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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAC083_FLAGG_MAXSON_FAMILY_PAPERSDescriptive Sheet The Flagg-Maxson Family Papers AC -083 General Type: Papers Physical Description: 1 linear ft. Inclusive Dates: 1900-1915 Donor: Peter Flagg Maxson DESCRIPTION In June, 1909, Harry I. Maxson (1885-1962) and Marion Flagg (1887-1972), having delayed their marriage for three years because of a antiquated state law were wed with great fan fare in the chapel of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The groom was the son of Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Vice President and General Manager Willis E. Maxson and raised in Galveston while his bride Marion, youngest child of notable Connecticut artists Noel Flagg had led a sheltered life in her ancestral home in Hartford and Eastchester, New York. In 1909, the couple returned to Texas in Harry's father's private railroad car and made their first home at 715 Third Street, in Beaumont. The residence was a modest, turn of the century Queen Anne style dwelling typical of middle class housing in Spindletop era Beaumont. Harry entered the insurance business with the firm of Heisig and Smelter. In three years he had become a partner in the firm. Although Marion found the Gulf Coast climate daunting, the couple found happiness together in the cottage on Third Street as described in a series of letters (1909-1915) to her sister, Miss Ellen Earle Flagg of Hartford. These letters provide interesting insight about the transplanted New Englander's impression of her new home in Beaumont. In addition to family gossip, they cover everything from the lack of a public library to the red light district in Beaumont. Three of their four children were born in the cottage on Third Street during the seven years they resided in their cottage. In 1916, Harry moved his family to Dallas where he achieved great success in establishing his own insurance agency which is now Maxson-Mahoney-Turner. The cottage at 715 Third Street was acquired by the Mamie MCFaddin Ward Foundation in 1989 and rehabilitated as offices for the organization. No restrictions apply.