My Ancestor Story: The Maxeys of VA and KY

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Edward Maxey of London, England came to VA colony in about 1690, possibly as an indentured servant of William Byrd (an elected representative of the VA House of Burgesses). During this time, he likely lived in Charles City County, VA, where William Byrd was building his Westover Plantation along the James River. In about 1695, his servitude would have ended, and it is then that he married Susannah Gates. Sometime after they moved to neighboring Henrico Co, VA. Like many farmers in VA at this time, they were slave owners.

Westover Plantation on St. James River

He and his wife had 8 children, 6 boys, 2 girls, the second youngest of which was our ancestor Sylvanus “Sill” Maxey. In 1725, Edward purchased land for the first time in what is now Powhatan Co, VA, just north of Hwy 60 between the towns of Plain View and Flat Rock. His oldest son Edward Jr. purchased adjoining land at the same time and by 1735 his sons Willam, Nathaniel, and John had also purchased land nearby. Sill and Walter, who would have been aged 17 and 16 at this time, were presumably still living with their parents. When Edward passed 5 years later in 1740, he left a 400-acre plot of land to be divided between Sill and Walter.

Sill married in 1736 to Mary Ester Worley from Goochland Co. (now Cumberland Co.), VA. Together they had 5 children before Mary passed away about 1747. The second youngest child was our ancestor, William Henry Maxey. After his wife Mary’s death, Sylvanus sold his property to his brother Walter and moved to Albemarle Co. (now Buckingham Co.), VA. He married again by 1748 to Elizabeth “Betsey” Langdon from Henrico Co, VA. They went on to have 8 more children. (Side note: Early County formation in Virginia is a mess. I recommend this site if you want to understand why the names keep changing.)

The character of Sill has been called into question by other researchers. It has been noted that while many of his siblings had names that were passed onto future generations many times over, no one seems to have been interested in naming their offspring after him. Additionally, in 1743, he was brought before the court by William Mayo for having “abused his negro on the road”. In his later years, he moved with his wife and son William to Prince Edward Co., VA, and passed away in 1770. This land was passed on to William when he died, though very little else as his “estate” was very small.

His son William H. also had a checkered past. He was first married in about 1774, aged 30, to Elizabeth Turbyfield. He was a soldier in both the French and Indian War in 1760 and the Revolutionary war in 1779. In 1780, he sold the Prince Edward Co. property and moved back to Buckingham Co. (previously Albemarle Co.). They had 7 children together, but then in 1796, William posted a notice in the Virginia Gazette stating that his wife had “absconded from him” and that “he does not mean she shall waste any more of his property”. (Note that divorce was not formalized in Virginia until 1803). Given what a difficult situation this would have left Elizabeth in, one has to wonder what was bad enough to make her leave in the first place.

Regardless, Willam H. remarried only a year later to another Elizabeth, this one with the maiden name Chambers. He and his second wife had only one child, our ancestor William Chambers Maxey. They soon uprooted and moved to Kentucky, which had opened for settlement in 1792. The area they settled was in Logan Co. (now Warren Co.), KY, a 188-acre farm along the Gasper River, near where it joins with the Barren River. At that time, it was required to live on the land for 3 years before being able to purchase it, which they finally accomplished in 1800. In 1819, when William C. was 21, his father sold him this land for $200 and he married Elizabeth “Ann” Simpson. They did not stay long though. As soon as his parents had both passed, between 1824 and 1832, they sold the land. It is possible they moved to Bowling Green, KY for a time.

They are next found in the records in 1838, living just north of Mulberry, Crawford, AR (which later became part of Franklin Co.). This area began to be rapidly settled by Whites in 1828 after the Cherokee Native Americans were moved westward by a treaty. The area was called Mulberry due to the many Mulberry trees that grew along the river there. William C. is said to have been a well-respected early settler of the town. William C. and Ann had 12 children before she passed in 1853 at the age of 55. Her 4th child was our 4th great grandmother, Eliza Jane Maxey. According to the 1860 census, they owned 7 slaves. After Ann died, William C. remarried to a much younger Mary Larrimore (Scott) and had one more child.

Eliza Maxey stayed in Mulberry and married Richard Quesenbury from TN when she was 21. They owned 5 slaves up until the civil war, after which the census reported two young black girls who “worked in the home”. They had 3 children, all of whom also settled in Franklin Co., AR. Albert, the eldest, is our direct ancestor, and was a successful merchant and part owner of the drug store Quesenbury and Counts. His family line remained in Mulberry, AR for many years.