William Maxwell (1784–1857), attorney and public official, was born in Norfolk and graduated from Yale College (later Yale University) in 1802. He studied law and practiced in Virginia beginning in 1808. Maxwell published volumes of his poetry in 1812 and 1816, and he spent a year as editor of the New York Journal of Commerce, 1827–28, before resuming his legal career in Norfolk. He represented Norfolk in the Virginia House of Delegates for one term, 1830–31. Subsequently elected to complete an unfinished term in the state senate in 1832–33, Maxwell was reelected and served until 1838. He became a trustee of Hampden-Sydney College in 1836 and was elected to the presidency of that institution in 1838, resigning in 1844 and again returning to the practice of law in Richmond. Maxwell helped resurrect the dormant Virginia Historical Society, acting as librarian and editing its journal, 1848–53. He was a leader in the Presbyterian church and an ardent supporter of the African colonization movement. Maxwell died near Williamsburg (Dexter, Yale Biographies description begins Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, 1885–1912, 6 vols. description ends , 5:520–2; Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography [1915], 2:202; Leonard, General Assembly description begins Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, 1978 description ends ; John Luster Brinkley, On This Hill: A Narrative History of Hampden-Sydney College, 1774–1994 [1994], esp. 163–71; Alexandria Gazette, 19 Jan. 1857; gravestone inscription in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond).

In its annual report of 7 Oct. 1822, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors established guidelines for the treatment of independent theological schools situated “on the confines” of the institution.