He ensured that competition for the Allan Cup continued, which saw increased participation from military teams playing senior ice hockey in Canada.

He partnered with W. A. Hewitt to negotiate a relationship with the International Skating Union of America to resume hockey games between Canada and the United States that had ended due to the war.

[3] His duties as sheriff included transfer and escort of prisoners from Whitby to the Kingston Penitentiary,[8] and arrangements for execution by hanging at the Lindsay Jail.

[19][20] Paxton and W. A. Hewitt conducted CAHA business by mail-in votes which retained the elected officers during the war, and continued competition for the Allan Cup which saw increased participation from military teams playing senior ice hockey.

[28] Paxton and W. A. Hewitt were delegated by the CAHA to negotiate a relationship with the International Skating Union of America, and reached an agreement in October 1919 to resume ice hockey games between Canada and the United States that had ended due to World War I.

[29] Paxton and Hewitt subsequently met with the United States Amateur Hockey Association established in 1920, and discussed an agreement for the migration of players between the countries.

The OHA chose to assert its control of amateur hockey in the province, and updated its constitution to exclude participation by any person actively connected to a professional sport.

[40] He was the namesake of the Sheriff Paxton Trophy series, an in-season rivalry between junior hockey teams in Whitby and Bowmanville.

[41] The OHA established the J. F. Paxton Cup for the A-division playoffs champion of senior hockey,[42] which was first awarded in 1935 to a team from Whitby.

[2] CAHA president E. A. Gilroy stated that Paxton always insisted on justice where it was due and "was one of the greatest boosters of amateur hockey in Canada".

[1] Armstrong reported that, "When [Paxton] found opinion swinging against his motions, he could send the meeting into a hilarious uproar by promptly ordering a hanging for every individual who opposed him".