Samuel Bell Maxey (March 30, 1825 – August 16, 1895) was an American soldier, lawyer, and politician from Paris, Texas.

He was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and later represented Texas in the U.S. Senate.

In 1842 young Maxey got an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Maxey was cited for gallantry and brevetted first lieutenant for his actions in the battles of Cerro Gordo and Contreras in the summer of 1847.

In October 1857, father and son moved their families to a small farm they purchased just south of Paris, Texas.

[1] Maxey was elected the district attorney for Lamar County, Texas, in 1858 and was a delegate to the state's Secession Convention in 1861.

[1][3] His early success in conducting raids and capturing supplies prevented a Union Army invasion of Texas.

He turned over command of the Indian Territory to Brigadier General Stand Watie, a Cherokee, on February 21, 1865, and proceeded to Houston, Texas.

He returned home to Paris, and formally surrendered in July to Union Major General Edward Canby (E.R.S.

He was finally successful when President Andrew Johnson pardoned him on July 20, 1867, after a personal appeal from Maxey's former West Point classmate Ulysses S. Grant.

[citation needed] Maxey returned to the practice of law in Paris, this time with his wife's nephew Benjamin Denton and Henry William Lightfoot.