Charles W. Maxon

Charles W. Maxon was born in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey on October 15, 1885. He received his early education in local public schools and at the Mercersburg Academy. He went on to study medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the University of Maryland Medical School where he graduated in 1910.

Dr. Maxon joined the Medical Corps from Steubenville, OH in 1917. He was sent to France and was serving with a unit of the British Expeditionary Forces when he was captured in Villers Bretonneux in the Somme River area on March 24, 1918. Dr. Maxon, then a Captain, was questioned a few hours later by Major Hermann Goering, who went on to become Hitler’s right-hand man during WWII. Dr. Maxon was a prisoner-of-war until the Armistice.

After his release, Dr. Maxon moved to Baltimore and joined the staff at what was then South Baltimore General Hospital. He never left. He became the chief surgeon in the late 1920’s and was active in that capacity until June 1949 when he retired to honorary staff status.

In 1940, Dr. Maxon was asked to prepare a list of names of physicians from each Maryland county whose services were believed necessary and should be exempted from the coming draft. He was cited for his work as director of the procurement and assignment service for physicians, working under the War Manpower Commission. He also made preparations for the protection of civilian patients in Baltimore, in the event of an attack on the city.

Dr. Maxon found the time to be active in the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty, becoming president in 1948. He died at his home in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey after a long illness on December 30, 1962. He was 77 years old.