08/02/2026
What a cool story! Here’s some history of our awesome little place. 😊
🍼His legacy still rides the hills. He delivered More Than 4,000 Babies
Dr. Nathaniel Coleman Maxey was born on July 31, 1874 in Timbo, Stone County, Arkansas. He would grow into the county’s most beloved “horse-and-buggy” doctor, a man who delivered more than 4,000 babies and cared for two generations of Ozark families across the farthest hollows of Stone County.
Nathaniel was the third child of John Hale and Sarah Angeline (Gilchrist) Maxey. The farming family already included Josephine and Robert E. Lee; later came Olive, Emanuel, and Margaret. He grew up in the Timbo-Alco area, working the land as a young man before turning to teaching. Medicine called him next. He was licensed to practice in 1907 and earned his M.D. from the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences in 1911 and then came straight home.
For more than four decades Dr. Maxey drove a horse and buggy into the remotest corners of Stone County, answering calls day or night. Roads were rough, weather unforgiving, and payment sometimes came in the form of a chicken. One Mountain View resident later recalled that her father paid Dr. Maxey exactly that way for her delivery. He knew nearly everyone. He brought more than four thousand children into the world and then watched over many of them -- and their children -- for the rest of his life.
On April 30, 1916, he married Seddie Franks in Stone County. They raised two daughters, Nellie Faye and Lola Maye (also recorded as Faye Nellie and Maye Lola). The family lived for a time in the handsome 1906 home on South Peabody Street in Mountain View that later became the Ozark Country Inn. Local tradition holds that Dr. Maxey came from a long line of physicians -- the fourth generation in his family to practice medicine.
When he died quietly at 3 a.m. on September 10, 1955, at Allens Hospital in Batesville, the Stone County Leader and The Mountain View Herald* marked the end of an age:
“Stone County’s beloved old-time family doctor, N. C. Maxey… bringing to a close forever the era of the old ‘horse and buggy’ medical practice. Doctor Maxey was beloved, honored and respected throughout Stone County. His life was a record of ministry in this area, in every respect.”
He was buried in Flatwoods Cemetery (also called Flatwood) near Mountain View. His widow Seddie lived until 1979. Descendants remain in Stone County.
In an age of smartphones and same-day clinic appointments, it is hard to picture a doctor climbing into a buggy at midnight, lantern swinging, to reach a remote cabin. Yet that is exactly how thousands of Stone County families first met the world -- with Dr. Nathaniel C. Maxey’s steady hands.
If your grandparents or great-grandparents were among the more than four thousand babies he delivered, or if you have a story about the old country doctor, share it in the comments. 👇
😎
1-888-FUN-AR-01
Jim Stipe Productions, PLLC
Your Event Photographer/Videographer for hire by contract. 📸 🎥 🧾
(This post falls under the Fair Use Act of 1976 for media publication.)
© 2026 Jim Stipe Productions, PLLC. All rights reserved.
