In an age when there is no little just discrimination
between the true and the false, when real assurance is better appreciated
than unpretending merit, it is a pleasure to contemplate the career and
character of such a man as the subject of this memoir, who, though unassuming,
has not been underestimated by the people and who in return for their confidence
and attachment has taught them how valuable may be those professional services
that must be sought for and are never obtrusively displayed, as it were,
from the house tops or on the public square. Though a man of unpretentious
worth, he possesses the magnetic force that silently attracts men and those
mental qualities and personal graces that grapple them to him as with bands
of steele, also the tact and power that make his fellows as events, subserve
his purposes and add to his honorable reputation m one of the most useful
and exacting callings which appeal to the human mind.
Dr. Moss Maxey is scion from superior stock. In
his life currents are mingled the stury strength of old Virginia ancestry
and the ardor of antecedents whose early experience was 4osely interwoven
with the pioneer history of the West. For many years both branches of his
family have been closely identified with the rise and progress of Jefferson
county and today there are few names as widely known or as greatly esteemed
in Southern Illinois, as the one which he so honorably bears.
Burchett Maxey, the doctor's grandfather, who
erected the first house on the present site of Mount Vernon in the year
was a native of Virginia, where his birth occurred in 1795, and to his
son, James C. Maxey, the subject's father, belongs the distinction of being
the oldest native born citizen of Jefferson county at the present time.
Burchett Niaxey removed from his native place to Sumner county, Virginia,
in his younger clays, thence migrated to Southern Illinoi~ and was one
of the hrst permanent settlers in what is now the county of Jefferson.
He bore his full share in the pioneer h';story of this part of the state,
but has long been sleeping the 4eep ffiat knows no awaking, leaving to
his descendants a name that lives in the memories of the present generation
and is destined to be handed down to future years as one of the leaders
of civilization into what is now one of the most prosperous and enlightened
counties of the commonwealth.
James C. Maxey, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere
in this volume, married Nancy Moss, like himself, a native of Jefferson
county, and became the father of eight children whose names are as follows:
John R. deceased; Walter S., a druggist of Mount Vernon; Oscar, a farmer
and stock raiser of Jefferson county; A. F.9 who is also engaged in the
pursuit of agriculture in the county; Henry, manager of the Standard Oil
plant and of the Ice & Cold Storage Company, of Mount Vernon; Lillie
married Frank Sugg, of Kinmundy, Illinois; Oliver, deceased; and Dr. Moss
Maxey, of this review.
Doctor Maxey is a native of Jefferson county,
Illinois, and since infancy his life has been very closely associated with
the place of his birth. In the free wholesome out-door life of the i~arm,
he spent his early years and while still quite young learned the lessons
of industry and thrift in his father's fields and under the direction of
his parents laid broad and deep the solid mental and moral foundation upon
which his subsequent career as a distinguished member of the medical profession
rests. After attending the district schools until acquiring a pretty thorough
knowledge of the branches taught therein he turned his attention to farm
labor and was thus engaged on the family homestead until deciding to what
vocation or profession his future life should be devoted. Having selected
medicine as the calling most suited to his tastes and inclinations, the
doctor in 1894 entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, where
he pursued his professional studies and researches until completing the
prescribed course three years later, receiving the degree of Doctor of
Medicine from that institution in 1897.
Immediately after his graduation Doctor Maxey
located at Mount Vernon, where he soon gained recognition and built up
a practice which continued to grow in magnitude and importance until his
place among the successful physicians and surgeons became permanently fixed
and a liberal income assured.
At the beginning of his career he was actuated
by a laudable ambition to advance in his noble calling and become a true
healer of human ills and with this object in view he devoted every energy
to the acquiring of a profound knowledge of medical science with the ability
to apply the same to the treatment of diseases. His watchfulness over the
interests and welfare of his patients, his devotion to his profession,
his sound sense and good judgment combined to complete his acknowledged
fitness for his calling and in due time his name and fame spread far beyond
the limits of the field to which his talents were principally devoted and
earned for him an honorable reputation among the distinguished physicians
and surgeons in the southern part of the state. In addition to his general
practice the doctor was for eight years one of the surgeons of the Mount
Vernon Car Manufacturing Company, discharging the duties of the same with
signal ability which has added much to his reputation as a painstaking
and untiring devotee of the healing art.
