative citizens and prominent residents of Jefferson County, has distinguished himself in the various walks of life as a brave soldier in the late war, a prominent civilian, an able minister and a successful agriculturist. At present he resides on section 18, Mt. Vernon Township, where he is cultivating two hundred and twenty acres of the old homestead. The Captain is a descendant of good old English stock, his ancestors having been natives of Wales. Later they emigrated to France, and were in that country at the time of the persecution of the Huguenots, to which religious body they belonged. At that time three brothers, John, Horatio and Justinian, came to America and located first in Maryland. They soon afterward separated, however, one remaining in the above state, another going to Maine and the third removing to Virginia. In the latter state Justinian settled, was there married and reared a family of several sons and daughters, among whom was a son named Jesse, who served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He later emigrated to Tennessee and made his home among the Indians, by whom he was scalped and left for dead. Although horribly mangled, his iron constitution enabled him to fully recover. His death did not occur until twenty years later, at which time his sons and daughters were grown and settled in homes of their own. They were: Edward, William, Walter, John, Emily and Susan. William, the second son of Jesse Maxey, was born in Virginia, where lie grew to manhood and married Emily Allen. Later they emigrated to Tennessee with their family, and owned a plantation, which was worked by slaves. William Maxey was shortly thereafter converted in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and so devout was he that he liberated his slaves. He came to Illinois in 1816, but remained here only a short time when he went to Missouri and thence returned to Tennessee. In the spring of 1818, however, he again came to this county, this time being accompanied by the families of James Johnson, John Wilkerson, James Davis, Henry and Burchett Maxey, all of whom have descendants living in the county. Upon coming to Jefferson County William Maxey located in Monroe Prairie Township, but one year later he came to Shiloh Township. His family numbered ten children, as follows: Burchett, Clarissa, Bennett N., Elihu, Harriet, Vilinda, Charles II., Joshua C., William M. A. and Jehu G. D. William M. A. Maxey was born in Tennessee in 1812, and was a lad of six years when his parents removed to this state. After reaching mature years he married Miss Edna Owen, and they made their first home on a farm near the present site of the village of Idlewood. In 1846 they purchased the farm now owned and occupied by our subject, on which they resided until the time of their decease, the mother dying in 1880, and the father five years later. They were both active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which denomination the father was a minister for many years. He was also a physician of considerable note and practiced medicine very successfully for nearly a half a century. The family of Dr. and Mrs. William M. A. Maxey included ten children, seven of whom grew to mature years. Simeon W. is a resident of Washington, where he is a member of the State Horticultural Society and served as a Commissioner to the World's Fair in 1893; S. Thompson is our subject; John V. makes his home in this county; Harriet J. married J. F. Satterfleld, of Mt. Vernon; Sarah C. is Mrs. Sanford Hill, also of that city; William C. is a practicing physician in Idaho; and H. Nelson is also living in that state, where he is prominent in political circles. The other three members of the family died when young. Capt. S. T. Maxey was born in this county in 1834 and was here given a good education in the common schools. A few months after the first gun was fired upon Ft. Sumter, he enlisted in the Union army, in June, 1861, as a member of Company H. First Illinois Cavalry, and served one year, when he was discharged. Returning home, he aided in raising a company, of which he was commissioned First Lieutenant, which position he held but a few months when he was promoted to be Captain. On the consolidation of his company with another he returned home and raised eighty recruits for the Sixth Illinois Cavalry, in which he also enlisted as a private in February, 1854. Four months later, however, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant and soon afterward was appointed Captain, which position he held until the close of the war. He participated in many of the hard-fought battles in which the Western army engaged, and remained in the service until December, 1865. The lady whom our subject married March 16, 1873, was Miss Sarah C., daughter of John B. Piercy, and a niece of Thomas Moss. To them were born four children, Olena M., Edna A., Mary B. and Ruby. The latter died in infancy. Captain Maxey in addition to owning the old homestead is also the proprietor of two hundred and twenty broad acres, located in Mt. Vernon Township, where he devotes himself to agricultural pursuits. In 1866 Captain Maxey was ordained a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for a period of eleven years traveled in the interest of the Southern Illinois Conference. At the expiration of that time he retired from the ministry, although he is still active in all kinds of religious work. He is the present County Secretary of the State Board of Sunday-school work. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and as might be expected, is a prominent Grand Army man. He lias been an Odd Fellow since 1855, in which order he stands very high.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Clinton, Washington, Marion and Jefferson Counties, IL |
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