Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fourth Generation

ABRAHAM⁴ MAXFIELD (John³, Timothy², John¹) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 5 August 1759^[1] a son of John Maxfield and his first wife Dinah Sherman. He died probably shortly before his estate came before Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Court, on 9 September 1805.^[2] He married at Dartmouth on 15 August 1782 ELIZABETH HATHAWAY.^[3] She was born at Dartmouth on 16 October 1761,^[4] a daughter of Meletiah Hathaway and his wife Judith Pierce. She died on April 1830.^[5]

Abraham's mother died sometime during his childhood. His father remarried when Abraham was 12. When Abraham was 15 his older brother married. By the time he was 16 he had three younger half-sisters. About the time of his twenty-first birthday Abraham participated in the Revolution. When he was 22 he married.

Abraham Maxfield served in the Revolutionary War for six days, from 3 August to 8 August, 1780. He was a private in Capt. Avery Parker's (1st) company, Col. John Hathaway's (2d Bristol co.) regiment, which responded to an alarm at Rhode Island.^[6]

Abraham Maxfield and his wife Elizabeth lived in Dartmouth and raised their family there. In the first twenty-two years of marriage they had eight children, at least seven of whom lived to adulthood.

Abraham Maxfield participated in property transactions in Dartmouth as follows:

• 28 September 1792, John Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, sold to "my son" Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, labourer, for £ 12, a parcel in Dartmouth, 66 rods.^[7]
• 22 October 1798, Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, sold to Lawrence Johnson of Dartmouth, mason, for $ 50, a parcel with a dwelling house in Dartmouth, commonly called Grant House, containing 70 rods [perhaps the same parcel described above]. Signed by Abraham Maxfield and Elizabeth Maxfield.^[8]
• 2 October 1802, Mehetabel Maxfield of Dartmouth, widow, John Chase and Dorcas his wife, Jonathan Wood and Mary his wife, both of Dartmouth, yeomen, and William Wood and Mehetable his wife of Tiverton, Rhode Island, yeoman, sold to Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $500, a lot of land with buildings in Dartmouth, the westerly part of the homestead farm of John Maxfield, late of Dartmouth, deceased, also another lot in Dartmouth, where a Town House for men formerly stood, part of the deceased's estate, about 1 acre. On the same day, Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, "paid" $ 500 to the above named parties, his step-mother and his three half-sisters and their husbands and surrendered any claim he might have to any other property of his father.^[9] This constitutes a settlement of the estate of Abraham's father John Maxfield.
• 5 September 1804, Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, loaned to Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, Bristol County, merchant, $900, taking a mortgage on a tract of land in Dartmouth and the buildings thereon, about 10 acres, also another tract north of the first, about 8 acres, repayment of half the loan to be made in two years.^[10]

Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth appeared on the tax list for 1798 in two places. One reported him owning a dwelling and 6 perches, worth $250. The other listed him with 22 acres, valued at $240.^[11]

Census records report the family in Dartmouth, giving the numbers of persons in different age and sex groups. The following is a possible explanation, from what we know from other sources of the family members.^[12]

Missing from the 1800 report are Judith, 12, and Elizabeth, 10, also, if he was still living, Nathaniel, 14. Missing from the 1810 record was Ebenezer, 17; perhaps he had already gone to sea.

When Abraham died, at the age of 46, he left Elizabeth with children ages 22, 17, 15, 12, 9, 7, and ten months. In a little over two years the oldest two had married. Elizabeth continued raising her family for 24 years, never remarrying, and she saw all her surviving children married.

Elizabeth Maxfield had the responsibility of administering her husband's estate. In this process she was required to sell some of his property:

• Elizabeth Maxfield of Dartmouth, widow and administrator of the estate of Abraham Maxfield, late of Dartmouth, yeoman, deceased, by order of the Court of Common Pleas, at Taunton, on Monday preceding 2d Tuesday of September 1805, was licensed to make sale of real estate to pay just debts and charges. At a public sale held at Dartmouth 19 October 1805, she sold to Joseph Gifford, 2nd, and Gardner Potter, both of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $519, a tract of wood land in Dartmouth, 12 acres and 57 rods, bounded by Timothy Maxfield, and heirs of Abraham Maxfield; 21 November 1805. Also, she sold to Uriah Brownell of New Bedford, trader, for $ 495.40, a lot of wood in Dartmouth, 7 acres and 150 rods, abutters include Edmund Maxfield; 20 March 1806.^[13]

Abraham Maxfield and his wife Elizabeth Hathaway had the following children:

