evie maxwell

Mildred Evie Maxwell

Mildred Evie Maxwell was the oldest child of Tom and Gilly (Higdon) Maxwell. She was born

April 7 1902. She attended Stephens School. At age seven she was stricken with polio. Her

father drove her to Bethany twice a week, a distance of eighteen miles each way for

treatments in the hope that she might be able to walk again. The disease at that time was so

new that little could be done, Evie was in a wheelchair the rest of her life.

The small community took up a collection to buy a wheelchair for her.

She was skilled in needlecraft, sewing, and cooking. She could sweep and scrub floors. She

made the bed with the help of a broom handle. She always remained cheerful, independent,

and was a second mother to her younger siblings.

Evie stayed with her sister Grace (Maxwell) Brown of Trenton and cared for her little nieces,

giving them wheelchair rides. They just adored her. She died January 1 1948 at Grace's home

and was buried in the family plot at the Cat Creek Cemetery near Brimson.