Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fourth Generation

NATHANIEL⁴ MAXFIELD (Eliphalet³, Nathaniel², John¹ ) was born at South Hampton, New Hampshire, on 24 May 1743^[1] a son of Eliphalet Maxfield and his wife Elizabeth Thompson. He died at Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 11 September 1808.^[2] He married as his first wife at Kensington, New Hampshire, on 23 June 1776 MEHITABLE ROWE.^[3] She was born at Hampton, New Hampshire, on 20 May 1752,^[4] a daughter of Joseph and Ruth (Sherburn) Rowe. She died sometime after the birth of her last child on 3 May 1793, and before her husband signed a deed with his second wife in 11 May 1794. Nathaniel Maxfield married as his second wife, sometime between those dates listed for the death of his first wife, HANNAH ________, who was born some time before 1755 (age over 45 in the 1800 census), and was still living when she signed a deed on 12 October 1822.

Nathaniel Maxfield grew up at South Hampton, the second of six children, at least four of whom reached adulthood. When Nathaniel was somewhere between the ages of six and eight his father died, and at age eight he acquired a step-father. At age twelve he acquired a half brother. By 20 December 1762, at the age of nineteen, he was living in the town of Kensington, where he witnessed a will.^[5]

Nathaniel and Mehitable were married at Kensington, where they both lived in 1766. They moved several times, to different communities in southeast New Hampshire. In 1770 they were still at Kensington, Rockingham County, but in 1776 they were reported at Candia, Rockingham County. About 1778 they moved to Epping, Rockingham County, where he remained at least until 1794. In his second marriage, at least by 1797, Nathaniel resided in the Town of Loudon. Nathaniel Maxfield was described as a tanner in land transactions from 1769 to 1787, with one exception, when he was called a cordwainer in 1778. In 1798 and 1806 he was also called a cordwainer. A cordwainer is a shoemaker.

Nathaniel Maxfield participated in the following transfers of property:

• 22 August 1769, Nathaniel Maxfield of Kensington, tanner, Eliphalet Maxfield of Sandwich, yeoman, and Elizabeth Maxfield, singlewoman of Kensington granted Nathaniel Dole of Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay, yeoman, for £ 18, land belonging to "the estate of our father Eliphalet Maxfield, late of South Hampton, deceased; the part of sd estate set off to our Grandmother Maxfield for the right of Dowry in her husband's estate; sd parcel in South Hampton."^[6]
• 17 May 1770, Nathaniel Maxfield of Kensington, tanner, sold to Benjamin Brown of Kensington, husbandman, for £ 40, 1 acre of land in Kensington, "on which my Tanyard now is, with all the buildings in the Tanyard, also my dwelling house. Hitty, wife of Nathaniel surrenders her right of dower. Hitty Maxfield signed with her mark.^[7]
• 15 May 1777, James Sanborn of Epping, cordwainer sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of Candia, for £ 280, 40 acres of land in Epping, partly in 6th range, partly in 7th range.^[8]
• 6 October 1778, William Straw of Epping, Gentleman, sold to Nathaniel Maxfield late of Candia now of Epping, cordwainer, for £ 55, land in Epping, adjacent and partly enclosed by the land of said Maxfield.^[9]
• 29 Dec 1787, Ebenezer Currier of Epping, yeoman, sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of Epping, tanner, for £ 45, 8 acres and 140 rods in Epping, with home and barn standing on said land.^[10]
• 20 March 1793, Nathaniel Maxfield of Epping, tanner, sold to [his son] Eliphalet Maxfield of Epping, currier, for £ 60, one acre in Epping plus 7 ¾ acres in Epping, the remainder of land purchased of Ebenezer Currier, excepting the one acre, the sd Eliphalet is to come into possession at the decease of the said Nathaniel and not before.^[11]
• 11 March 1794, Nathaniel Maxfield of Epping, tanner, sold to Samuel Plummer, Jr of Epping, husbandman, for £ 360, a tract in Epping of 43 ¼ acres "together with the house in which I now live and all the buildings standing on sd premises, it being my homestead farm." Hannah Maxfield wife of Nathaniel relinquished right of dower. On the same date Maxfield and Plummer agreed to an indenture, Maxfield to pay £ 10 plus taxes as rent for one year to land and buildings in Epping, will not plow more than 4 ½ acres of the land.^[12]
• 9 September 1794, Nathaniel Maxfield of Epping, tanner, and [his son] Eliphalet Maxfield of Epping, currier, sold to Levi Towle of Epping, innholder, for £ 60, 8 acres and 140 rods in Epping, with the buildings on them. Hannah Maxfield and Jinney Maxfield wives of Nathaniel and Eliphalet surrendered their right of dower.^[13]
• 24 October 1797, Nathaniel Maxfield of Loudon, tanner, and Hannah his wife, and John Clerk of Loudon, yeoman, and Hannah his wife, and Reuben Hills of Hawke, tanner, and Sarah his wife, sold to Nathan Knowles the 3rd of Chester, yeoman, for $400, land and buildings on northerly side of road leading from Raymond to Chester Town meetinghouse, that was of the estate of Nathan Norton late of Chester, deceased.^[14]
• 29 December 1798, Nathaniel Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer sold to [his son] Stephen Maxfield of Epping, cordwainer, for $100, land in Loudon, 5 acres from lot 138, also 1 acre of same lot, also "half my barn." On 31 December 1798 Nathaniel Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer, sold to Stephen Maxfield of Epping, cordwainer, for $300, "full one half of my homestead farm" lot #138, 1st division, "excepting what I have deeded off from sd farm, also reserving to myself the house and one half the barn now standing on the premises." On the same day Nathaniel and Stephen agreed to an indenture, Stephen paying Nathaniel $500 "for and in consideration of a deed that my honored Father Nathaniel Maxfield hath given to me . . . Nathaniel to farm during his natural life."^[15]
• 13 June 1806, Nathaniel Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer, sold to [his son] Nathan N. Maxfield of Loudon, yeoman, for $1,000, a parcel in Loudon, 10 acres, "more than one half of my homestead farm according to quality and quantity, to be taken off the whole length of my farm lot 138 1st division" with house and half the barn, also cider mill and press together with all neat stock and farming utensils.^[16]

