U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Maxwell, Rufus (1828-1907) ------------------------------------------------------------------- History of Tucker County, West Virginia From the Earliest Explorations and Settlements to the Present Time. by Hu Maxwell Kingwood, W. Va.; Preston Publishing Company, 1884. Pages 199-200, RUFUS MAXWELL. In the earliest years of Tucker County, Rufus Maxwell was one of the most active members of the bar. He had practiced at Weston, in Lewis County, before that time, and had there quite an extensive business. When he came to Tucker, it was a part of Randolph, the separation not yet having taken place. He was with those who worked for the new county, and when at length, on March 6, 1856, the Act of the Legislature creating the county was passed, he was material in assisting to organize the functions of government and justice for the new county. Owing to some imperfections in the Act, this was a difficult task, and it required much labor from those who had undertaken it and who had it to do. Mr. Maxwell was the first Prosecuting Attorney of Tucker County, having been elected in 1856. He held the office four years, and, in the election of 1860, was re-elected over Thomas Rummell, who was at that time a well-known lawyer of our county. In 1861, the war came on, and the affairs of our county were in a bad fix. We were often under neither Federal nor Confederate government; but each claimed jurisdiction over us, and the result was that at times we were under rule little better than anarchie. Officers had no power to execute the functions of their offices; and, rather than hold a trust over which they had not jurisdiction, many of our county officers resigned, and let things take their course, as they would anyhow. Among those who thus retired was Rufus Maxwell. He retired not only from the office of Prosecuting Attorney, but also from the profession of the law. It had grown distasteful to him, and from that time he had nothing more to do with it. - - - - - - - - Pages 449-455 Rufus Maxwell, son of Levi Maxwell, of Lewis County, was born in October 19, 1828. His ancestors have been in America a long time; but originally were from England and Ireland. His father, Levi Maxwell, left Pennsylvania in 1803, that is, when he was fifteen years old, and settled in Harrison and subsequently removed to Lewis County, where he still resides, being now (1884) in his 97th year. His wife was a daughter of Col. John Raymond, of Braxton County, and grand-daughter of Col. Benjamin Wilson, the Indian fighter. Colonel Wilson was an ancestor of the present Benjamin Wilson, of Harrison County. Rufus Maxwell worked on the farm in his boyhood, as did his two brothers, John, afterward a Civil Engineer in the location of the B. & O. R. R., and Edwin, now Judge Maxwell, of Clarksburg. His early education was in the country schools, which were then rather acquired poor affairs. When he had finished the curriculum of these rural acadmeis, he entered Rector College, and finished the course in 1849, when he was 21 years of age. While in attendance at Rector College he made the acquaintance of Miss Sarah J. Bonnifield, daughter of Dr. Arnold Bonnifield, and in 1852, June 1st, they were married. Miss Bonnifield had also completed the high school course, and was a regular contributor of poetry to the newspapers of that time. R. Maxwell resided in Lewis County and practiced law until June, 1856. In 1855 he was elected associate justice of the county court of Lewis County. In 1856 he removed to Tucker and assisted in the organization of the county, and the same year was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1860 he was re-elected to the same office and held it until his Southern inclinations and the partisan warfare that was carried on there rendered it impossible for him to perform the duties of the office. [see Footnote 1] Rufus Maxwell has not a lengthy record as a soldier. He was in neither army. He sympathized with the South, but staid at home, an advocate of peace, to be gained by arbitration, if possible. [see Footnote 2]. While the war was going on, the murder of citizens and the burning of property were of common occurrence in our neighboring counties; but, in Tucker it was not so, although no county, except Pendleton, had a fiercer guerrilla warfare than we had. So far as can be ascertained, not a drop of citizen blood was shed, or a shingle burned, except in honorable fight. For part of this good result, Maxwell claims the honor. He advocated that the safety of the community depended largely upon the conduct of the people. Those who disturbed no one were not apt to be disturbed. Yankees and Rebels lived as neighbors and fear and respect kept clown the rifle and the fagot. Rufus Maxwell's children are, Wilson B., Mary A., D. Angelica, Hu, Cyrus H., Thomas E., John F., Levi H., Charles J. and Robert R. He is a farmer living three miles east of St. George, with 60 acres of improved and 1200 acres of wild lands. He has been county surveyor, county superintendent of schools, and twice elected by Tucker and Randolph to the legislature. His election to the legislature was in October, 1865, and he represented the delegate district composed of Randolph and Tucker Counties. That legislature met in Wheeling, January, 1866, and was probably the most proscriptive legislature that ever met in West Virginia. But Mr. Maxwell steadily opposed the proscriptive measures, and spoke and voted against the Registration Act of that session. Only five members of the House voted with him, They were, McCurdy, of Jefferson, D. D. Johnson, of Tyler, John Kellar, of Barbour, Capt. Darnell, of Mason, and Mr. Cooper, of Hampshire, And later in the session Mr. Maxwell voted alone against "The Ninth Judicial Circuit Bill," which provided that Judge Nat. Harrison should fill all vacancies occurring in all offices in his circuit, except members of the legislature. Maxwell says: This act was as defiantly aggressive as the registration act, and more dangerous to liberty, because, without even a plausible plea of necessity, it conferred absolute civil power upon a single individual, a judicial officer who was not worthy to wear ermine, being then under articles of impeachment, and who afterwards resigned to avoid impeachment, At the beginning of the session, there were fourteen avowed Conservatives in the House, but when this "Circuit Bill" came up on its passage, Maxwell was the only one who was in the front opposing it. His course in the legislature met the approval of his constituents, but the Constitution of West Virginia, then in force, provided that Tucker and Randolph counties should together elect one delegate, who for three terms should be a resident of Randolph County and for one term a resident of Tucker County. The election being held annually, and Mr. Maxwell being a resident of Tucker, he was not eligible to a seat in the House again until 1869; and in October of that year he was again elected by a large majority. He took an active part in the campaign that year for the election