Hu Maxwell (September 22, 1860, Saint George, Virginia (now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

) — August 20, 1927,

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

) was a local historian, novelist, editor, poet, and author of several histories of

counties.

Biography

Maxwell was born on a farm near Horse Shoe Run in

Tucker County, West Virginia Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of Ra ...

, US. His father was Rufus Maxwell, first

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

in the county, and his mother was Sarah Jane (Bonnifield) Maxwell, a school teacher. He attended county schools for a few months only and showed an early talent for versification, even before learning to write at age 14 years. His interest in geography lead his father to take him and his brothers to the 1876

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in Philadelphia. After four years at the

Weston Academy Weston Academy was an Isle of Wight primary school run by the Academies Enterprise Trust academy chain. It closed in 2015. History Previously called Weston Community Primary School, the school was located in Totland Bay in the far West of the Isl ...

in Lewis County, he was appointed (1880) a cadet in the U.S. Naval Academy. He reportedly passed his matriculation exams but had a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

owing to over strenuous studying and never entered. (He was said to have been a "loner" and "a sort of recluse", not suited to a career as a naval officer.) Back in West Virginia he went into the lumber business, edited the '' Tucker County Pioneer'', and wrote two novels, ''Rich Mountain'' and ''Llewellyn''. He later taught school and wrote a never-completed manuscript, ''The Conquest of the Ohio Valley''. In 1882 and '83, he toured the southern and southwestern States and Mexico. In 1884, Maxwell published his ''History of Tucker County, West Virginia'' at

Kingwood, West Virginia Kingwood is a city in and the county seat of Preston County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,980 at the 2020 census. It sits within the Allegheny Mountains and is part of the Morgantown metropolitan area. Kingwood is home to ...

, the first work presenting the early history of the

Cheat River The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Uni ...

Valley. Maxwell married Anna H. Humphreys (of Fresno, California) on 8 December 1891 and they had four children: Selby Frederick (1894-1971), Marian (born 1895), Anna (1900-1902), and Alexander Wilson (1905-1975). As a

forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...

and

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

for the Forest Service of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

, Maxwell prepared several publications dealing with forestry. He was also a frequent camping companion of President Theodore Roosevelt. Over the years, the Maxwell family resided, successively, in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

;

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

; and

. In preparation for his more-than-1,000-page work ''A Tree History of the United States'' (1923), Maxwell visited every state in the Union at least once and examined 600 of the 680 tree species believed to exist in the country. In 1924 — aged 64 — Maxwell located and traced the old Indian pathway, the

Seneca Trail The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the Great Appala ...

, between

Oakland, Maryland Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. The town has a population of 1,925 according to the 2010 United States Census. The town is also the county seat of Garrett County and is located within the Pitt ...

and

Elkins, West Virginia Elkins is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The community was incorporated in 1890 and named in honor of Stephen Benton Elkins, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The population was 6,950 at the 2020 ...

— an immense physical effort of research requiring him to walk 150 miles. Maxwell died at home in Evanston, Illinois, in 1927. He is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in

Works

Books

*Maxwell, Hu (1884), ''History of Tucker County, West Virginia, From the Earliest Explorations and Settlements to the Present Time'', Kingwood, W.Va:

Preston Publishing Company Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. (Reprinted,

McClain Printing Company The McClain Printing Company (MPC) is a printing company specializing in books of West Virginia history and lore. The company was incorporated in 1958 in Parsons, West Virginia as an outgrowth of the local weekly newspaper, the ''Parsons Advocate'' ...

Parsons, W.Va. Parsons is the county seat and largest city in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,322 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The mayor of Parsons is Dorothy Judy and the city administrator is Jason Myers. The ...

, 1971). *Maxwell, Hu (1887), ''Idyls of the Golden Shore'' (Volume of poetry) *Maxwell, Hu (1893), ''Evans and Sontag, the Famous Bandits of California''; Supplemental material by Charles W. Clough. *Maxwell, Hu, and

Howard Llewellyn Swisher Howard Llewellyn Swisher (September 21, 1870 – August 27, 1945) was an American businessperson, real estate developer, orchardist, editor, writer, and historian. As a prominent businessman, he established several companies responsible for the d ...

(1897), ''History of Hampshire County, West Virginia: from its Earliest Settlement to the Present'', Morgantown, WV: A. Brown Boughner, (Reprinted, Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Co., 1972) *Maxwell, Hu (1898), ''The History of Randolph County, West Virginia, From its Earliest Settlement to the Present'', The Acme Publishing Company, Morgantown, W.Va. (Reprinted, McClain Printing Company, Parsons, W.Va., 1961). *Maxwell, Hu (1899), ''The History of Barbour County, From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time'', The Acme Publishing Company, Morgantown, W.Va. (Reprinted, McClain Printing Company, Parsons, W.Va., 1968). *Hill, A.F. (1900), ''The White Rocks, or: The Robber's Den, a Tragedy of the Mountains'', Morgantown, WV: Acme Press, Illustrated by

and Hu Maxwell. *Fast, Richard Ellsworth and Hu Maxwell (1901), ''The History and Government of West Virginia'', Morgantown, WV: The Acme Publishing Company. *Maxwell, Hu (1902), ''Jonathan Fish and His Neighbors'', Mogantown, W. Va.: Acme Publishing. *Miller, Thomas Condit and Hu Maxwell (1913),
West Virginia and its People
', 3 volumes, Lewis Hist. Pub. Co. *Cobb, William H., Andrew Price and Hu Maxwell (1921), ''History of the Mingo Indians'', Cumberland, Md.: F.B. Jenvy, printer. *Maxwell, Hu (1923), ''A Tree History of the United States''.

