The Maxwell House was Set on Fire by Morgan's Troops July 5th, 1863

The Maxwell House was Set on Fire by Morgan's Troops July 5th, 1863. . Three generations of gracious living have marked the old Howard place on North Spalding Avenue which changed hands recently after the death of Mrs. Emogene Howard Beckman, last of her family to occupy it. The house was built sometime before the middle of the last century by her maternal grandfather, Dr. J. C. Maxwell, a Lebanon physician and surgeon. The stout brick walls are ivied now, and the wide front door between leaded glass panels, the heavy scrolled woodwork and the broad, uncanopied stone steps make an imposing entrance. At the outset of the Civil War, Dr. Maxwell was one of the first Marion Countians to declare himself for the Union. During the war, he served as surgeon for the Fourth District of Kentucky. When Confederate General John Hunt Morgan rode into Lebanon on his second raid here -- July 5, 1864 -- with the intention of burning the town, he is said to have asked at once for the home of "that man Maxwell." The raiders left the house in flames and when the blaze finally was extinguished only four rooms remained standing - the kitchen, a small adjoining room which the doctor had used as as office, and two small rooms above. These were preserved when the house was rebuilt after the war. Dr. Maxwell;s daughter married Daniel Howard and in later years, with sectional bitterness forgotten, one of that couple's sons, Lucius Howard and Cal Morgan of Lexington, a nephew of General Morgan, were close friends. They frequently visited each other and Lucius delighted in joking your Morgan about the wartime incident. "See", he would remark as he ushered his friend into the spacious entrance hall, "this is all that your famous uncle left us!" The house, was renovated by its new owner, J. T. Whitlock.