Maxwell Centennial - 1883-1983 – Published by Walsworth, Marceline, Mo. USA, Page 10...."Maxwell's biggest fire occurred in 1886 when almost all of the west side of Main Street, north of First Street, was either destroyed or badly damaged. The fire was fought by a bucket brigade from the town well. The efforts of both men and women saved the fire from spreading more.......Mr. S. E. Cooper succeeded in getting most of the furniture out of his building before it burned. A half day later he had leased a building and was back in business."

Maxwell Centennial - 1883-1983 – Published by Walsworth, Marceline, Mo. USA. Pages 64 & 65 – "John and Rebecca Stark Cooper – It all started when John Joseph Cooper, 1829-1894, and Rebecca Ann Stark, 1830-1906, were married in Mercer County, Illinois. Their first three children, Mary Ellen, Stephen Enoch and Amos B. were born in Illinois. The family moved to Warren County, Iowa in 1860 and then to Iowa Center, Story County, Iowa in 1864. It was there their last three children were born. They were Francis Marion, Recina and Charles E. John Cooper was a wagon maker by trade. After Charles was born the family moved to Kansas where they homesteaded. However, their son Stephen, having learned the trade as a wagon maker from his father, returned to Iowa Center. The family returned to Story County sometime after 1884. In 1876 Stephen was married to Mary Ellen Squires, and in 1879 opened his own shop. To this union seven children were born, Rae who married Curtis Wells, Grace who died at the age of sixteen years, Hugh who married Ora McQuan and spent most of this adult life in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Dallas, Texas, and Dean. They were all born at Iowa Center. In 1882 Stephen and Mary Ellen moved to Maxwell and there they were blessed with three more children. Guy who married Nellie V. Garis, Hazel who married Sidney G. Sherman, and Nellie Irma who married Clarence J. Ebert. At this writing, Nellie V. Garis Cooper is living at the Long Term Care Facility of the Story County Hospital in Nevada. Nellie Irma's husband Clarence J. Ebert lives in his home in Nevada, Iowa. In September of 1891 Mary Ellen died, just two months after the birth of their last daughter. In 1893 Stephen married Martha Jane Moore Wood and they had one son, Forest Fenimore. Aunt Mattie, as she was affectionately known, then raised the family and all of the children loved her very much. In 1917 Forest married Martha Christine Knudson in Nevada, Iowa. They had one son Stephen Moore born in 1918. Stephen M. was married to Harriet Ellen McKay in September 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland. They are the parents of two children. Their daughter Susan was born in 1947 and is married to Hoagy Jones. They have a daughter Jerrell and a son Justin. Stephen and Harriet's son Stephen Eric, born in 1948, lives in Maxwell and operates the family business.