Oliver Hazard Perry Paxson ^{3 4}

   FamilySearch ID: LVD5-1DZ.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1850 in Columbia, Lancaster, PA. ⁵ The 1850 census recorded Oliver Paxton, railroad engineer, 29, living with wife Lettia M., 27; Cecilia, 8; Clara, 6; Josephine, 4; and Adda, 1. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania. His real estate was valued at $1100.

2. Newspaper: Harrisburg Daily Independent: "Oliver H. Paxson, an engineer of the Frazier branch of the Pennsylvania railroad, is 67 years of age. He has been in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a locomotive engineer since 1848.", 27 Mar 1884, Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA. ⁶

3. Obituary: Harrisburg Daily Independent: Death of Oliver H. Paxson on 1 Oct 1889 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA. ³ Death of a Veteran Engineer.
Oliver H. Paxson died at his residence in New Holland, Lancaster county, last Saturday, at the age of 73 years. He was the oldest locomotive driver in the employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad company when he died -- the older in point of service on the pay rolls of that company. In stature he was of giant proportions, and in full health he weighted 300 pounds. Among his associates on the road, he was greatly esteemed, his hearty manner and generous impluses winning him friends everywhere.

4. Obituary: Semi-Weekly New Era, obituary of Oliver Hazard Paxson on 5 Oct 1889 in Lancaster, Lancaster, PA. ⁷ DEATH OF ENGINEER OLIVER H. PAXSON.
He Rode on a Locomotive for Nearly Forty Years -- A Life That Goes Back to the Conestoga Wagons -- An Interesting Career.
Oliver H. Paxson, who prior to his retirement four years ago, was the second oldest engineer in point of service in the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad, died on Sunday morning a few minutes before five o'clock at his home in New Holland, aged seventy-three years. A son, who is also an engineer, called to see him before making his trip on the railroad, and in less than two minutes after his arrival the father peacefully breathed his last. The death of Mr. Paxson serves to recall the rapid age in which we live and to remind us that we are not so far removed from the days of the Conestoga wagon as our present wonderful network of railroads would indicate. He was born in Sadsbury township, Chester county, and drove a Conestoga wagon from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. He talked with pleasure of early railroad building and himself hauled many of the sandstone blocks which were at first used for sleepers, when the present Pennsylvania Railroad was only built as far as Columbia. In those early days there was a great deal of hauling by horses, even on the railroad as late as 1847, when Mr. Paxson became an engineer. He frequently spoke of the present great trunk line as a single track affair, and the difficulty experienced in running. There were turnouts every mile or so, and the market cars running from Malvern were especially numerous and drawn by horses. There was a mile post half-way between the turnouts, and the general rule was that the one that passed the middle post first had the right of way, whether it was a horse train or an engine and train. The other one had to go back to the next turnout. Mr. Paxson well remembered the opposition to railroads that existed among farmers, who were afraid that horses would no longer he required because of this new competition in the Pittsburg wagon trade. He also frequently recalled with pleasure the wonder which excited every breast at the statement that on the track twelve miles an hour could be made, and the jeering incredulity that greeted that remarkable statement. Mr. Paxson's long career at the throttle was remarkably free from accidents. He met with a few, but none were serious. He lost the use of one eye when he was a track hand, but as an engineer he never was hurt and only had one passenger killed. That happened at Leaman Place. A broken rail that threw the train from the track ran through the floor of the car and killed a man. His locomotive had been thrown into every imaginable position, but he never got a scratch. Running over an ax at Radnor many years ago threw the locomotive on its back and turned the cowcatcher toward Harrisburg, although the train was bound eastward. At Bird-in-Hand one night the whole train ran into a field, but nobody was injured. When Mr. Paxson stepped off his engine in 1885 his son, James S. Paxson, took his place and now makes daily runs from Downingtown to New Holland on the Honeybrook branch. When Mr. Paxson retired there was only one engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad still in active service who antedated his connection with the company and that was Hayes Smith, of Columbia, who began a little before he did in 1847 and is still running on a shifting engine at Columbia. Mr. Paxson leaves a wife and seven children, two of his sons being engineers in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad. His funeral took place on Wednesday morning at 11 o'clock, with interment in the Lutheran cemetery in New Holland.

Oliver married Letitia Miner "Lettie" Hutchinson, daughter of James Hutchinson and Hannah Jefferis, on 14 Jan 1841 in Parkesburg, Chester, PA.^{1 2} (Letitia Miner "Lettie" Hutchinson was born on 4 Nov 1823 in West Chester, Chester, PA,^{8 9 10} died on 23 Apr 1910 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA ^{8 9 10 11 12} and was buried on 26 Apr 1910 in New Holland, Lancaster, PA ^{8 9 10 12}.)