Information taken from:

"Portrait and Biographical Album of  Ford County Illinois", 
Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Lake City Publishing Co July 1892:

A.C. Maxson, a practical and progressive farmer of Lyman Township, residing on section 14, claims Connecticut as the State of his nativity.  He was born February 8, 1821, and traces his ancestry back to the day when the Pilgrims Fathers landed on the shores of Massachusetts.  His parents were Amos Champaign and Elizabeth (Tinker) Maxson.  His father was born in Connecticut, and was a carpenter by trade.  In politics, he was a Democrat, and in religious belief was a Baptist.  He died at the age of ninety-three years.  His family numbered four sons and two daughters, but, with the exception of our subject, only one is now living, Nancy, who resides in Connecticut, at the age of ninety-two.  The early boyhood days of our subject were spent under the parental roof where he remained until fourteen years of age, when he shipped aboard a sailing-vessel on the high seas, leaving New York on a packet bound for London.  He followed this life for seven years, and became mate of a vessel.  He has sailed to the Sandwich Islands, Havre, Rotterdam, Italy, Sicily, Antwerp and around Cape Horn.  He made fifteen voyages on the "Wellington" to London, one on the "Hector" to Mobile, one each to Liverpool on the "Metoka," the "Sidons" and the "Cornelia," one each to London on the" Toronto" and the "Montreal;" was second mate on the brig "Republic" during three voyages, and the brig "Mettamora" on two voyages to Appalachicola, was boatswain on two voyages to Liverpool, was first mate on the "Sampson" on three voyages, on the barque "Curtis" from New Orleans to Philadelphia, on the brig "Emeline," on the brig "Ocilla, which went around Cape Horn to California, on the barque "Mayflower" for two years, on the "Sir Robert Peel," during two voyages,  and the "Lenore," and the "American Congress" during one voyage.  He was Captain of the ships "Tonera," and "Edwina" each a voyage.  He was on the high seas for about a quarter of a century, during which time they encountered many severe storms, and on one occasion the crew were at the pumps for seven days and seven nights.

In 1852, Mr. Maxson was united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Elizabeth Pierson, a native of Lime, Connecticut, and unto them were born three sons and three daughters, all yet living, namely:  Effie Louise, who was educated in Grand Prairie Seminary in Onarga, and is a successful teacher of this county; Laura, wife of Henry Clay Miner, of Genesee County, N. Y.; Bertha, wife of John Dopps, of Bloomington, Illinois; John Arthur, who is married and resides in Brenton Township; Pierson R., who is married, and is employed in the shops of the Chicago & Alton Railroad at Bloomington Ill.; and Wilber R., who completes the family.  The mother departed this life July 19, 1879, and her remains were interred in Roberts Cemetery, where a beautiful monument marks her last resting place.

In 1859, Mr. Maxson came to Ford County, then a part of Vermilion County, and, although he has resided upon the same farm, has lived in two counties and three different townships organizations, Stockton, Brenton and Lyman.  He entered one hundred and sixty acres of raw land upon which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made.  Gibson, Melvin, Roberts and Piper City were not then laid out, and wild game roamed over the prairies upon which those towns are now located.  Mr. Maxson now owns eighty acres of improved land and his valuable farm yields to him a good income.  In his political affiliations, he is a Republican, but has never sought or desired public office, preferring to devote his entire time and attention to his business interests.  His career has been a checkered one, yet one of honor, and he is regarded as one of the valued and representative citizens of Ford County.  He is also numbered among its honored pioneers, having been an eyewitness of its growth and up building for a third of a century.


"Portrait and Biographical Album of  Livingston County,  Illinois", 
Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of Livingston County. Chicago, Chapman Brothers, 1888

Matthew R. Maxson, son of one of the early pioneers of the Prairie State, came to Illinois with his parents when a lad ten years of age, locating first in Tazewell County.  Thence the family removed to Peoria County, and from there our subject, in 1880, came to Livingston and located upon his present farm in Saunemin Township.  He is comparitively a young man and is one of those of whom much is expected in the future, being wide-awake, enterprising and industrious, and taking a lively interest in the enterprises calculated to advance the morality and education of the people, rightly judging that whatever affects the whole will, in a like degreee, affect each member singly.  A well-regulated farm increases the value of the property adjacent, just as a fine building in the city enhances the value of property around it.

Our subject was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., April 2, 1844, and is the son of Randall and Deborah (Kenyon) Maxson, also natives of the Empire State.  His paternal ancestors were of Scotch descent, and Mr. Maxson is one of a family of eleven children:  Mary, the eldest, is the wife of William Judson, of Nebraska; Potter is engaged in the nursery business at Benton Harbor, Mich.; Norman is farming in Jefferson County, Kan.; Elizabeth is the wife of Clinton W. Card, of Morris, Ill.; Orson lives in Nebraska; William in Ford County, Ill.; Matthew R.; Addie is the wife of Sanford Stillman, of Jefferson County, Kan.; Ellen L., Mrs. Lewis Johnson, lives in Fayette County, this state; Jane, wife of William Cole, of Nebraska, died July 22, 1887;  Delia is the wife of Anson Stillman, of Jefferson County, Kan.  The parents passed their last years in Peoria County, where the father died in March 1867, and the mother, surviving twelve years, passed away in May, 1879.  They were most excellent and worthy people, fulfilling their whole duty as parents and neighbors, and are kindly remembered by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

Young Maxson during his youth became familiar with the various employments of farm life and received a fair education in the district schools, pursuing his studies mostly in the winter.  He was naturally inclined to be industrious and economical, and was extremely prudent about taking upon himself the responsibilities of a family until he could suitably provide for them.  After reaching his thirty-fourth year, he was married, Nov. 27, 1878, to Miss Alice E. Miller, who was born in Peoria County, Ill., July 26, 1856, and was consequently twenty-two years of age at the time of their marriage.  The wedding took place at the home of the bride, and Mr. And Mrs. M. at once settled in Peoria County, where they remained until removing to their present farm.

The wife of our subject was the daughter of John E. and Eliza A. (Hare) Miller, who were pioneer settlers of Peoria County, locating there in 1849.  Mr. Miller was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., and his wife was a native of Kentucky; she died Nov. 7, 1887.  Their family included four children:  George; Flora, the wife of Edgar Davis, Harry L. and Alice.  All but Mrs. Maxson are residents of Peoria County.  Mr. and Mrs. M. have two children:  Fred R., who was born Sept. 24, 1881 and Alice E., Aug. 19, 1884.  The homestead includes eighty acres of good land, a comfortable farm residence, a fair-sized barn and all the other buildings required for the shelter of stock and the storing of grain. They do not pretend to live elegantly, but are simply surrounded by all the comforts of life, and probably are far more contented than those who shine in the fashionable world.  Mr. Maxson takes an interest in school matters and for the past five years has served as School Director.

During the late war Mr. Maxson served in the Army of the Cumberland several months, being a member of Company C, 86th Illinois Infantry. He participated in the battle at Perryville, Ky., and was engaged in numerous other skirmishes with the enemy.  He is an ardent Republican, politically, and a member of the G. A. R. Post at Saunemin.


Submitted by Susan Maxson, great-grandaughter of Matthew Randall Maxson.