Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fourth Generation

RICHARD4 MAXFIELD (Joseph3-2, John1) was born at Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, on 12 August 1769[1] a son of Joseph and Love Maxfield. He died sometime after the 1850 census. He married at Warner, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 10 November 1796 SALLY YOUNG.[2] She was born at Newport, Sullivan County, New Hampshire on 15 March 1773.[3] She died probably between 1840 and 1850.

Richard spent his childhood at Salisbury, where he was baptized at the Second Church (Congregational) on 10 September 1769.[4] Sometime between the ages of eleven and fifteen he moved with his family to Weare, Hillsborough County. Their 1796 marriage record reported that he was from Weare, she from Fishersfield, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. The 1800 census reported the family at Weare. However a property transfer in 1801 described him as being of Concord, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The 1810 Census,[5] and all records after that date, locate them at Bradford, Hillsborough County [later Merrimack County], New Hampshire. He was a farmer.

On 9 May 1801 Richard Ayer of Concord, Gentleman, sold to Richard Maxfield of Concord, yeoman, for $100, a tract of land in Concord of 92 acres. On 5 March 1811, Richard Maxfield of New Bradford, yeoman, sold to Abner Farnum, Jr. of Concord, tanner, for $112, 36 2/3 acres of that land. He sold more of it, perhaps all the rest, on 24 August 1811 to Henry Martin, Jr., of Concord, for $400.[6]

The census records before 1850 only listed the names of heads of households, and the numbers of persons in the household in various age and sex categories. The records for the Richard Maxfield family, with a possible explanation, follow:[7]

1800, Weare
male 16-25 Richard, 30
female 16-25 Sally, 27
male 0-9 unidentified
female 0-9 unidentified
female 0-9 unidentified
1810, Bradford
male 26-44 Richard, 40
female 26-44 Sally, 37
male 0-9 Jesse, 8
male 0-9 George, 3
female 0-9 Chloe, 5
female 0-9 Love
female 0-9 unidentified
female 0-9 unidentified
1820, Bradford
male 45+ Richard, 50
female 45+ Sally, 47
male 16-25 Jesse, 18
female 16-25 Chloe, 15
male 10-15 George, 13
female 10-15 Love
male 0-9 unidentified
female 0-9 Lydia, 5
female 0-9 Mary, 4
1830 Bradford
male 60-69 Richard, 60
female 50-59 Sally, 57
male 20-29 Jesse, 28
male 20-29 George, 23
female 15-19 Lydia, 15
female 15-19 Mary, 14
1840 Bradford
male 70-79 Richard, 70
female 60-69 Sally, 67
male 30-39 George, 33
male 20-29 unidentified
female 20-29 unidentified

The above assignments of persons to age groups assumes that the census takers made some minor errors in estimating ages from time to time. Perhaps in 1840 Richard and Sally had a younger couple helping them out on the farm. As most of the unidentified don't follow through from census to census, it is less likely that they were children of this couple.

The 1850 census[8] reported Richard Maxfield, age 80, one of four paupers living at the residence of Albert and Sarah Bartlett at Bradford. There is no mention of Sally. We conclude that Sally probably died between 1840 and 1850, and Richard died some time in the decade after the 1850 census.

Daughter Chloe's husband, John Peaslee, ws described in History of Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire as follows:[9]

JOHN PEASLEE
(Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review)

John Peaslee settled on the homestead farm now owned by his son, J. Albert, soon after attaining his majority, purchasing at first but ten acres. As time went on he bought other land, made valuable improvements; and at his death, which occurred in March, 1884, at the venerable age of fourscore and four years, he had one of the most valuable and attractive estates in the vicinity. He was twice married. His first wife was Chloe Maxfield, daughter of Richard Maxfield, who once owned the village of Bradford, then called Fishersfield. She died leaving two sons--Oliver, now of Bradford ; and William, of Amherst, N.H.--and four daughters, namely: Margaret, wife of Stillman Parkhurst, of Bedford, N.H.; Minda, wife of B. B. Whiting, of Amherst; Hannah, wife of Timothy Morse, of Newbury, this county; and Sally, who died unmarried. He subsequently married Mrs. Betsey Presby Marshall, daughter of James Presby and granddaughter of Captain William Presby, the first settler in Bradford. Her first husband, Silas Marshall, left her a widow with several children, as follows: William P., of Boston; Ezekiel H., also of Boston; Kendall W., a former resident of Bradford, who died in 1892; Clara M. (deceased), who married B. W. Fairbanks, of Manchester; and Elizabeth M. (deceased), who was the wife of the late David Shattuck, of Cambridgeport, Mass. Of John Peaslee 's second union there was but one child, J. Albert, the special subject of this sketch. Mrs. Betsey P. M. Peaslee survived her husband but a short time, dying on the home farm in June, 1885, aged eighty-three years.

