Thomas Maxwell

Thomas Maxwell, Congressman from Elmira, New York

Thomas Maxwell (February 16, 1792 – November 4, 1864) was a U.S. Representative from New York.

Thomas Maxwell was born February 16, 1792 at Tioga Point (now Athens), Bradford County, Pennsylvania. His father, Guy Maxwell, was adopted by the Iroquois in the same year.^[1] Maxwell moved to Elmira (then Newtown Point), New York, in 1796. In 1804, he was adopted by the Iroquois people, given the name He.je.no, meaning "the brave boy", and adopted by a Tuscorora family.^[1] He was appointed quartermaster of a regiment of Cavalry attached to the brigade of General Vincent Mathews during the War of 1812. He served as clerk of Tioga County, New York from 1819 to 1829.

Maxwell was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831). He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts (Twenty-first Congress). He engaged in the prosecution of pension claims. He studied law and was admitted to practice in the court of common pleas of old Tioga County, New York, in 1832. He was editor of the Elmira Gazette 1834-1836. Postmaster of Elmira in 1834–1839. Deputy clerk of Chemung County in 1836. Treasurer of Chemung County in 1836–1843. He was a vice president of the New York and Erie Railroad Co. in 1841. He served as commissioner of loans of United States deposit and of State funds in 1843. He moved to Geneva, New York, about 1845, upon his appointment as deputy clerk of the State supreme court.

Later in life, Maxwell became an Iroquois agent, and made many notes on them, which were in his daughter's hands. Red Jacket had his portrait painted for Thomas Maxwell; they were warm friends. Eighty years after the formal adoption of Thomas Maxwell his daughter Harriet (later known as Harriet Maxwell Converse) was formally adopted by the family of Red Jacket, and received many mementos such a necklace made of 79 little silver brooches, which had been worn by Red Jacket; also his Masonic pin.^[1]

He died in Elmira, November 4, 1864. He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery.

References

1. Murray 1908, p. 186.

Bibliography

• United States Congress. "Thomas Maxwell (id: M000271)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Thomas Maxwell at Find a Grave
• Murray, Louise Welles (1908). A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania (Public domain ed.).

Attribution

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.
• This article incorporates text from a work in the public domain: L. W. Murray's A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania (1908)