Articles, monographs and contributions

*Maxwell, Hu (1901), "West Virginia a Century Ago", ''

The Transallegheny Historical Magazine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', Vol. 1, Issue 1, October 1901; pp 234–236. *Maxwell, Hu (1902)
“The Retreat of General Robert S. Garnett”
''The Transallegheny Historical Magazine'', Vol. 1, Issue 3, April 1902; pp 225–233. *Maxwell, Hu (1902), "Early Orchards in West Virginia", ''The Transallegheny Historical Magazine'', Vol. 2, Issue 1; Oct 1902; pg 64. *Maxwell, Hu (1902)
“The Last Survivor of the Battle of Point Pleasant”
''The Transallegheny Historical Magazine'', Vol. 1, Issue 3, April 1902; pp 234–236. *Maxwell, Hu (1907), "Part First—State History"; In
Cutright, W.B. (1907), ''The History of Upshur County, West Virginia, from its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time''
*Maxwell, Hu (1909), "Col. Lowther's Cabin", ''Illustrated Monthly West Virginian''; 2:5 Jan/Feb 1909, pg 15. *Maxwell, Hu (1910), "The Use and Abuse of Forests by the Virginia Indians", ''William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine'' 19 (October 1910): 73-103. *Hall, William L. and Hu Maxwell (1911),
Uses of Commercial Woods of the United States: II Pines
', Washington, DC: Government Printing Office orest Service Bulletin 99 *Maxwell, Hu (1924), "The Seneca Indian Trail"; Article published in ''

The Tucker Democrat ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (Tucker County, West Virginia, newspaper; defunct since 1954); Reprinted in ''

West Virginia Review West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

''; 2:1 Aug 1925, pp 393–395. Reprinted by

Randolph County Historical Society Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated comm ...

: ''Magazine of History and Biography''; 11, 1954; pp 96–101. ited in: Fansler, Homer Floyd (1962), ''History of Tucker County, West Virginia''; Parsons, West Virginia:

, pg 40 (note 73).] *Maxwell, Hu (1925), "Pioneer Sawmills of the Appalachian Region", ''Amer. Lumberman'', 2599: pp 56–57.

Unpublished manuscripts

*Maxwell, Hu (?date), "The Conquest of the Ohio Valley" (unfinished) *Maxwell, Hu (1927)
"History of Monongalia County"
ccording_to_botanist_Earl_L._Core_(In:_''The_Monongalia_Story:_A_Bicentennial_History,_Vol._I:_Prelude''_(1974),_Parsons,_W.Va..html" ;"title="Earl_L._Core.html" ;"title="ccording to botanist Earl L. Core">ccording to botanist Earl L. Core (In: ''The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History, Vol. I: Prelude'' (1974), Parsons, W.Va.">Earl_L._Core.html" ;"title="ccording to botanist Earl L. Core">ccording to botanist Earl L. Core (In: ''The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History, Vol. I: Prelude'' (1974), Parsons, W.Va.: McClain Printing Co., n. 43, pg 69.), this "partially printed but unpublished" work includes a Chapter 2 entitled "The Vegetation Found by the Pioneers" (pp 21–55) that "contains a vast amount of early plant lore".]

References

*Maxwell, Hu (1884), ''History of Tucker County, West Virginia, From the Earliest Explorations and Settlements to the Present Time'', Kingwood, W.Va: Preston Publishing Company. (Pages 511 - 531 are a "Biographical Sketch of the Author".) *Fansler, Homer Floyd (1962), ''History of Tucker County, West Virginia'',

Parsons, West Virginia Parsons is the county seat and largest city in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,322 at the 2020 census. The mayor of Parsons is Dorothy Judy and the city administrator is Jason Myers. The city is also governed by ...

, ''passim'', esp. pg 677. *Comstock, Jim, ed. (1976), ''West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia'', Vol. 14.,

Richwood, West Virginia Richwood is a city in Nicholas County, West Virginia, Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States. In 2020, the census showed Richwood with a population of 1,661. During the 19th and early 20th century Richwood was a booming coal and lumber to ...

: Jim Comstock. *Turner, Ella May (1925), ''Stories and Verse of West Virginia'',

Scottdale, Pennsylvania Scottdale is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh. Early in the 20th century, Scottdale was the center of the Frick coke interests. It had steel and iron pipe mills, brass and silver works, a casket facto ...

: Mennonite Pub.

External links

* * *
Maxwell Family Papers, at West Virginia and Regional History Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Hu 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American novelists 1860 births 1927 deaths American foresters American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male poets American topographers Editors of West Virginia newspapers Historians of Virginia Historians of West Virginia Novelists from West Virginia People from Tucker County, West Virginia United States Forest Service officials Maxwell family of West Virginia Burials at Oak Grove Cemetery (Morgantown, West Virginia)