3105 Southern Ave. Memphis, TN
Circa 1860. 1-story Victorian piano house
The Maxwelton is a simple home on Southern Ave. along the former LaGrange & Memphis rail line. The original owner is unknown. It is the sole example of a Victorian piano house in Memphis.
Judge John Louis Taylor Sneed (1822-1901) and Mary Ashe Sheppherd Sneed (1829-1919) purchased the home in 1874 from Levi Joy. They wed in 1848. After Judge Sneed died, his wife stayed at the home, and there were no children. The Maxwelton estate was part of the early community of Buntyn Station.
After her death, the property went to his nephew John Sneed Welton. Then to his daughter Kathleen. In 1918, Kathleen Welton Ewell (1893-1977) married Arthur Peyton Ewell (1892-1978). They had two sons, and John Sneed Ewell inherited the home.
In 1848, he was the attorney general of the Memphis Judicial District. In 1854, he was elected to the office of attorney general of Tennessee and court reporter for the Tennessee Supreme Court for 5 years. Later in 1870, Ewell was selected for the Tennessee Supreme Court and remained there for 8 years. Nine years later, in 1879, he became Judge of the Court of Arbitration. From 1894-1900, he was Chancellor of the Chancery Court of Shelby Co. He was a founder of St. John’s Episcopal Church and the sole financial supporter for a decade.
J. E. Ewell is the great, grand-nephew of Judge Ewell. Thus, Maxwelton had been in the same family for about 105 years.
In 2008, the estate was on the market. The home was named for the famed estate Maxwelton House of Annie Laurie in Scotland. NR 1980
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