Wilbur Tharp Maxwell
4 September 1898 - 4 September 1945

Uncle Wilbur died before I remember, but judging by the effect his early death had on my half-siblings Jim and Barbara Eson as well as my mother, I can imagine how much the loss might have meant to my grandfather and grandmother. We have dozens of photographs of Wilbur as a child, but few as an adult.

In front of home in Odessa, MO. 1900	In yard at Odessa on pop's shoulders
At the head of an elaborate float his mother, Lillian Tharp Maxwell designed for her ladies' club
Aunt Martha said Wilbur was always popular with the chicks.
"'Aunt Docia' (Theodocia) Maxwell was born a slave in the Maxwell family. I remember my father telling me that when he and Uncle Arthur tried to get her to get married, that she said, 'Why Chet, I'd be so embarrassed to walk down the aisle with all those kids watchin'!' (she had five kids) She was still living in 1923 when I was in school there." .......Sara Maxwell Baily, 1990
Wilbur Tharp Maxwell, 1905-6	Sara Frances Maxwell and Wilbur about 1908
About 1914	Wilbur's graduating class
Wilbur's Nash Coupe about 1929-1930 . He and Sara drove it to California in 1930. She stayed in San Francisco for two years.	Uncle Wilbur served in WW II, but was discharged to return to Silverton for mining, considered an "essential industry"
Crew at entrance to the Bandora Mine, Silverton, CO., 1945. Wilbur took the picture a day or two before he was killed in a mine cave-in.

Uncle Wilbur was killed in a mining accident on 4 Sept.1945, his birthday, at the Bandora mine near Silverton, Co. These photos of him and his mother and father were taken the day before. See story, "Well-Known Local Man Killed in Mine Accident."

Wilbur is buried in Hillside Cemetery, Silverton, CO

Click on image for Reunion Web Card

My Maxwell Line
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Nathaniel Carson Maxwell (g grandfather)
Albert Leander (grandfather)
Nathaniel Chester Maxwell (father)
Arthur Leonard Maxwell (uncle)
Sara M. Baily (sister)

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