In 1776 Nathaniel Maxfield of Candia signed the "Association List" in support of the Revolution.^[17] He served briefly in the Revolution, in the Northern Continental Army, from 21 July 1777 to 18 September 1777, marching with Capt. Stephen Dearborn's Company, Col. Thomas Stickney's regiment in Gen. Stark's brigade, from Chester, New Hampshire, to Charlestown, Massachusetts.^[18]

The Nathaniel Maxfield family was reported at Epping in the 1790 census^[19] and at Loudon in the 1800 census.^[20] The name of Nathaniel Maxfield also appears in the 1810 census roll at Loudon,^[21] although he had passed away, and he is not indicated present in the age and sex categories of that census. The census records, and a possible indentification of the persons follows:

The decade ending in 1800 saw enormous transitions for this family. Nathaniel's wife died and he remarried, They moved to Loudon. Five of the children married, and three died (including one that married). And Nathaniel made a transition into a different line of labor.

Nathaniel Maxfield died at Loudon on 11 September 1808. His widow Hannah was still living on 12 October 1822, when Nathan N. Maxfield of Loudon, husbandman purchased from Hannah Maxfield of Loudon, widow woman, for $300, and from Eleanor Maxfield of Loudon, single woman, for $150 their rights to the homestead of Nathan N. Maxfield by right of dower and a condition on the back of a deed from Nathaniel Maxfield late of Loudon deceased, to Nathan N. Maxfield, dated 13 June 1806.^[22] "Eleanor" refers to Nathaniel's daughter, otherwise known as Ella Norton Maxfield.

Nathaniel Maxfield and his first wife Mehitabel Rowe had the following children (Note: The New Hampshire Vital Records Index reported the births of the children at Loudon, including those born before Loudon was a separate town. Recognizing that these records were often gathered at a later date, I have listed the place of residence of the family at the time of a child's birth as the birth place):

1. BETTY⁵ MAXFIELD d. at Kensington on 2 May 1767.^[23]
2. ELIZABETH⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Kensington on 19 March 1768;^[24] d. at Epping on 11 March 1796;^[25] m. JOSIAH HILLS.^[26] b. about 1758-9, d. 21 May 1827.^[27] He m(2). MOLLY ________ d. 11 June 1803.^[28]
3. STEPHEN⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Kensington on 7 February 1770.
4. ELIPHALET⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Kensington or Candia on 25 January 1772.
5. MEHITABLE⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Kensington or Candia on 5 April 1774;^[29] m. at Loudon on 10 November 1799 LEVI FRENCH,^[30] b. at South Hampton on 11 February 1761,^[31] a child of Abiel and Elizabeth French.
6. HANNAH NORTON⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Candia on 11 January 1776.^[32] No further record; possibly present in household in 1790 census
7. RUTH⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Candia on 10 October 1777;^[33] d. at Canterbury, Merrimack Co., NH, on 26 March 1855;^[34] m. at Loudon on 12 January 1880 REUBEN FRENCH,^[35] b. at Epping on 23 April 1777, d. at Canterbury on 20 April 1855, child of Levi and Hannah (French) French.^[36]
8. NATHANIEL⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Epping on 10 February 1780;^[37] bp. at Epping, Congregational Church, 19 May 1780^[38] d. prob.1797.^[39]
9. JAMES BATCHELDER⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Epping on 10 February 1783.
10. JOSEPH ROWE⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Epping on 31 March 1785.
11. NATHAN NORTON⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Epping on 3 August 1786.
12. ELLA NORTON⁵ MAXFIELD "Eleanor" b. at Epping on 8 March 1793;^[40] living at 1860 census. Eleanor Maxfield, age 59, was reported in the 1850 census as a resident of the "Poor Farm" at Loudon, described as "insane."^[41] The 1860 census reported Ellen W. Maxfield, age 66, at the "Town Farm" at Loudon, with a disability: "insane."^[42] d. on 16 February 1869^[43]
13. SAMUEL SHAW⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Epping on 3 May 1793;^[44] d. prob. in infancy, as there is no indication of his presence in the family in the 1800 census.

