Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/334

 MAXWELL

MAY

of Washington's army at Gerraantown, Oct. 4, 1777. After spending the winter at Valley Forge, on June 18, 1778, he was ordered to harass Gen- eral Clinton in New Jersey, and on June 18, 1778, took part in the battle of Monmouth. On May 11, 1779, he joined General Sullivan in his expedi- tion against the Indians, leaving E^t Pennsylva- nia, June 18, 1779, and returning went into winter quaftersat Scotch Plains, N.J., Nov. 5, 1779. On June 23, 1780, he led his brigade in the battle of Springfield, N.J., and on July 20, 1780, he re- signed, which act in no way affected his reputa- tion as a brave officer. Personal disagreement with his fellow officers was probably the cause of his resignation, which Washington sent to con- gress with a letter in which he said : " The merits of this General are well known. ... I believe him to be an honest man, a warm friend of his coun- try and firmly attached to its interests." He was elected from Sussex county to the New Jer- sey a.ssembly in 1783. He died at the home of his friend. Col. Charles Stewart, in Landsdown, Hun- terdon county, N.J., Nov. 4, 1796.

MAXWELL, William, educator, was born in Norfolk, Va., Feb. 27, 1784, He was prepared for college by the Rev. Israel B. Woodward, of Wol- cott. Conn., and was graduated at Yale in 1802. He studied law at Richmond, Va., and engaged in practice in Norfolk in 1808. He was the first literary editor of the New York Journal of Com- merce in 1827; founder of the Lyceum for the diffusion of useful knowledge in Norfolk, Va., and erected" at his own expense a building for its use in 1828; was representative in the Virginia legislature in 1830; state senator, 1832-38, and tenth president of Hampden-Sidney college, Va., 183S-44. He was married to a daughter of Thomas Robertson, a Norfolk merchant. He removed to Richmond, Va., in 1844, practised law, conducted a law school, and re-established the Virginia Historical and Philosophical society, of which he was secretary, librarian and general agent, 1848- 57. He also established in 1848 and edited the Virginia Historical Register and Literary ^drer- fi«er (6 vols., 1848-53). He received the degree LL.D. from Hampden-Sidney. He is the author of : A Memoir of tfie Rev. John H. Rice, D.D. (1835). He died in Williamsburg, Va., June 9, 1857.

MAXWELL, William Henry ,educationi8t, was born near Stewartstown, county Tyrone, Ireland, March 5, 1852. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman. He was graduated at Queen's univer- sity, A.B., 1872, A.M., 1874; was an assistant master in the Royal academy and professor of English literature and history in the Ladies' Col- legiate Institute at Belfast, Ireland, 1872-74. He came to New York city in 1874, was engaged as a reporter on the New York Tribnne and Herald, and was managing editor of the Brooklyn Times.

He was married, Dec. 1, 1877, to Marie, daughter of Samuel W. Folk, of Brooklyn. He took an active interest in the educational advancement of the Brooklyn schools, was a lecturer on history and civil government in the Brooklyn evening high school, 1880-81, associate superintendent of public instruction in Brooklyn, 1882-87, super- intendent of public instruction for Brooklyn, 1887-98, and in 1898 was elected city superin- tendent of schools for New York city after the consolidation of New York and Brooklyn. He received the honorary degree of Ph.D. from St. Lawrence university in 1885, and that of LL.D. from Columbia university in 1901. He edited Pope's Homer's Iliad and is the author of a number of text books used in the public schools including : First Book in English; Introductory Lessons in English Grammar; Advanced Lessons in English Oravimar; and in conjunction with Dr. George S. Smith, Writing in English (1900).

MAY, Abigail Williams, philanthropist, was born in Boston, Mass., April 21, 1829; daughter of Samuel and Mary (Goddard) May; grand- daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Williams) May, and of Joseph and Mary (Aspinwall) Goddard, and a descendant of John May, mariner, of May- field, Sussex county, England, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., with his family in 1640. She wa» educated in the schools of Boston, and became active in the Anti-slavery movement and in philanthropic and educational work. She was one of the organizers of the New England Women's Auxiliary association, a branch of the U.S. Sanitary commission, and she entered the hospital transport service of the commission in 1862. As chairman of the executive committee of the association, she represented that body at the meeting of the delegates in Washington, D.C., and she was president of the association, 1864-65. She was president of the Woman's Auxiliary of the American Unitarian association, vice-president of the Society for the Advance- ment of Women, vice-president of the New Eng- land Woman Suffrage association; treasurer of the Improved Dwelling House society, and sec- retary of the Woman's Club of New England. She was a founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, of the New England Wt)man'8 club, and of the Horticultural School for Women. She was one of the four women elected to membership in the Boston school board in 1873, but declared not eligible. The state legislature passed a law in 1874, giving women a right to vote for the school committee, and upon being elected a second time, she was one of three women to serve on the board. She also served as a commissioner of the Massachu- setts board of education, 1875-88. She died in Boston, Mass., Nov. 30. 1888.