Notes for: Lillie Belle Jarvis
1900 Census, Harrison Co, WV (City of Clarksburg), enumerated on Jun 14 1900 at 529 Pike Street:
Brent Maxwell, 50, b. Apr 1850, farmer, married 5 yrs (corrected from 16 yrs); wife Lillie, 36, b. May 1864, married 5 yrs, mother of 3 children (all still living); dau Susie, 14, b. Aug 1885; son Claude, 9, b. Mar 1891; dau Ruth, 4, b. May 1896; son Frank, 1, b. Nov 1898; son W. Brent, 8 months, b. Sep 1899; servant Ella Taylor, black female, b. Jan 1876, single; servant Vadis Vanort, white female, 22, b. Dec 1877, single; servant Margaret Tricket, white female, 40, b. Jan 1860, single, dressmaker.
1910 Census, Harrison Co, WV (City of Clarksburg), enumerated on May 2/3 1910 at 529 W. Pike Street:
William B. Maxwell, 60, farmer, married 15 yrs (2nd marriage); wife Lillie J, 46, married 15 yrs (1st marriage), mother of 4 children (all still living); dau Ruth, 13; son Franklin J, 12; son William B, 10; dau Martha L, 6; dau Susie A, 24; son Claud B, 19; servant Nan Russell, black female, age unk, married, mother of 1 child (still living); servant Birdie Maupin, black female, 22, married, no children.
1920 Census, Harrison Co, WV (City of Clarksburg), enumerated on Jan 15 1920 at 529 W. Pike Street:
W. Brent Maxwell, 69, operator/farmer/oil & gas, wife Lillie J, 54; son Franklin J, 22; son William B Jr, 20; dau Martha L, 15; dau Ruth Frances, 23.
NOTE: Two days later, at the same address, Susan Maxwell Abel, W. Brent Maxwell's married daughter by his first wife, was enumerated with her two children.
1930 Census, Harrison Co, WV (City of Clarksburg), enumerated on Apr 2 1930 at 529 W. Pike Street:
W. Brent Maxwell, 79, stockman/farm, home value $70,000; wife Lilly, 64; son William B, 30, private secretary; servant Edna Triplett, negro female, 42, b. Va, single, cook for private family.
1940 Census, Harrison Co, WV (City of Clarksburg), enumerated on Apr 23 1940 at 529 W. Pike Street:
Lillie J. Maxwell, 75, widowed, 2 yrs college, resided 1935 in same house; son Wm. Brent Jr, 40, 5 yrs college, no occupation, resided 1935 in same house; dau-in-law Margaret W, 35, 4 yrs college, no occupation, resided 1935 in Webster Springs WVa.
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Regarding the Maxwell home at 529 W. Pike Street, the following article was submitted by descendant Stephen H. Maxwell to the online Washington Irving High School newsletter in August 2014:
529 WEST PIKE STREET
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHO:
W. Brent Maxwell and his second wife, Lillie Jarvis Maxwell built the house as a replacement for their home that was located on Sixth Street where the Post Office now stands. They likely could have watched progress from their windows. The design is by Edward J. Wood. Interior decoration was by H. B. Fairfield of the Sterling & Welch Company, Cleveland. Brent Maxwell was the father of six children being Susan Maxwell Abel Tutenberg and Claude Brent Maxwell by his first wife Emma Williams (who died of tuberculosis a month after Claude's birth) . "Uncle Bill" W. B. Maxwell Jr., Frank Jarvis Maxwell, Martha Maxwell Davis and Ruth Maxwell Johnson were by his second wife, Lillie Jarvis. During the design each bedroom was assigned to one of the six children with the three "boys" on the third floor and the three "girls" on the second floor. Eleven grandchildren grew up in and around the home being J. B. Maxwell, Winifred Maxwell Sawyer, Jean Maxwell Fowler Jones (Claude), Emily Abel Newton, Brent M. Abel (Susan), Frank J Maxwell Jr., W. B. Maxwell III (Frank Sr.),Lillian Johnson, Katherine Johnson Hill (Ruth), James H. Davis III and William M. Davis (Martha).
On Brent Maxwell's death in 1930 the home passed to his wife Lillie, then to her son Bill upon her death in 1953. Bill and his wife Marguerite Woodell lived here throughout their marriage, both before and after Lillie's passing. Upon "Uncle Bill's" death in 1980, the home was purchased by J. B. and Martha Maxwell and thereafter was purchased by Steve and Donna in 1995.
