Thompson Maxwell

(1741 – October 24, 1832) 

Thompson Maxwell, a farmer and teamster from Bedford, Massachusetts, had a military career long before he set foot on Griffin’s Wharf on December 16, 1773. 

There was scarcely a conflict and/or singular battle in colonial, Revolutionary, and early republic America in which he was not a participant.  

Maxwell began his military exploits with the French and Indian War in 1757. He served with the Provisional Rangers through various campaigns, starting in northern New England. As did many men at that time, he enlisted for seven to eight months, returned home during the winter encampment, then enlisted again. It was a pattern he would repeat throughout his military career. The Rangers eventually marched through New York to Detroit in the fall of 1761 and made their winter quarters at Mackinaw. Spring 1763 found the Rangers in Chicago and then Michigan again; in November of that year, he returned home for good. 

Thompson Maxwell married and, shortly after, settled in Amherst, New Hampshire, where he began farming and running goods down to Boston and back. It was on one of these trips that he was said to have participated in the Boston Tea Party. Maxwell stated that he was later present at the Battle of Lexington and thereafter served in various capacities in nearly all the important battles of the Revolutionary War, including the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Battle of Trenton, and the Battle at Bennington, where he was wounded.  

On October 17, 1777, after the surrender of British General John Burgoyne in Saratoga, New York, Maxwell resigned his commission and returned home yet again. However, in the spring of 1778, he returned as a Captain in the Rangers, serving until December. He enlisted again the following year, serving in New York until his next resignation when he settled in Buckland, Massachusetts. He served as a Captain in the militia to help quell Shay’s Rebellion in 1787. In the early 1800s, Maxwell moved to Ohio before settling in Michigan. He participated in the War of 1812 and is said to have been taken prisoner in 1814 at a Quebec prison before returning home in 1815. He was present in the army as late as 1818, serving as a barracks commander in Detroit. 

Thompson Maxwell died in Wayne County, Michigan, on October 24, 1832. He is buried in Wallaceville Historical Cemetery in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.