Home of Sam Bell Maxey
Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Star and Wreath) Native Kentuckian, West Point graduate, brevetted for gallantry in Mexican war, district attorney from Lamar County, Major General C. S. A. in Tennessee and Mississippi campaigns, commander of Indian Territory 1863-1865 organizing three brigades of Indians which participated in Red River Campaign, Cavalry division commander, U. S. Senator 1875-1887. Buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Paris.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Sam Bell Maxey was a Kentucky-born West Point graduate brevetted for gallantry in the Mexican-American War before settling in Paris, Texas, as a district attorney. He rose to major general in the Confederate army, commanding in the Tennessee and Mississippi campaigns and then the Indian Territory from 1863 to 1865, where he organized three brigades of Native American troops for the Red River Campaign. After the war he served two terms in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1887.
Why it matters
Maxey's career links the Mexican-American War, the Confederacy's use of Indian Territory alliances, and Reconstruction-era Texas politics in the life of one prominent Southern soldier-statesman.
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Related people
- · Sam Bell Maxey
Related events
- · Red River Campaign
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Lightfoot-Coleman House
Paris, TX
Alabama-born Henry William Lightfoot, a Confederate veteran of Forrest's Cavalry, came to Paris, Texas, in 1872 as law partner to Sam Bell Maxey and married Maxey's adopted daughter Dora two years later. The young couple built this house across from the Maxey home, its double gallery trimmed in Eastlake-style millwork and its lumber hauled from Jefferson. Lightfoot went on to serve as a state senator and chief justice of the 5th Court of Civil Appeals before his death in 1901; the Coleman family later restored the home in the 1950s.
Judge Wm. Henry Lightfoot House
Paris, TX
Judge William Henry Lightfoot built this Paris, Texas home in 1876, hauling the lumber from Jefferson and using square nails and pegged pine floors in the fashion of the day. A Confederate veteran who rode with Forrest's Cavalry, Lightfoot later practiced law in partnership with General and U.S. Senator Sam B. Maxey. The house was restored in the 20th century and recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1965.
Lamar County, C. S. A.
Paris, TX
Lamar County sat on the uneasy northern edge of Texas during the Civil War, a farming and transport hub near the Red River and Indian Territory. Notably, its delegation cast the only unanimous vote against secession at the state convention, and county voters likewise opposed it—yet once war came, the county raised at least nine combat companies, including the 9th Texas Infantry that bled at Shiloh and later served in Hood's Texas Brigade. Local men rose to Confederate general's rank, and cattleman John Chisum supplied beef to the armies.
Evergreen Cemetery
Paris, TX
When the old graveyard near Paris's center grew crowded, community leaders chartered the Evergreen Cemetery Association in 1866 and bought sixteen acres from George Wright, expanding it over the following century. Among its earliest burials was Lucy Pope Maxey, mother of West Point graduate, Confederate general, and U.S. senator Samuel Bell Maxey, who rests here with many of the town's founders. Its celebrated stonework — including Willet Babcock's famous "Jesus in Cowboy Boots" monument — draws visitors from across the country.