Edwin Maxwell (attorney general)
Following the state's creation in 1863, Maxwell began his political career when he was elected to serve in the inaugural session of the West Virginia Senate.He was subsequently twice elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Harrison County in 1893 and 1903, and served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee during both terms.[1][5][8] Despite his father's initial plans for him to become a carpenter, he studied jurisprudence under his uncle Lewis Maxwell, a United States House Representative from Virginia.[1][2][10] Maxwell and the other three justices were chosen because of their early statehood leadership, and because they could be depended upon to defend the new state from Virginia sympathies and uphold the Unionist cause.[19] While serving on the court, the major issues that faced Maxwell and the justices primarily involved post-war reconstruction and sectional acrimonies across the state.[2][10][20] The state's new constitution meant that Maxwell's term finished at the end of 1872, and the Unionist court on which he served as an associate justice was short-lived.[21] During his term as an associated justice, Maxwell ruled on the state's first cases which involved questions regarding West Virginia's earliest statutes.[22] At the state convention of the West Virginia Republican Party in Grafton on July 1, 1880, Maxwell was again nominated as a candidate for an associate supreme court justiceship.[8] Following a vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States in December 1880, Maxwell was named as a possible candidate for an associate justiceship, but was not nominated.[8][27] Maxwell was again elected to serve in the West Virginia Senate in 1886, representing the Third Senatorial District comprising Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, and Ritchie counties.[30] On December 28, 1888, he was selected by his former opponent Governor Wilson as one of the commissioners to represent West Virginia at the centennial celebration of the first inauguration of George Washington.[31][32][33] Maxwell was elected as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates alongside Henry Wickenhoover in 1892 representing Harrison County from 1893 until 1895.[5][29][34] He served on the following standing committees of the House of Delegates: Taxation and Finance, Judiciary, Human Institutions and Public Buildings, and Rules.[36] On January 19, 1893, Maxwell was nominated by the West Virginia Republican Party caucus to fill the short term vacancy created by the death of U.S.
Edwin Maxwell (disambiguation)Attorney General of West VirginiaArthur I. BoremanEphraim B. HallThayer MelvinJustice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West VirginiaRalph Lazier BerkshireCharles Page Thomas MooreWest Virginia House of DelegatesHarrison CountyHaymond MaxwellWestonWest VirginiaCharlestonRepublicanHu MaxwellLewis MaxwellSupreme Court of Appeals of West VirginiaWest Virginia SenatejurisprudenceU.S. RepresentativeWest UnionCommonwealth's attorneyDoddridge CountyClarksburgNathan Goff, Jr.American Civil WarConfederatesGreenback-Labor PartypneumoniaWest Virginia LegislatureUnited States House RepresentativeBraxtonGilmerUpshurRitchieTaylorUnited States SenatorConstitution of West VirginiadisfranchisementWest Virginia GovernorreconstructionDemocratsJohn Jeremiah JacobWest Virginia Republican PartyGraftonSupreme Court of the United StatesEmanuel Willis WilsonCalhounfirst inauguration of George WashingtonJohn E. KennaStephen Benton ElkinsJohnson N. CamdenWest Virginia University College of LawHaymondClarksburg, West VirginiaChronicling AmericaWheeling, West VirginiaKnoxville, TennesseeSalt Lake City, UtahSunday Gazette-MailCharleston, West VirginiaNewspapers.comAustin, TexasCharles Town, West VirginiaThe Times DispatchRichmond, VirginiaAlexandria GazetteAlexandria, VirginiaThe Roanoke TimesRoanoke, VirginiaBeckley, West VirginiaPerrysburg, OhioAtkinson, George WesleyGoogle BooksInternet ArchiveAmerican Historical SocietyMaxwell, HuMorgantown, West VirginiaIndianapolis, IndianaChapel Hill, North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina PressLexington, KentuckyUniversity Press of KentuckyVirginia General AssemblyGeorge Cookman SturgissGovernor of West VirginiaNathan Goff Jr.Attorneys general of West VirginiaA. B. CaldwellMelvinSpriggMathewsA. CaldwellRuckerConleyEnglandMeadowsWysongThomasMarlandBrowning Sr.BarronBrowning Jr.PalumboMcGrawMorriseyMcCuskey