Along the western end of the Robinsonville Baptist Church Cemetery rests the remains of Lt. William Maxwell. He was born in Monroe County Alabama and later adopted Robinsonville as his home as his family followed the migration of farm and logging families looking for low cost lands in western Escambia County in the early 1900s.
His headstone reads “William Calvin Maxwell, 3rd Aero Squadron Born November 9, 1892, died in service Manila, P.I. August 12, 1920, Affectionate Son, fond brother, and a friend to all.”
According to a Montgomery Advertiser article from August 4, 1968, “the grave is located about a mile from the home of his father John Robert Maxwell.” The elder Maxwell wanted his son buried close to his home so that “he might tend the grave,” stated the article, as it quoted Maxwell’s sister Mrs. Jennie Maxwell Parker of Punta Gorda, Florida.
Yet the father did not outlive his son by many years, having passed away himself in 1926 when he was 59 years old. John Robert Maxwell is buried between his son and his second wife who died in 1938.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser article, William Maxwell was said to be “a quiet, unassuming man, who was six feet tall, having died before his 28th birthday.” He died after serving three years in the Army and after his graduation from the University of Alabama and marriage to his Austin, TX fiancée.
The family called him “Willie,” and the memory of his youth was protected and cherished well in the late 1960s by his sister and his two eighty plus year old aunts, Mrs. Jodie Nettles Stallworth and Mrs. Nealie Nettles Stallworth of Beatrice, Alabama. In 1968, Maxwell had two surviving sisters, Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Mattie Lee Snuggs of Birmingham. His brothers Roscoe Steele, James Finklea and John Nettles had all passed by this time.
William’s Aunt Jodie stated Maxwell was born in a small wood framed house near the Fork, Alabama, post office in Monroe County. Fork was one of hundreds of communities which exist now only in the yellowing pages of old newspapers and in the faint memories of only a few surviving residents.
The location of the house is believed to have been about a mile and a half west of Natchez. The property was eventually acquired by Monroe County for part of a 90 acre public fishing lake.
The Maxwell family moved to Robinsonville when young Willie was 12 years old. Willie was the oldest child of the Maxwell family. His mother died, perhaps after the move to Robinsonville, while rummaging through a chest while looking for a piece of flannel to treat a wound on another son. Concealed in the chest was a gun which accidentally discharged.
Willie graduated from Escambia County High School and attended the University of Alabama. He worked in the power plant to help pay expenses. He enlisted in the Army in May 1917 and had his diploma mailed to him while in training.
In November 1917 he was sent to Kelly Field in Texas. He was discharged to accept an officer’s commission. Maxwell eventually was sent to Mitchell Field, NY to serve with the 3rd Squadron which was being organized to be sent to the Philippines.
Six pilots, along with many others, were sent to the islands aboard the steamer Sherman. The ship made a stop over in Hawaii. After arriving on the island of Luzon, he was assigned to Camp Stotensburg. He was flying a DH4 to Manila to pick up the mail on the day of his death. The plane developed trouble with its Liberty engine while flying over a sugar plantation, about 20 miles south of Clark Field.
In attempting to make an emergency landing, Maxwell noticed children playing on the ground below. With no where else to go, Maxwell deliberately swerved the plane into a flag pole, which killed him instantly but which saved the children at the scene. His mechanic, Pvt. Jorge Chase, who was flying with him, suffered a broken thigh in the crash.
A telegram from the day of the crash read: “Lt. William C. Maxwell is victim of first fatal airplane accident in the island at Camp Stotsenburg at 11am August 12, 1920.” The wire was received at Ft. Santiago from Camp Stotsenburg. News soon spread to Alabama.
The Montgomery Advertiser carried news of his death on Sunday, August 15, 1920 reporting that he had a brother who worked at the Atmore First National Bank by the name of Adolph Maxwell, who was an assistant cashier, and Jno. Maxwell-a well known farmer of the county. This information conflicts, of course, with the article from 1968 yet due to urgency of events, the writer from 1920 may be forgiven.
Annie Bowman, of Wawbeek, a contemporary of Maxwell, reflected on Maxwell’s death on January 24, 1940. Bowman, a Works Progress Administration writer, noted for posterity the young man’s death while documenting local history during the Great Depression. Her article disputes the location of Maxwell’s birth, assigning it to near Atmore. He was a member of the Baptist Church and graduated from Escambia County High School in 1912 she wrote.
“He was killed in an airplane accident while making a forced landing in the yard of the Pampangza Sugar Mills. He picked out the grounds of the sugar estate to make his landing and in trying to avoid landing on a group of school children, his plane struck a flag pole. He could have easily have saved himself, but his first thought was of the children.”
Bowman goes on to write, “Dr. Mason, a physician for the mill arrived within three minutes but Maxwell was found dead.”
Maxwell’s family later received a letter from Mrs. Clayton, from the plantation, who stated she felt Maxwell’s actions saved the lives of the children. Maj. Roy Brown, Maxwell’s commanding officer, also sent the family a letter. He flew in formation over the funeral service held for Maxwell in the Philippines.
A Manila newspaper wrote: “Funeral services for the dead aviator were held at Camp Stotensburg on Friday afternoon, in a flag draped coffin, being sent to Manila in a train that was literally filled with flowers.
It [the body] will be held at the Army morgue until the sailing of the transport Madawaska for San Francisco next month. At that time it will escorted from the morgue to the transport by Army airplanes which will fly overhead.”
Maxwell’s body was returned to Robinsonville for burial on October 11, 1920. Maj. Brown would go on to command the Montgomery Air Intermediate Depot in Montgomery, Alabama. He was instrumental in having the base renamed Maxwell Field.
The Maxwell School at Robinsonville was also named for Lt. Maxwell. The Atmore Record noted on July 21, 1921, “The Escambia County Board of Education, at its regular July meeting passed a resolution naming the recently constructed consolidated school at Robinsonville-Centerville near Atmore the “William Maxwell Consolidated School,” in honor of Lt. William Maxwell of this county who lost his life in the Philippines.”
Quoting the Brewton Standard of the same time frame, “He was a native of this county, and the sadness that was cast over that entire section when news of his death reached there, attested the popularity and high esteem which he enjoyed.”
The old school named for Maxwell has long since burned. The church and the grave in the cemetery remain to remind us of the man; the name of the air force base remains to remind us of the selfless deed.
Maxwell’s parents, siblings and all who knew him personally have all long since left us. However, Maxwell’s home at Robinsonville remains. According to a very informative Facebook post from Ms. Mary Peevy Harper, “The home has only had five owners-the Maxwell’s, Stacey’s, the Page’s the Parish’s, and the Harper’s who purchased the home in June 1998. The home was built in 1905.” The Harper’s attention to detail and efforts to maintain the old home is greatly appreciated in the Robinsonville.
Today the grave of Lt. Maxwell stands silent witness to the verse, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13-17. Maxwell gave his life in a far away land for innocent children he never knew and as the cooling winds of autumn brush across the tombstones of Robinsonville, one can sense the reach of his beckoning hand seeking to tell his story among all the stories waiting to be told in that quite place.
This year’s Canoe Community Homecoming Festival will be held November 17, 2018 from 8am-2pm in beautiful downtown Canoe. Re-enactors, vendors, food and drinks and historical tours will be conducted along Lowery Lane in the heart of the old downtown. Make your plans to attend.
Shadows and Dust Volume III: Legacies is available for purchase in the amount of $30.00+$5.00 shipping and handling to PO Box 579 Atmore, AL 36502 or visit Lulu Publishing.com; Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles.com OR at the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville, Alabama or by calling 251 294 0293.
