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Johnston Maxwell |
Johnston Maxwell -- also spelled "Johnson" and "Jonathan" -- was born on April 26, 1844 in Richland Township, Marion County, OH, the son of J. Marshall and Margaret (Johnson) Maxwell. He was named for his maternal grandfather.
Johnson grew to manhood in Cardington, Morrow County, OH and spent his working life as a farmer. He stood 5 feet, 7½ inches tall and weighed 150 lbs., with a light complexion, hazel eyes and black hair. He was about 26 years of age when his father married our Margaret (Miner) Sloan.
He is profiled extensively in the 1895 book, Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio.
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| Marriage license for Johnson and Nancy, 1862 - courtesy National Archives |
He married twice. His first marriage was on May 29, 1862, at the age of 17, to 18-year-old Nancy Stanton (1843-1867), also a Marion County
native. Officiating was justice of the peace S. Brown. Because he legally was underage, Johnson had to secure his father's consent to marry.
During their brief marriage of four years' duration, the couple together produced a brood of three children -- Clara A. Cline, Rolvin Curtis "R.C." Maxwell and Harley Johnson "H.J." Maxwell.
On June 9, 1862, within a few weeks of marriage, Johnson enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War at Camp Chase in nearby Columbus, OH. He was assigned to the 85th Ohio Infantry, Company C.
Camp Chase served as a military staging and training area about four miles west of Columbus. It's estimated that as many as 150,000 Union soldiers passed through its gates during the war. It also housed a Confederate prison camp which held as many as 25,000 POWs. Johnson served for three months at Camp Chase until receiving his honorable discharge on Sept. 23, 1862.
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| Above: bird's-eye view of Camp Chase, OH. Below: memorial to the 2,260 Confederate POWs buried at the camp. Wikipedia and Library of Congress |
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Upon his return home to Marion County, "his faithfulness to his duties of citizenship was not laid aside with the warrior's dress," said the Memorial Record.
He has given his support to all enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit and his co-operation is withheld from no interest which will promote the general welfare. He votes with the Republican party but has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring to give his time and attention to his business interests in which he is meeting with a good and well-deserved success. For the past ten years he has been engaged in dealing in fine horses, handling nothing but roadsters. He purchased the farm formerly owned by M. L. Maxwell (and upon that place is now residing Rolvin Curtis Maxwell, one of the leading and representative agriculturalists of Morrow county).
Sadly, the Maxwells' marriage dissolved the year after the war's close, with Johnson bringing the legal action. Their divorce was approved by Judge James W. Borden, in the Court of Common Pleas of Adams County in Decatur, IN on Sept. 13, 1866, just four months after the birth of their third child. He is known to have relocated from Marion County to Cardington in 1866, the year the marriage ended. Tragically, Nancy reputedly died in 1867.
Johnson lived in widowerhood for a period of two years. At the age of 25, he married again, on Dec. 19, 1869, to 17-year-old Viola Scribner (Aug. 3, 1852-1918), daughter of William and Susan Sophia (Newberry) Scribner. J.W. Buxton officiated at their wedding, held in Cardinton.
Of Viola, said the Memorial Record, "In the schools of Cardington township she acquired her education, and throughout the community she is recognized as a cultured and refined lady, who, by her many excellencies, has gained a wide circle of friends. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has long been an active worker in church and Sunday-school, doing effective service in the cause of Christianity."
When the federal census count was made in 1870, Johnson, Viola and their daughter Clara resided next door to his parents' farm in Cardington, Morrow County. Johnson's occupation was listed as "cattle broker." The families pulled up stakes and by 1880 had relocated to a farm in Richland Township, Marion County, OH. That year, they were next-door neighbors to Johnson's father and stepmother and two younger half-siblings.
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Johnson's farms, northwest of Cardington, 1901 Atlas of Morrow County |
Using the first name spelling of "Johnston," he applied for a military pension as compensation for his wartime ailments. It was awarded on April 11, 1891. [Invalid App. No. 1.015.589 - Cert. No. 1.078.348 - C2.518.735] Cardington neighbors Hiram P. Howard and Christopher Sipe signed affidavits of testimony in support of his claim.
To remain eligible for the pension, he had to undergo periodic physical examinations at the hands of military surgeons. In one such exam, in 1904, surgeons noted that he had 11 teeth in the upper jaw and seven in the lower, and of the "remaining teeth several are so loose that they could be easily extracted with the fingers," one physician wrote. Dr. C.H. Neal wrote about the same time that Johnson suffered from mucus buildup of the throat ("catarrh"), scurvy, kidney trouble and lower back pain ("lumbago").
Johnson is known to have earned a living circa 1903 in Cardington as a horse dealer.
At age 70, in 1914, he claimed he possessed records of his father's Bible, which had been lost or destroyed years earlier, showing the list of the births in the family.
Stricken with breast cancer, Viola passed away in Cardington at the age of 66 on Dec. 15, 1918. Burial was in Cardington.
As a three-time widower, Johnson lived for another nine years. He spent his winters in Florida. Upon becoming seriously ill in the winter of 1927, he was admitted to a sanitarium in Kansas City. There, he died on March 1, 1927. The body was returned to his native Ohio for burial in Glendale Cemetery, following funeral rites presided by Rev. Frank Watkins of the First Nazarene Church in Marion. An obituary in the Marion Star said he "was widely known."
~ Daughter Clara Annice (Maxwell) Cline ~
Daughter Clara Annice Maxwell (1862-1942) was born on Sept. 25, 1862.
She was united in matrimony with Jerome N. Cline ( ? - ? ).
Jerome preceeded her in death.
As a widow, she lived in Marion, Marion County, OH at 131 N. Seffner. Suffering from chronic endocarditis, she was stricken with heart failure and died at the age of 79 on May 17, 1942. Burial was in Claridon Cemetery, with Mrs. Bert Cline of Marion serving as the informant for the Ohio death certificate.
~ Son Rolvin Curtis Maxwell ~
Son Rolvin Curtis Maxwell (1864-1948) was born on May 2, 1864.
He was a longtime farmer in Cardington, and later was involved with real estate.
He kept a home at 223 Railroad Street in Cardington.
He married Melvina E. (?).
Sadly, Rolvin died of chronic heart disease and hardening of the arteries at the age of 84, in Cardington, on May 10, 1948. Burial was in Cardington's Glendale Cemetery.
~ Son Harley Johnson Maxwell ~
Son Harley Johnson Maxwell (1866-1939) was born on May 11, 1866 in Cardington.
He wed Rose Kreis ( ? - ? ) of Paulding County, OH.
Harley was a salesman and resided at 288 East Center in Marion, Marion County.
Suffering from acute heart disease and cancer of the gastric area, he died at the age of 72 on Feb. 12, 1939. Burial was in Forest Glen Cemetery. Mrs. Mary Thorpe provided details for the official Ohio death certificate.
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2004, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2024 Mark A. Miner