John Maxwell, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of John Maxwell
JOHN MAXWELL. He to whom this sketch is dedicated is known as one of the prominent representatives of the agricultural industry in his native county and is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of this integral division of the Hoosier state. Here he has found ample opportunity for progressive enterprise in connection with the industries of agriculture and stock-growing and his progressive methods and admirable business acumen have given him secure prestige and success in a field of endeavor that is conceded to be one of the most important in the scheme of human activities of productive order. Mr. Maxwell is the owner of one of the fine farms of Morgan township and his status as a citizen and as a man of affairs is such as to eminently entitle him to special consideration in this historical work.
Born in Morgan township, Porter county, Indiana, on the 12th of August, 1865, John Maxwell is the second in order of birth of four sons and five daughters of Arthur and Mary J. (Baum) Maxwell, and is the eldest of the six now living. Deett is the wife of Ernie N. Gregg, who is a teacher and farmer at Lowell, Indiana, this state; Mollie remains with her brother, John, on the old homestead farm and is a popular factor in the social activities of her home community, her educational advantages having included those of the Valparaiso high school; Pearl is the wife of Cornelius Hermance, one of the prosperous farmers of Morgan township; Helen is the wife of William Detleffs, who resides at Kouts and who is engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock; and Edward, who is likewise a representative agriculturist of Porter county.
Arthur Maxwell was born in LaPorte county, Indiana, and was a member of one of the leading pioneer families of that section, whence his parents removed to Porter county when he was but five years of age. He gained his early education in the primitive log school house of the pioneer epoch and lived up to the full tension of the initiatory period in the development and upbuilding of Porter county, where he eventually gained for himself secure vantage ground as a substantial agriculturist and representative citizen of Morgan township. During the last few years of his active career he gave the major part of his time and attention to the buying and shipping of live stock. His first purchase of land is included in the valuable estate on which his son, John, now resides and his success as a man of affairs was the direct result of his mature judgment, his ambitious purpose and his well directed endeavors. His sterling attributes of character gained and retained to him the unqualified confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact in the varied relations of life and he was known as one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of the county which long represented his home. He accumulated about one hundred and eighty-six acres of land, in Morgan and Pleasant townships, and the fine state of cultivation as well as the high-grade improvements of this property stand in lasting evidence of his thrift and industry. He was an ardent supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, with which he united at the time of its organization, and he was always ready to give his influence and co-operation in support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the civic and material prosperity of his home township and county. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. His widow is a member of the Christian church. He was summoned to the life eternal on the 2d of June, 1907, and his remains rest in the Adams cemetery, where a beautiful monument has been erected to his memory. Mrs. Mary J. (Baum) Maxwell was born in the state of Michigan and she now passes her time with her children, principally in Porter and Lake counties, where she is loved by all who have come within the immediate compass of her gentle influence.
John Maxwell was reared to maturity on the old family homestead on which he now resides and from his youth to the present time he has not faltered in his allegiance to the great industrial enterprises under whose benignant influences he was thus reared. He availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native county and he has proved himself one of the most progressive and successful agriculturists and stock-growers of the county. Indomitable energy and ambition have marked his course and his success has been of unequivocal order. He has accumulated a most valuable landed estate, including the old home farm, and his first purchase of land comprised seventy-five acres, in securing which he assumed an indebtedness of twenty-five hundred dollars. Later he bought an adjoining twenty acres and finally he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the old farm of his father, by acquiring the interests of the other heirs. All these advancements meant hard work and good management, but he has proved himself a master of expedients and has gained prestige as one of the independent and distinctively prosperous representatives of the agricultural and stock-growing industries in this section of the state. In the spring of 1912 he completed on his homestead the erection of one of the largest and most modern barns in the county, the same being ninety-eight by forty-eight feet in dimensions and twenty-eight feet in height. The structure has concrete foundations and floors -- in fact the entire first story is virtually of concrete construction -- and the facilities throughout are of the most approved modern type, including provision for forcing water to all parts of the barn. Mr. Maxwell's landed estate, all under effective cultivation and admirably improved, now comprises three hundred and fifty-three and one-third acres, and the entire tract is in Morgan township. The line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad runs along the south side of his farm and the shipping station on this road is only one and three-fourths miles distant from his residence and principal farm buildings. The land owned by Mr. Maxwell is of the best order and is especially well adapted for the cultivation of the various cereals and also potatoes. He has shown much discrimination and has been very successful in the raising of high-grade live stock, and he has at the time of this writing two imported Norman mares and an imported Norman stallion -- as fine breeding stock in this line as is to be found in the entire county. Mr. Maxwell has shown much interest in raising the general standards of live stock in this section of the state and this interest has been one of practical and definitely enterprising order, with the result that his efforts have been productive of excellent results.
Concerned in all that touches the general welfare of the community and essentially broad-minded and loyal as a citizen, Mr. Maxwell is a staunch adherent of the Republican party, as a member of which he cast his first presidential vote in support of James G. Blaine. He has not sought the attractions of connubial life and remains in the list of distinctively eligible bachelors in his native county. The domestic economics of the attractive home are presided over most graciously by his sister, Mollie, and the place is known for its generous and unostentatious hospitality, as well as a center of good cheer and cultured atmosphere. By his uprightness, his energy and his enterprise Mr. Maxwell has honored the county of his birth and it is pleasing to be able to incorporate in this volume even this brief review of his earnest and successful career as one of the world's workers.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 557-559
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook