Photo courtesy of the Annals of Iowa. Above is a photo of Maxwell in his latter years, where he was an area fixture.

Last Saturday, I was privileged to speak to more than 50 people, most from here in Webster City. The talk was on the American Civil War and some of its impact on our city and Hamilton County.

My sincere thanks to Carolynn Miller for organizing and publicizing the event in the Mulberry Center Church. The response I’ve received afterward has encouraged me to look into more avenues to share my love of history in this area.

One of the men I spoke on, briefly, was John N. Maxwell. I’d like to spend a bit of your time trying to capture more of this early settler.

John was born in April of 1835 in Paris, Illinois. As he grew, John gathered a sound education, even reading law, before he left… to walk from his home to this area, along with a friend named John Harshburg in 1854, at the age of 19.

Maxwell secured a claim on 160 acres of land south of here, along the Boone River at the newly developing Saratoga. The farm would become his home until his later years.

Three years after arriving, John volunteered as a member of the Relief Expedition his father helped form to rescue settlers at Spirit Lake, the scene of an attack by followers of Inkpaduta, a Dakota leader.

He was a Lieutenant in the Webster City company of men; along with another detachment from Fort Dodge the force proceeded north, on foot, in extreme weather (late March) conditions toward Spirit Lake. John was put in charge of the group that reached and buried most of the victims of the attack.

His story is recorded online at “The Annals of Iowa,” a wonderful research website. Around this time, John married Emaline Burtner; they were married more than 60 years.

A few years later, John enlisted as First Sergeant of Company A, 32nd Iowa Infantry. He served nine months before he was discharged for disability in March of 1863. Maxwell returned to his farm and became a fixture in the area.

An early newspaper article describes the raising of a sidewalk on the north side of Bank Street; the first saloon in Webster City had been built there some 10 years earlier.

The article states, “As John Maxwell would say, this is one of the ‘ancient landmarks’ of our now progressive town.”

I’d say John had a way with words.

Maxwell was also documented as having a very kind disposition, dealing fairly with everyone. Too many stories are contained in the archives of Webster City newspapers about this man and his life to recount. John died in the summer of 1919.

The August 21 issue of The Webster Journal ran the following as part of his front-page obituary, “throughout this portion of the state, the memory of John N. Maxwell will always be honored and respected.”

Late in life, he and Emaline began having difficulty with cold weather; I can so relate, having been raised in Minnesota!

The two moved to Chico, California to enjoy the warmer climate. My wife, Diane, and I met and married in California.

We have also spent many winters in southwestern Florida. Despite some snow and cooler temperatures, I’ll take Iowa over the other two places…