Doctor Maxey has met with unusual success as a
surgeon and among his professional brethren is considered a skillful operaor.
In medicine he has few equals and no superiors in the city of his residence
as is indicated by the extensive practice he now commands, which has been
as successful financially as professionally and which has resulted in the
accumulation of a handsome cornpetenly and gained for him a place among
the well-to-do men of his city and county. The doctor has spared no pains
to keep abreast of the times in all matters relating to his life work and
in touch with the trend of professional thought, being a close and diligent
student, a critical observer and to no small degree an investigator whose
discoveries have added very materially to his own success and assisted
others in their professional work. He holds membership in various societies
and organizations for the advancement of professional thought, among which
are the Jefferson County Medical Society, the National Association for
the Study and Preservation of 'Fuberculosis; the Association for the Advancement
of Science and other societies of like character, in the deliberations
of which he keeps well informed and in close touch with the leading spirits
among the membership.
Doctor Maxey is highly esteemed in the community
and his intercourse with his fellows has been such as to command the respect
and confidence of all. Like most enterprising men he takes an active interest
in secret fraternal work and belongs to several organizations with this
principle as a basis, the most noted being the Masonic Order, in which
he has risen to a high degree and been honored at intervals with positions
of honor and trust. He is past master of Mount Vernon Lodge, No.31, and
is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter besides having a wide acquaintance
among the leading Masons of his own and other states. In politics he is
a Democrat.. entirely inactive as far as participation in party affairs
is concernednotwithstanding which he is familiar with the leading questions
and issues of the day and profoundly versed in the history and policies
of the various political oragnizations which have marked the progress of
the United States from the founding of the government to the present time.
As indicated in a preceding paragraph Doctor Maxey
is a student not only of matters relating to his profession but of a wide
range of subjects including history, science, sciology, evolution and history
of comparative religion, his acquaintance with the world's best literature
being both general and profound.
He has always been a good reader and finds his
chief enjoyment in his magnificent library where in converse with the wise
and great of the ages he acquires the knowledge and intellectual acumen
which renders him an authority on the literature of all countries and all
times and make him a welcome addition to circles and gatherings having
in view the mental improvement of their members.
The doctor has exercised sound judgment and wise
discretion in building up his library which is pronounced by scholars and
others capable of judging to be the finest collection of standard works
in Mount Vernon and one of the largest and most valuable in the state.
He selects his books with the greatest care, keeping in mind their literary
merit and worth, allowing none but those of recognized ability on his shelves,
the number of volumes at this time being considerably in excess of one
thousand, among which are none of a Jight or frivolous character, all being
standard and of the highest order of literary excellence. In his collection
are a number of very rare editions that have come down from remote times
and not a few of his choice books are beyond price and cannot be duplicated.
Doctor Maxey was first married in 1892 to Miss
LuIu Swift, of Mount Vernon, the union resulting in the birth of two children,
a son, Hugh W., and a daughter by the name of Vivian, agedfifteen and twelve
years, respectively. His second marriage was solemnized in 1904 with Miss
Winnie Tanner, the accomplished and popular daughter of Allen C. Tanner,
a prominent citizen of Mount Vernon and one of the enterprising men of
Jefferson county.
SOURCE:Walls History of Jefferson County, Il By
John A. Wall 1909
Submitted by: Misty Flannigan
Dec 1997
Dr. and Mrs. Moss Maxey went to Kinmundy yesterday
to eat Thanksgiving dinner with the former's sister, Mrs. Sugg. Dr. Maxey
will return tonight leaving his wife to make a more extended visit.
SOURCE: December 1, 1899 Mt. Vernon Register News
Submitted by: Sharlet Bigham LaBarbera
Oct 22, 1997