WHAT:
"529" is considered a Georgian/Federal/Adams style architecture most notably distinguished by its symmetrical appearance, fanlight entry with sidelights, cornice of "dentils", decorative balustrade (now gone) and semi-circular decorative windows in the roof gables. The home is nearly 10,000 square feet on three floors plus a partial basement.
The first floor has three "public" rooms, being the Library with a large Cuban Mahogany bookcase, Music Room and Dining Room in addition to the grand entrance hall. The "private" rooms on the first floor include a Bathroom, Pantry with built in ice cooled refrigerator, Kitchen, rear stairs, Breakfast Room and Office.
The second floor contains five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a sun or sleeping porch. One bedroom has a small private bath (which was originally to have been a closet). The other two bathrooms form a suite arrangement with two bedrooms. The third floor contains three bedrooms and a large Reading or Billiard Room, as well as a trunk storage room.
The floors are connected via a notable Colonial Revival style dividing staircase that extends fully to the third floor with approximately fifty-five feet of continuous railing over forty-four steps. The stair treads are an extra wide thirteen inches, which makes for an easy to ascend angle.
At the head of the first flight of stairs is a large, colored window. Since the house is oriented roughly North to South, that window allows sunlight to enter the house during winter nearly two-thirds the distance of the Main Hall. However, because the window is located on the interior wall of the sun porch, in summer, when the sun is high in the sky, the sun's rays are stopped within the porch and the Main Hall is dark and cooler. Architect Wood utilized his knowledge of the Sun's angles in different seasons to create this effect.
The fully restored roof system is composed of Ludowici-Celadon clay tile manufactured in New Lexington, Ohio. The home features ten fireplaces with gas fueled artificial log sets, of which four have been replaced by modern, vent-free log sets. The fireplaces were never designed to burn wood. The home was "state-of-the-art" for the time with 14 gauge wire in metal conduits throughout and a central vacuum system (now lost). The original coal-fired steam boiler was replaced by a gas boiler and in recent years this was replaced by six HVAC units that provide both heat and air-conditioning in a zone system. The greatest care was taken to install HVAC without altering the interior features.
Throughout the various ownership changes, the original contents have mostly remained and today you see much of the furnishings as they were originally installed. The original furniture in the Library and bedrooms was purchased "en-suite" in that it has classical decorative details that coordinate with the interior decoration. The quilt that is displayed in the Library was made about 1895 by Lillie's mother Martha McCann Jarvis. The portraits on the first floor are: Library over mantle: Benjamin Franklin Maxwell (1814-1892), father of WBM; Library to right of doorway- Lewis Maxwell (1790-1862), uncle of Franklin Maxwell; Main Hall-William Brent Maxwell (1850- 1930); Dining Room-Ruth Maxwell Johnson (1896-1983) (this portrait is by Howard Chandler Christie).
WHEN:
Construction started in late 1912 and we believe the project was complete by Summer, 1914. No major interior or exterior modifications have been made other than the loss of the decorative balustrade system over the front and side porch roofs and a lowering of the chimney heights.
WHERE:
The original property, approximately 180 feet square, was the combination of three parcels including the site of the original First Baptist Church, which was replaced by the "new" church now standing next door. In recent years two adjoining properties have been acquired; 539 West Pike and 540 Traders Alley. Two structures predate the home. The current Garage was a carriage house that was enlarged to accommodate automobiles and still contains the stable floor, trough and manure pit. The white Storage House in the rear yard was a store building that was relocated from the street and turned sideways. You can still see the original store facade including four "L" shaped bolts that held the store sign. It is believed this store building dates to 1880 or prior. This structure served as a housekeeper's quarters until 1980.
http://wihs59.tripod.com/news/news1408/news1408.html
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The local Veterans Hospital [in Clarksburg] is situated on 75 acres of land which was formerly owned by W. Brent Maxwell. The cost to build said hospital was approx. $6,500.500.00. The State Road Commission had to build two bridges to connect the hospital land. One bridge was built connecting Rt. 25 (Mt. Clare Road) and the other bridge connecting Rt. 19 (Milford Street Extension).On April 1, 1948 the ground breaking ceremonies were held for the new hospital. Twenty nine housing units were constructed on the hospital grounds mostly to be used for resident doctors. It was designated to be a 200 bed surgical and general medical hospital serving veterans in 35 WV counties. Veterans were also accepted from parts of PA, OH and MD.The dedication ceremonies were held on Dec. 17, 1950. On Oct. 13, 2003 ground breaking ceremonies were held to construct a veterans nursing facility.
http://wihs59.tripod.com/news/news0311/news0311.html
submitted by: Freddie Layman (VHS '46)
Fgl46vhs@aol.com