1925 Biography - George M. Paxton

George M. Paxton, D. V. M., the efficient and popular inspector in charge of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry for the State of Louisiana, maintains his residence and executive headquarters in the capital city of Baton Rouge, where he has his offices at 603-4 Roumain Building.

Doctor Paxton was born at Columbus City, Iowa, on the 23d of April, 1885, and is a son of Dr. James R. Paxton, who is now living retired at Jasper, Arkansas. Dr. James R. Paxton was a boy at the time his parents numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers in the vicinity of Columbus City, Iowa. Here he was reared to maturity. His father, William Paxton, was born in Western Pennsylvania, in the year 1800, and died at Columbus City, Iowa, in 1875. William Paxton was for a number of years a farmer. in Morrow County, Ohio, and in 1848 he moved with his family to Iowa and became one of the very early settlers of Louisa County, where he reclaimed and developed one of the large and fine farm states of the Hawkeye State. In the early '50s he made the overland trip to California, covering the entire distance on foot, and he was very successful in his gold-mining operations in the new gold fields. He remained in California until 1867, when he returned to Louisa County, Iowa, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death having there occurred at Columbus City, where he lived retired for a number of years prior thereto.

The Paxton family is of staunch Saxon stock, and long held residence on the border between Northumberland, England, and Berwickshire, Scotland, where it was established in the sixth century of the Christian era. Representatives of the family came to America about the year 1685 and established residence in Pennsylvania. The lineage of the family in the United States traces back in a direct way to James Paxton, who was the official executioner of King Charles I, under the Cromwell reign in England. From generation to generation the Paxtons have been found among those fighting for political and religious freedom.

Dr. James R. Paxton became a skilled veterinarian and was long engaged in the practice of his profession in Iowa, where he remained until 1900, since which year he has lived virtually retired at Jasper, Arkansas. He is independent in politics, and is affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity and the Grand Army of the Republic. As a young man he enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served during the entire period of the Civil war. He participated in many engagements, including the siege of Vicksburg and the various battles of Sherman's historic Atlanta campaign. He took part in the capture of Atlanta and was thereafter with Sherman's forces on the memorable march to the sea" and onward to Columbia, South Carolina. He was once severely wounded, but rejoined his command as soon as possible and remained therewith until the close of the war, when he received his honorable discharge, with the rank of corporal. Doctor Paxton married Mrs. Sarah (Getz) Darrow, widow of Milton Darrow, who was killed at Atlanta, Georgia, while serving as a soldier in the Civil war. Mrs. Paxton was born near Salem, Ohio, January 4, 1840, and her death occurred at Jasper, Arkansas, January 14, 1920. Of the children of Dr. and Mrs. James R. Paxton the eldest is Dr. Spencer B., a veterinary surgeon residing at Columbus Junction. Iowa, he having served with the United States Army in the Spanish-American war; Charles is a prosperous farmer near Jasper, Arkansas; Dr. William is a farmer and veterinarian residing at Mayo, Florida; James R., Jr., was county superintendent of schools in Newton County, Arkansas, at the time of his death, which there occurred at Jasper, on the 12th of September, 1910; Golie is employed in the United States shipyards at Seattle, Washington; and Dr. George M., of this sketch, is the youngest of the children.

After attending the public schools of Iowa and Arkansas Dr. George M. Paxton continued his studies in Weston Grove Academy, Arkansas, until he was nineteen years of age. Thereafter he gave four years of effective service as a teacher in the schools of that state, and he then enlisted in the United States Navy, in which he served during the year 1908. In the meanwhile he had been associated with his father and had gained practical experience as a veterinarian. From 1909 to 1914 he was connected with the Arkansas experiment station, in the work to eradicate the tick pest in the northwestern part of the state. In 1914 he entered the Kansas City Veterinary College, and in this excellent institution he was graduated in 1917 with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. After his graduation he was for a short time again in service with the Arkansas agricultural experiment station, and he was then appointed veterinary inspector with the United States Bureau of Animal Industry. He maintained headquarters at Little Rock, Arkansas, until 1917, in the summer of which year he volunteered for service in the World war. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve Corps and was sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Later he was assigned to service at Kelly Field, that state, where he was transferred to the air service. He there remained from December, 1917, until the spring of 1918, when he went overseas and served five months as commanding officer of American detachments at Dover, England. He was assigned to duty with the British air force, and in this connection was stationed for a time near Calais, France. He arrived in the United States December 10, 1918, and on the 27th of that month received his honorable discharge, at the Air Service Station at Garden City, Long Island. Within a short time thereafter he resumed his services with the United States Bureau of Animal Industry, and he was stationed at Jacksonville, Florida, in tick-eradication work until December, 1920. Thereafter he passed a few years in similar service in Texas, and in November, 1920, he was assigned to his present station in the Louisiana section of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry. Doctor Paxton maintains an independent political attitude, is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, and is a communicant of the Catholic Church. He is the owner of valuable real estate in Florida and Arkansas, and is still an eligible bachelor.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 2, pages 137-138.