Who are these 1800s Thaxtons? (NC, Md., Ill., La., Tenn.)

In the Raleigh Star of 08 Nov 1811 is a mortuary notice for a Mr. James Thaxton (click on link for image).

It states:  “OBITUARY. . . .  On the 31st  Mr. James Thaxton, after a short illness.”  The other persons whose deaths are reported all appear to reside in North Carolina:  Mrs. Prudence Cassar, age 46; John G. Soull, sheriff of Brunswick county; David W. Marsh, age 46; Mrs. Catharine Henry, age 76; Thomas Matthews, former register of Cumberland county; Mrs. Sibley, consort of Dr. John Sibley; Mrs. Cunningham, consort of Mr. John Cunningham.

I have no idea who this James Thaxton is.  I remember seeing a mention in an 1803 Raleigh newspaper about a James Thaxton was then attending school.

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From the Baltimore (Md.) Sun, 16 Dec 1843:

List of letters remaining the Baltimore post office

Men’s list:  . . . L. L. Thaxton.

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From the Baltimore Sun, 25 Nov 1850:  Later From Havana.  Reporting on the arrival of the mail steamship Ohio in New York from Havana and New Orleans, bringing “350 passengers, a large mail and about $800,000 in gold dust, about $300,000 of which is on freight, and the remainder in the hands of passengers.  The Ohio left Havana on the 18th.”  Among the passengers on the Ohio was “J. W. Thaxton.”

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From the Memphis Daily Avalanche, 15 Jun 1867, and also reported in numerous other papers throughout the country:

“In a blacksmith shop in Auburn, Illinois, the other day, a man named Thaxton stabbed a man named Hurst in the bowels, causing his death almost immediately.  The murderer was arrested, and ordered to be committed to trial.  On the way to jail, the officers allowed their prisoner to stop at his house for a few minutes.  While there he ate a hearty supper, and then deliberately disemboweled himself with a table knife.”

Auburn is in Sangamon County, but I am not aware of any of the Thaxtons in that county who died in 1867.

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From the New Orleans Times Picayune, 02 Jun 1878 and 09 Jun 1878, list of letters remaining at the New Orleans Post office:

Arthur Thaxton

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From the New Orleans Times Picayune, 17 Sep 1878, a lengthy article about the yellow fever epidemic in Tennessee and Missisippi.  After reporting on 90 deaths in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 15, the paper reported a slightly less lethal day on the 16th.  (Note:  “Howard” referred to a member of the Howard Association, a benevolant organization headquartered in Virginia whose members came to Tennessee and elsewhere to assist with the epidemic.)

LATEST TELEGRAPH.  FEVER ELSEWHERE. . . . AT MEMPHIS. . . . Slight Decrease in the Fever–40 Deaths–The Good Samaritans Fail at Their Posts–A Dead Body Found in an Unoccupied Building.  MEMPHIS, Sept. 16.–There is a slight and scarcely perceptible decrease in the fever this morning, the deaths up to noon not exceeding forty.

The saddest feature of the epidemic is that many who have been actively at work relieving the distress are dying, or being stricken down.

Among the number may be mentioned, Ed. R. T. Worsham, Acting Treasurer of Masonic Relief Board, and E.G.C. of Tennessee, Knights Templar, who had a relapse and died at an early hour yesterday morning; also, W. D. McCallum, an active Howard, Horace H. Briggs, Mr. Kaiser, of Memphis Brewing Company, B. F. Plummer, W. K. Thaxton, P. D. Beecher.  E Marshall, of the Citizens’ Relief Committee is dying…

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Note:  I believe this Thaxton is really a Thaxter, as there was a large Thaxter family from Hingham during that time period, including a John Thaxter, Esquire.

From the Republican Gazetteer (Massachusetts):  DIED.  At Hingham, on the 6th inst., John Thaxton, Esq., age 81.