Richard Maxfield and his wife Sally Young had the following children:

  1. JESSE ABBOTT5 MAXFIELD b. on 8 December 1801.
  2. CHLOE5 MAXFIELD b. at Bradford on 23 March 1805, d. on 4 August 1844;[10] m. on 24 March 1824 JOHN PEASLEE,[11] b. at Sutton, Hillsborough County, on 28 June 1801, d. at Bradford on 28 March 1884.[12]. John m(2). BETSEY (PRESBY) MARSHALL b. about 1881-2, d. June 1885. Betsey ahd m (1). SILAS MARSHALL. Children of Chloe and John:
    1. Oliver Peaslee
    2. William Peaslee
    3. Margaret Peaslee m. Stillman Parkhurst.
    4. Minda Peaslee m. B. B. Whiting.
    5. Sally Peaslee[13]
  3. GEORGE MASHINGTON5 MAXFIELD b. at Bradford about 1806- 7.
  4. LOVE MAXFIELD[14]
  5. LYDIA YOUNG5 MAXFIELD b. at Bradford abt. 27 June 1814 ; m. CURRIER MAXFIELD
  6. MARY MAXFIELD b. at Bradford on 1816; d. about 1851;[15] m. at Bradford on 29 November 1838 ELBRIDGE GERRY BAILEY,[16] b. at Warner on 1815, d. at Greenfield, Hillsborough County, on 12 December 1891, child of Daniel and Sarah (Boswell) Bailey. Elbridge m. (2) MARIA ________[17] He was a merchant at Warner, later moved to Greenfield. Children of Elbridge and Mary:[18]
    1. Sarah Bailey b. at New Hampshire about 1840-1. m. at Bradford on 31 May 1868 James F. Taylor b. at Louisiana about 1832-3. James was African-American. Children of James and Sarah:
      1. Mary L. Taylor b. at New Hampshire about 1869-70.
      2. James L. Taylor b. at New Hampshire about 1877-8.
    2. Cyrus Bailey b. at New Hampshire about 1845-6.
    3. Betsey Bailey b. at New Hampshire about 1848-9.

NOTES

1Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915), 152.
2New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9938, Marriage, Maxfield-Young, 1796; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 24 January 2017).
3French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
4David W. Hoyt, The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982), 450.
5The 1810 Census records a Richard Maxfield at both Bradford and Warner. The Warner record reads: 1 male 45+, 1 female 26-44, 2 females 16-25, 1 male and 1 female 10-15, 2 males 0-9. Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Warner, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, 24:680; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
6Deeds, 159:442; 194:200; 208:152; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds (nhdeeds/rockingham : accessed 2012).
7Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, Weare, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, 20:642; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); 1810 Census, Bradford, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, roll 24, p. 522, Richard Maxfield; Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Bradford, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, 61:603; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, 76:238; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, 240:102; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
8Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, 436:82B, 489; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
9Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review, vol. 22 of Atlantic States series of biographical reviews (Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897); digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
10Marshall Cemetery, Newbury, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 10 December 2018), Cloe A. Peaslee; Created and photo by: Cheshire.
11French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952. .
12Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire. Marshall Cemetery, Newbury, John-Betsey Peaslee; Created and photo by: Cheshire.
13Ibid.
14Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds, : v. 129, p. 65-66.
15French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
16New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage: Bailey-Maxfield, 1838.
17French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
18Information on the children and grandchildren of Mary is from: New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Marriage - Taylor-Bailey, 1868. 1850 Census, Warner, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 436, p. 183A, household 447, Elbridge Bailey family. Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, enumeration district (ED) 163, roll 765, p. 58A, household 57, James F. Taylor family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C..

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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

Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982.

Marshall Cemetery, Newbury, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review. Vol. 22 of Atlantic States series of biographical reviews. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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 : 2017.

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

United States Department of the Census. 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.

________. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

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

________. Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915.

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.

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