¹New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Nathaniel Maxfield, 1743; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 30 December 2016).
²"Cemetery Transcriptions from the New England Historic Genealogical Society Manuscript Collections," database, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2012), Loudon Center Church Graveyard, Loudon, Merrimac County, New Hampshire.
³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9932, Marriage, Maxfield-Rowe, 1766.
⁴French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
⁵Nathaniel Bouton et al, editors, Documents and Records Relating to New Hampshire, 1623-1800, 40 (Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Bristol, New Hampshire: n.p., 1867), 37:378. [New Hampshire Papers]
⁶Deeds, 101:354; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds (nhdeeds/rockingham : accessed 2012).
⁷Ibid., 113:306.
⁸Ibid., 120:258.
⁹Ibid., 138:217.
¹⁰Ibid., 137:434.
¹¹Ibid., 135:16.
¹²Ibid., 137:167; 139:151-52.
¹³Ibid., 144:219.
¹⁴Ibid., 281:1.
¹⁵Ibid., 149:153,154; 150:404-05.
¹⁶Ibid., 183:217.
¹⁷Emily S. Wilson, ed., Inhabitants of New Hampshire 1776 (Lambertville, New Jersey: Hunterdon House, 1983), 75.
¹⁸New Hampshire Papers, 14:168.
¹⁹First Census of the United States: 1790, population, Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 5:193; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2012).
²⁰Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 20:364; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
²¹Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 25:433; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
²²Rockingham Co. Deeds, 236:120.
²³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6138, Death, Betty Maxfield, 1767.
²⁴Ibid., Birth, Betsy Maxfield, 1768.
²⁵Otis G. Hammond, ed., Notices from the New Hamposhire Gazette (Lambertville, New Jersey: Hunterdon Press, 1970), 128.
²⁶Ibid.
²⁷Camp Hedding, Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 29 November 2014), Josiah Hills; Created by: Sky at blueskyzupabove@zoho.com.
²⁸Camp Hedding, Epping, Molly Hills; Created by: Sky at blueskyzupabove@zoho.com.
²⁹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Mehetable Maxfield, 1774
³⁰Ibid., Marriage: French-Maxfield, 1799.
³¹Vital Records of South Hampton, New Hampshire, 1743-1886 (N.p.: The Historical Committee of the South Hampton Friends of the Library, 1970), 12.
³²New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Hannah Norton Maxfield, 1776.
³³Ibid., Birth, Rith Maxfield, 1777.
³⁴French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
³⁵Ibid.
³⁶Ibid.
³⁷New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Nathaniel Maxfield, Jr., 1780.
³⁸Elizabeth Wright, "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants," The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 7:23.
³⁹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
⁴⁰New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Elle Norton Maxfield, 1792.
⁴¹Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, 436:16A, 275; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁴²Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, 676:96, 750; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁴³Merrimack County Farm Cemetery, Boscawen, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, Elenor Maxfield; Created by: Boscawen Historical Society, Photo added by Jon Colcord.
⁴⁴New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Samuel Shaw Maxfield, 1793

Bouton, Nathaniel et al, editors. Documents and Records Relating to New Hampshire, 1623-1800. 40. Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Bristol, New Hampshire: n.p., 1867.

Camp Hedding, Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2014.

"Cemetery Transcriptions from the New England Historic Genealogical Society Manuscript Collections." Database. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2012

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

Hammond, Otis G., ed. Notices from the New Hamposhire Gazette. Lambertville, New Jersey: Hunterdon Press, 1970.

Merrimack County Farm Cemetery, Boscawen, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire. New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages. Digital images. New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2016.

Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. "Land Records." Digital images. Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. nhdeeds/rockingham : 2012.

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.

________. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

Vital Records of South Hampton, New Hampshire, 1743-1886. N.p.: The Historical Committee of the South Hampton Friends of the Library, 1970.

Wilson, Emily S., editor. Inhabitants of New Hampshire 1776. Lambertville, NJ: Hunterdon House, 1983.

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.