BG Elisha Franklin Paxton

BG Elisha Franklin Paxton was born on 4 Mar 1828 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was the sixth of seven children of Elisha Hays and Margaret (McNutt) Paxton. He was descended from the Paxton family which had immigrated to America from northern Ireland in 1730 and settled in Pennsylvania. His father farmed and owned a mill a few miles southeast of Lexington, Virginia. The younger Elisha attended local schools before graduating Washington College in 1846. He then attended Yale University and graduating from there in 1847. He next attended the University of Virginia where he graduated with a law degree in 1848. He had attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington but didn't graduate. Elisha married Elizabeth Hannah White in 1854 and the couple had their first child, a daughter, who died in infancy in June of 1856. They would go on to have three more children, all sons. Elisha became president of a bank in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Paxton enlisted in April 1861 as a First Lieutenant (1LT) in H Company 27th Virginia Infantry. 1LT Paxton fought at First Manassas and was commended for gallantry in bearing the colors of a Georgia unit after their color bearer was shot down. He was detailed an Aide-de-Camp on Lieutenant General (LTG) Stonewall Jackson's staff in August 1861. He was then promoted to Major on 14 Oct 1861. In August 1862, he was appointed Major and Quartermaster on Jackson's staff and served as Assistant Adjutant General. On 1 Nov 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General (BG). Paxton died on 3 May 1863 from a wound received while leading a charge of the Stonewall Brigade at Chancellorsville. Paxton's body was brought back to Lexington and buried at the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery in Lexington, Virginia. He has a number of living descendants. 

Elisha's grandfather, William Paxton served as a Major of militia during the Revolution.