To George Washington from Thomas Maxwell, 17 January 1792
From Thomas Maxwell
Newton [England] Jany 17th 1792
Sir
I am in great Straits to know what is Becom’d of a Brother of mine that came to America And Settled their before the Commotion of the war I was inform’d that he was an Officer in the American Service under your Honours Command His Name is William Maxwell,1 I have bean Inform’d by one Thos Hodgon that he died in new Providence and left a Daughter the rest of the Famley was all Dead and she has a Property In North Carolina, but where it was he could Not inform me Sir If your Honour Pleas to Inform me of what is b[e]com’d of him and the Famley I would ever wish for your Honour Your Humble & most Obedient Servent
Thos Maxwell
Sir if you Pleas to Direct to Thos Maxwell at Newton nigh Hexham Northumberland in England.
ALS, DLC:GW.
Thomas Maxwell was probably the son of Thomas Maxwell of Kirkland, Scotland, who died before 1772, and a godson and legatee of John Shaft of Hexham (A History of Northumberland [15 vols.; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1893–1940], 4:422).
1. The only William Maxwell to serve as an officer in the Continental army was William Maxwell (c.1733–1796), a brigadier general under GW, but he was a lifelong bachelor of Scotch-Irish descent. Thomas Maxwell’s brother might have been William Maxwell of New Providence, N.J., who, having fled to the British lines, was listed as a Loyalist by a New Jersey inquisition in June 1778 ( 294). No reply from GW has been found.