Christian S. Maxon. The business interests of
Edgewood have an able and successful representative
in the subject of this sketch, who conducts an
extensive hardware establishment at this place. He is
a native of Indiana, and was born October 18, 1842,
on a farm near South Bend. The family is of German
descent, but has been represented in the United
States for several generations. Grandfather Chester
Maxon was born in Virginia and served as a soldier in
the War of 1812.
Our subjects father, Ephraim Maxon, was born in the
Old Dominion in 1801, and in 1834 settled in Indiana,
thence in 1850 removed to Iowa, where he died in
Clayton County in 1858. His wife, whose maiden name
was Mary Smith, was also a native of Virginia, but
thence removed with her parents to Ohio in childhood
and later went to Indiana. Her death occurred about
1885. In her family there were two sons, our subject
and David J., both valiant soldiers during the
Rebellion. The latter enlisted in Company B,
Twenty-first Iowa Infantry, and in the battle of
Black River Bridge received a wound, from the effects
of which he died. There were also eight daughters in
the family, of whom only two are now living:
Prudence, wife of Seymour Chapin, a soldier in the
Civil War, and now a resident of Oregon, and Barbara,
wife of R.S. Huntington, the Edgewood lumber
merchant.
Alternating attendance at school with work on the
home farm, our subject grew to manhood. August 6,
1862, before he was twenty years of age, he enlisted
as a private in Company B, Twenty-first Iowa
Infantry. He served through the entire period of the
war, participating in many hard-fought battles among
which may be mentioned the engagements at Hartsville,
Grand Gulf, Magnolia Hills, Champion Hills, Black
River Bridge, the siege of Vicksburg, the siege and
fall of Spanish Fort, Ft. Blakely and Mobile.
From the hardships and perils of war, Mr. Maxson
returned home to resume the quiet pursuits of civil
life. Entering upon the active career of an
agriculturist, he continued thus engaged until the
spring of 1886, when he embarked in the lumber
business at Edgewood, and later added a stock of
hardware. For two years he conducted the enterprise
in partnership with his brother-in-law, R.S.
Huntington, but the connection was dissolved in the
spring of 1894, our subject taking the hardware
business and Mr. Huntington the lumber trade.
Shortly after retiring from the army, in 1865, Mr.
Maxon married Miss Clara Fisher, and they became the
parents of three children, two of whom died in
infancy. Matilda is the wife of Erastus Garetson, and
lives in Kansas. The wife and mother passed from
earth November 3, 1872. For his second wife Mr. Maxon
married Mrs. Laura (Busch) Newman, and they had three
children: Clara Belle, Daisy and Lloyd. Mrs. Laura
Maxon died in December, 1887, and our subject was
afterward united in marriage with Miss Effie Robbins.
Her father, William Robbins, was a soldier in the
Civil War and held the rank of Lieutenant of the
company to which Mr. Maxon belonged. One child has
blessed the union of our subject and his estimable
wife, Eva May.
Politically our subject is an unswerving defendant of
Republican principles. For nine years he has
officiated as Trustee of the township, and is now
serving his second term as Justice of the Peace.
Socially he is identified with the Grand Army of the
Republic, and takes a genuine pleasure in recounting
the thrilling experiences of war days. He is also
connected with the Knights of Pythias. His residence
is a conveniently arranged and cozy structure, and is
situated in the suburbs of the village. It is
surrounded by ten acres of land and is one of the
most pleasant homes of the town.