of members of the legislature. At that time there had sprung up, in the state, a sort of third party of considerable strength called Let-up Republicans, who claimed that the proper time had come for a modification of the laws restricting the right of suffrage, &c., and more particularly the laws imposing certain civil disabilities. He advised against holding a Democratic State Convention that year, and insisted that the people of each county and district should conduct the campaign according to the conditions in each: that there was but one issue involved that men always vote their sentiments and convictions if left free to do so; and that an aggressive organization of the Democratic party at that time would have a tendency to drive the Let-up Republicans back whence they came. This plan of campaign was pretty generally carried out, and was to the effect that, Where the Democrats were sure of electing a Senator or a member of the House of Delegates, they should quietly agree and unite upon and rally in support of the best available Democrat; but, where there existed any reasonable doubt of the success of a Democrat, they should withhold their candidate, and encourage public discussion as much as possible between the Let-up Republicans and the Radical Republicans, so that the split between them might be widened and deepened, and the antagonistic feelings be more intensified between the two wings of the Republican party; and finally, that the Democratic voters should, in such counties and districts, rally and concentrate their votes upon the Let-up candidate. The result was that, when the legislature met in January, 1870, the Radical Republicans found themselves in a minority, in the House of Delegates, for the first time in the history of the State; but they still, for a time, confidently claimed the Senate. William M. Welch, a Let-up Republican, and delegate from Mineral County, was chosen speaker of the House. After the meeting of the legislature, Mr. Maxwell went immediately to work to ascertain the views of the members of the House and Senate with respect to the repeal or modification of the various "Iron-clad Test Oaths," and the repeal or modification of the Registration Law, and to other reforms. In a few days he claimed to know the opinions of nearly all the typical members of both Houses. He ascertained that the Republicans did not intend to make a vigorous defense of their out-posts — the teachers' attorneys' and suitors' test-oaths — but that they intended to defend their citadel — the registration laws and officers' test-oaths — to the last extremity. It was found that the legislature was composed of live distinct parties, as follows: Extreme Radical Republicans, Radical Republicans, Let-up Republicans, Extreme Democrats and Moderate or "Policy" Democrats. None of these parties or factions could be so clearly distinguished from all the others as to enable one to tell the precise personal following of each. But, ex-Governor Pierpont was the type and apparent leader of the Extreme Radicals; and Nathan Goff, Sr., was leader of the more moderate Republicans, while W. H. H. Flick, Spencer Dayton and William M. Welch were the sachems and chief councilmen of the Let-ups. John J. Davis and E. A. Summers were the only members of the House that could be strictly classed as Extreme Democrats, although E. G. Cracraft and John Faris voted with the Extreme Democrats and Radical Republicans against the Flick Amendment. But they did it under immediate pressure of a constituency that were looking through smoked glasses. Among the Policy Democrats were found, Daniel Lamb, Benjamin Smith, Henry G. Davis, Henry Brannon, J. M. Jackson and others. But they were without any well recognized leader, and only their unity of purpose led them to a unity of action. They had no caucus after the House was organized, but often consulted one with another. Soon after the organization, Henry G. Davis (then a member of the State Senate) suggested that the Let-ups should have the honor of bringing forward the reform measures, and Rufus Maxwell added that they should also have the honor of defending them, provided they do it in good time and shape. This unwritten and informal understanding on our part required great dilligence to restrain zealous members from getting ahead of their business, by taking the wind out of the Let-up sails. But the plan succeeded, at least with all the more important measures. * * * * * * * * "Policy Democrat" was a sort of pet-name among us. We got the name thus: One evening Rufus Maxwell was conversing with John J. Davis and remarked that the true policy of the Democrats was to secure all the reforms possible, and not hazzard much grasping after things we could not reach. To this Davis replied, with sarcastic affability that he didn't go much on Policy Democrats! that Democracy was founded on eternal principles. When this little incident was narrated to Daniel Lamb he laughed most heartily and remarked, "Now is the time for Democrats to have a policy and pursue it." This remark was true then with regard to State politics and has ever since been a living truth with regard to National politics. [footnote 1] In June, 1861, Maxwell went to the Court-house to attend what was then called the Quarterly Court. The Clerk, two or three jurymen and a few other persons having business, waited about the Court-house till late in the afternoon, when the presiding justice, George B. See, rode up into the Court-yard with a gun on his shoulder and followed by a company of armed men, and said that there would be no court that day, and probably there would be no more for a long time. This was a few days after the - "Philippi Races," as was called the evacuation of that town, by the Virginia troops, when General Kelly came upon them with his terrible host of "Ninety Day Men." The (Quarterly Court of Tucker County has not since met, nor was there any court of account in Tucker during the war. It was "between the lines." and both parties seemed willing not to agitate the subject of resuming power. Maxwell never resumed the practice of law. [footnote 2] Early in the war, before gun powder had been smelt In the county, some patriotic citizens bethought themselves to organize a "Home Guard." Not knowing exactly what it meant, they advised Mr. Maxwell on the subject, and asked what was the duty of a Home Guard. He replied: "Meet occasionally at some appointed place, muster up and down the road, boast-that you can whip all the men the enemy can send against you, and when the enemy comes, run off and hide." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Register of Deaths, Tucker County, WV (Page 121) FULL-NAME: Rufus Maxwell AGE-AT-DEATH: 78y-10m-29d DEATH-DATE: September 25, 1907 MARITAL-STATUS: Widower OCCUPATION: Farmer CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Gastric INFORMANT: C. H. Maxwell, Phy. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Tucker County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/tucker/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------