1. DINAH⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 30 March 1783;^[14] living in 1858 when sister-in-law Grace (Sherman) Maxfield wrote her will; m. at Dartmouth on 14 December 1896 HALLET GIFFORD,^[15] b. at Westport, Bristol Co., on 15 May 1786, d. at New Bedford on 17 May 1869,^[16] child of Nathaniel Gifford and his wife Desire Mitchell.
2. NATHANIEL⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 15 October 1785;^[17] no further record, although 1790 census suggests he could have still been living; definitely deceased before 1856, when will of brother Isaac mentions neither Nathaniel nor descendants.
3. JUDITH⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 6 October 1787;^[18] d. bef. 1816, when her husband remarried; m (int. at Dartmouth on 2 October 1807^[19]). at Dartmouth on 8 November 1807 GEORGE GIFFORD,^[20] b. at Dartmouth on 10 November 1788, d. on 1864, child of James Gifford and his wife Elizabeth Chase. He m. (2) on 21 January 1816 MARY RIDER.^[21]
4. ELIZABETH⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 9 June 1790;^[22] d. at New Bedford on 18 October 1829;^[23] m. on 13 December 1818 THOMAS DURFEE,^[24] b. on 21 February 1785, d. at New Bedford on 1891, child of James Durfee and his wife Sally Walker.^[25] He m. (2) bef. 1858 DELIGHT SHERMAN.^[26] b. about May-June 1795, d. on 18 April 1878.^[27]
5. EBENEZER HATHAWAY⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 27 January 1793.
6. ISAAC SHERMAN⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 3 November 1795.
7. ABIGAIL⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 23 June 1798;^[28] d. on 7 November 1864;^[29] m (int. at Dartmouth on 18 March 1818^[30]). at Westport on 9 April 1818 BURDEN HAZARD HOWLAND,^[31] b. at Westport on 20 November 1798,^[32] d. on 15 December 1840,^[33] child of John Wing Howland and his wife Meriam.
8. LUCY ANN⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 8 November 1804;^[34] d. at New Bedford on 26 December 1891;^[35] m. at Dartmouth on 4 November 1827 JEREMIAH M. JONES,^[36] b. at Dartmouth on 29 March 1802,^[37] d. at New Bedford on 18 August 1877.^[38]

¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930), v. 1, p. 157.
²Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, 86:252-53, accessed 2013; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).
³Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 2, p. 312.
⁴Ebenezer W. Peirce, "The Peirce Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 21 (1867): 350.
⁵Ibid.
⁶Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary, ed., Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War (Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902), 10:366.
⁷Bristol County, Deeds, 77:137-38.
⁸Ibid., 85:174-75.
⁹Ibid., 82:16-17; 82:544-45,
¹⁰Ibid., 88:175.
¹¹"Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax Census of 1798," digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2014), 12:14,61
¹²First Census of the United States: 1790, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 195, Abraham Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M637, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 19, p. 661, Abraham Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed ); NARA microfilm publication M32; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 17, p. 285, Wd Elizabeth Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 March 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 47, p. 576, Elisabeth Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹³Bristol County Deeds, 86:252-53; 89:117.
¹⁴Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 1, p. 157.
¹⁵Ibid.,v. 2, p. 312.
¹⁶Almon E. Daniels & Maclean W. McLean, "William Gifford of Sandwich, Mass. (d. 1687)," New England Historic Genealogical Register, 128-138 (1974–1985): 135:141.
¹⁷Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 1, p. 158.
¹⁸Ibid.
¹⁹Ibid., v. 2, p. 313.
²⁰Ibid.
²¹Daniels, "William Gifford of Sandwich," 135:142.
²²Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 1, p. 158.
²³Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), v. 3, p. 61.
²⁴Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 2, p. 312.
²⁵Oak Grove Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 25 July 2018), Thomas-Delight Durfee; Created by: goose.
²⁶Daughters of the American Revolution, "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search," database, Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org), No. 471154. ²⁷Oak Grove Cemetery, New Bedford, Thomas-Delight Durfee; Created and photo by: goose.
²⁸Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 1p. 157.
²⁹DAR, No. 443928.
³⁰Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 2, p. 313.
³¹Vital Records of Westport, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1918), p. 190.
³²Ibid., p. 57.
³³DAR, No. 443928.
³⁴Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 1, p. 158.
³⁵Oak Grove Cemetery, New Bedford, Lucy A. Jones; Created and photo by: Carol L.
³⁶Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 2, p. 313.
³⁷Oak Grove Cemetery, New Bedford, Jeremiah Jones; Created and photo by: Carol L.
³⁸Ibid.

Bristol County, Massachusetts. Deeds. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary, ed. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War. Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902.

Daniels, Almon E. & Maclean W. McLean. "William Gifford of Sandwich, Mass. (d. 1687)." New England Historic Genealogical Register 128-138 (1974–1985): 128:241-61; 129:30-40, 221-37, 335-46; 130:40-45, 130-41, 284-91; 131:51-57, 133-41, 214-20, 294-98; 132:211-17, 293-301; 133:49-56, 134-40, 211-15, 294-98; 134:59-64, 121-34, 237-41, 310-15; 135:138-47, 307-21; 137:147-62; 138:203-22.

Daughters of the American Revolution, "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search." Database. Daughters of the American Revolution. dar.org.

French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass. New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.

Leonard, Elisha. "Leonard Papers." New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

"Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax Census of 1798." Digital images. New England Historic Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2014.

Oak Grove Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. findagrave.com : 2012.

Peirce, Ebenezer W. "The Peirce Family." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 21 (1867): 61-65, 157-62, 257-64, 340-50.

United States, Department of the Census. First Census of the United States: 1790, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Second Census of the United States: 1800, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012 .

________. Third Census of the United States: 1810, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930.

Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. 3 volumes. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941.

Vital Records of Westport, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Sociuety, 1918.

Wright, Elizabeth. "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants." The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 6:52-56; 7:20-24, 42-47, 61-71, 87-96; 8:15-22.