Henry Johnson Maxwell (May 3, 1837 – August 26, 1906)[1] was a lawyer, soldier in the Union Army, state senator,[2] and postmaster in South Carolina.[3][4]

He was born free on Edisto Island to Stephen J. and Thurston Johnson Maxwell. He was a Sergeant in the 2nd U.S. Colored Artillery. After the war, he worked for the Freedmen's Bureau in Bennettsville, South Carolina as a teacher.[4]

He served in the South Carolina Senate from 1868 until 1877 representing Marlboro County, South Carolina He served as postmaster of Bennettsville in 1869 and 1870, and was the first black postmaster in the United States.[1] He joined the South Carolina Bar in 1871.[5]

Towards the end of the Reconstruction era as Democrats regained power, he was charged with bribery and resigned as a state senator. He was never tried.[6]

He was married twice, the second time to Martha Louisa Dibble Maxwell.[4][7] He helped raise eight children.[4] One of his sons, John Moreau Maxwell, was a store owner in Orangeburg.[8][9] Another of his sons was attorney Charles W. Maxwell.[10] Henry J. Maxwell's granddaughter Cassandra Maxwell became the first female African American lawyer in South Carolina in 1941.[3]

His photograph was included among "Radical" members of the South Catolina Legislature.[7] A historical marker is located at the site of his farm in Sumter County.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "22 Jun 1910, Page 3 - The Watchman and Southron at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. p. 3. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. ↑ Senate, South Carolina General Assembly (June 25, 1877). "Journal of the Senate of the State of South Carolina, Being the Sessions of ..." Charles P. Pelham, State Printer – via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 Burke, W. Lewis (July 1, 2017). All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868–1968. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820350998 – via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Henry J. Maxwell Farm".
  5. 1 2 "Henry J. Maxwell Farm Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org.
  6. ↑ W. Lewis Burke (1 July 2017). All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868–1968. University of Georgia Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-8203-5099-8.
  7. 1 2 Morrison-Reed, Mark D. (June 25, 2009). In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby. Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. ISBN 9781558965416 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ "Orangeburg Cemetery". City of Orangeburg, SC. July 30, 2019.
  9. ↑ Mack-Shelton, Kibibi V. (November 16, 2010). Ahead of Her Time in Yesteryear: Geraldyne Pierce Zimmerman Comes of Age in a Southern African American Family. Univ. of Tennessee Press. ISBN 9781572337367 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ "West Philadelphia Collaborative History - Members of the First South Carolina Legislature Following the Civil War". collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu.
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