ELMIRA NY POSTMASTER'S FREE FRANK 1839,THOMAS MAXWELL TO O L HOLLEY,ALBANY NY

Description

THOMAS MAXWELL'S FATHER WAS ADOPTED BY THE SENECA INDIANS.
THOMAS ALSO HAD CLOSE TIES WITH THEM.
AFTER SERVING IN THE U.S. CONGRESS AND OTHER POSTS IN NEW YORK,
HE BECAME AN INDIAN AGENT FOR THE IROQUOIS. WAS FRIENDS WITH
RED JACKET. HIS DAUGHTER WAS ADOPTED BY THE TRIBE.
ORVILLE LUTHER HOLLEY EDITED FOR THE TROY SENTINEL NEWSPAPER,
WHERE HE PUBLISHED AN ANONYMOUS POEM LATER KNOWN AS
"THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS."  (BY CLEMENT C. MOORE)
There is no letter with this, but detailed notes on inner flap
as to what were the contents. notes likely written by Holley.
Stampless Wrapper.
ELMIRA N.Y. red handstamp   Apl 13 written in.
see below.
add .50 for 1st class/Insured to U.S....
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Thomas Maxwell
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from
New York
's
25th
district
In office
1829–1831
Preceded by
David Woodcock
Succeeded by
Gamaliel H. Barstow
Personal details
Born
February 16, 1792
Tioga Point,
Bradford County, Pennsylvania
, U.S.
Died
November 4, 1864 (aged 72)
Elmira, New York
, U.S.
Resting place
Woodlawn Cemetery
Political party
Jacksonian
Father
Guy Maxwell
Thomas Maxwell
(February 16, 1792 – November 4, 1864) was an attorney and politician, serving for one term from 1829-1831 as a
U.S. Representative
from
New York
, as well as in county and state offices.
Early life and education
Thomas Maxwell was born on February 16, 1792 at Tioga Point (now
Athens
),
Bradford County, Pennsylvania
. His father,
Guy Maxwell
, was an Indian trader and was adopted by the
Seneca
(
Iroquois
) in the same year.
[1]
The senior Maxwell moved his family to
Elmira
(then Newtown Point), New York, in 1796. In 1804, he was adopted by the Seneca people, given the name
He-je-no,
meaning "the brave boy".
[1]
During the War of 1812, Guy Maxwell was appointed quartermaster of a regiment of Cavalry attached to the brigade of General
Vincent Mathews
. After the war he served as clerk of
Tioga County, New York
from 1819 to 1829.
Maxwell was elected as a Jacksonian to the
Twenty-first
Congress (March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831). He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts (Twenty-first Congress). He engaged in the prosecution of pension claims.
He studied law and was admitted to practice in the court of common pleas of old Tioga County, New York, in 1832. He was editor of the
Elmira Gazette
from 1834-1836, and was appointed as US postmaster of Elmira, serving 1834–1839. Deputy clerk of Chemung County in 1836. Treasurer of Chemung County in 1836–1843. He was chosen as a vice president of the
New York and Erie Railroad
Co. in 1841. He served as commissioner of loans of United States deposit and of State funds in 1843.
About 1845 Maxwell moved his family to
Geneva, New York
, upon his appointment as deputy clerk of the State supreme court.
Later in life, Maxwell became an Iroquois agent, and made many notes on them, which were in his daughter's hands.
Red Jacket
had his portrait painted for Maxwell; they were warm friends. Eighty years after the formal adoption of Maxwell, his daughter Harriet (later known as
Harriet Maxwell Converse
) was formally adopted by the family of Red Jacket. She was given many mementos, such as a necklace made of 79 little silver brooches, which had been worn by Red Jacket; and also his Masonic pin.
[1]
Maxwell died in Elmira on November 4, 1864. He was interred in
Woodlawn Cemetery
.
Orville Luther Holley
(May 19, 1791
Salisbury
,
Litchfield County, Connecticut
– March 25, 1861
Albany
,
Albany County, New York
) was an American writer, newspaper editor, historian and politician.
Life
He was the son of Luther Holley (1752-1824) and Sarah Dakin Holley (b. 1755). He graduated as
Bachelor of Arts
from
Harvard University
in 1813.
From May 1817 to April 1819, he edited the
American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review
in New York with Horatio Bigelow.
From July 1823 to 1826, and from 1827 to 1831, he edited the
Troy
Sentinel
where he published in December 1823 anonymously a poem now better known as
The Night Before Christmas
but to which he gave the title
Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas
.
In 1836 he edited the
Western Repository and
Genesee
Advertiser
and absorbed the
Canandaigua
Freeman
.
As a
Whig
, he was
New York State Surveyor General
from 1838 to 1842. He was elected in 1838 by joint ballot of the State Legislature defeating the incumbent
William Campbell
. In 1841, he was re-elected to another term of three years, but in 1842 all state officers were removed by the new
Democratic
majority.
Canal Commissioner
Myron Holley
and President of Transylvania University
Horace Holley
were his brothers.
Works
The New York State Register for 1843
edited by O. L. Holley (J. Disturnell, Albany NY, 1843)
The New-York State Register for 1845
edited by Orville Luther Holley, George Roberts Perkins, C. Van Benthuysen (J. Disturnell, New York, 1845)
The New York State Register for 1847
edited by Orville Luther Holley (J. Disturnell, New York NY, 1847)
A Description of the City of New York
(New York, 1847)
The Life of
Benjamin Franklin
(John Philbrick, Boston, 1855, 468 pages; republished in 2007 by Lightning Source Inc,
ISBN
0-548-49249-2
,
ISBN
978-0-548-49249-9
, 492 pages)