Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

JAMES FRENCH⁵ MAXFIELD (John⁴, Michael³, John^2-1) was born on 25 March 1778^[1] a son of John N. Maxfield and his wife Rhoda French. He died on 4 August 1833.^[2] He married at Pittsfield, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 24 June 1802 RACHEL BLAKE.^[3] She was born at Chichester, Rockingham County, in the section that later became Pittsfield, on 1780, a daughter of John Blake and Mary Brown.^[4] She married as her second husband, at Pittsfield on 14 October 1835 NICHOLAS BUSWELL.^[5] She died sometime after the 1860 census, in which she was recorded.

Harry Dana French reported the birth of James French Maxfield at Chichester on 25 March 1778; however I have not found this birth record. His parents were married at Salisbury, Essex County, Massachuestts in 1777, and when his father, John Maxfield, purchased land in Chichester on 3 April 1779, he was described as being "of Salisbury." The first-born child of John and Rhoda, he may have been born at Salisbury but moved with his parents to Chichester at about the age of 2, and lived there for the rest of his life.

James Maxfield of Chichester and Rachel Blake of Pittsfield were married at Pittsfield on 24 June 1802 by Rev. Benjamin Sargent.^[6]

James Maxfield was called "Gentleman" in numerous records, and "Captain" in one record. He was involved in numerous land transactions:

• 28 Apr 1801, Edmund Rand of Chichester, yeoman, sold to James French Maxfield of Chichester, yeoman, for $200, land in Chichester, lot # 21 in 8th range, 1st division, 50 acres.^[7]
• 1 December 1801, Jeremiah Mead of Newmarket, Rockingham County, yeoman, and Mary his wife, sold to James French Maxfield of Chichester, yeoman, for $25, one quarter part of common undivided lot #23, 8th range, 1st division of Chichester, 50 acres.^[8]
• 27 Nov 1807, James French Maxfield of Chichester, Gentleman, as guardian of Jonathan Robie of Chichester, sold at public auction to Rhoda Maxfield [his mother] wife of John Maxfield, spinster, for $143.91, a parcel of land in Chichester, and to Ebenezer Prescott Jr of Pittsfield for $90.25, land in Pittsfield.^[9]
• 29 Dec 1810, James F. Maxfield of Chichester, yeoman, sold to John Maxfield [his father] of Chichester, yeoman, for $105, one quarter part (in common and undivided) of lot # 23, 8th range, 1st division, Chichester; 50 acres.^[10]
• 8 April 1813, James French Maxfield of Chichester, Gentleman, sold to John Maxfield [his father] of Chichester, yeoman, for $130, a parcel in Chichester part of lot #21, 8th range, 1st division, 13 acres.^[11]
• 13 February 1816, James French Maxfield of Chichester, Gentleman, sold to John Maxfield [his father] of Chichester, yeoman, for $190, a parcel in Chichester, part of lot 21, 8th range, 1st division, 19 acres.^[12]
• 2 October 1816, James F. Maxfield of Chichester, Gentleman, sold to Joshua Lane of Chichester, Esq., for $50, 1/12 part of sawmill in Chichester on Gilmanton Brook, on privilege which John Maxfield and others bought of Stephen Robie, also 1/12 part of iron works about said mill with a privilege of mill yard and driftway.^[13]
• 22 October 1816, Jonathan Gove of Loudon, Rockingham County, husbandman, sold to James F. Maxfield of Chichester, Gentleman, for $20, 1/12 part of a saw mill in Chichester on Gilmanton brook on the privilege which John Maxfield and others bought of Stephen Robie, also a privilege of mill yard about said saw mill, also a driftway to pass to and from mill both to Loudon and Gilmanton Roads, so called, with the shutting gates and bars.^[14]
• 30 March 1819, James F, Maxfield of Chichester, Gentleman sold to Rhoda Maxfield [his mother] of Chichester, spinster, for $108.12, the remainder of the parcel in Chichester part of lot #21, 8th range. 1st Division.^[15]

This growing Maxfield family was reported at Chichester in census records from 1810 through 1830. These records only indicate the numbers of persons in various categories of age and sex. They can possibly be explained as follows:^[16]

Rachel (the mother) is placed where she is based on her age in the 1870 census. Harry Dana French, in his genealogical notes, placed daughter Rachel in the list of children of this family between James and John, which would identify her with the unidentified girl, born about 1808, however her age in census records point to the younger date. The placement above assumes the census taker under-estimated her age in 1830. The children of this family evidently left home early. In 1820, Jewett, 17, and Benjamin, 16, are missing, and I do not find them elsewhere in the census. In 1830, James, 23, and the unidentifed female, about 22, are missing, not yet married, and not found elsewhere in the census.

James French Maxfield died on 4 August 1833. The grave marker at Perkins-Maxfield Cemetery, Chichester, has been transcribed in the "Cemetery Transcriptions from the New England Historic Genealogical Society Manuscript Collections," as "died August 4, 1853, age 55 years."^[17] However, as James was 55 years old in 1833, and his wife remarried in 1835, this is most likely a misreading of one numeral.

Widow Rachel (Blake) Maxfield soon remarried, to Nicholas Buswell, at Pittsfield, on 14 October 1835. At that time she lived in Pittsfield, he in Gilmanton, Strafford County, New Hampshire.^[18] I have not found any record of them in the 1840 census. According to the 1850 census he was born at New Hampshire about 1778-9. The 1850 census found them living with her recently married son John at Gilmanton, as follows:^[19]

"Hannah Bussell" is most likely Rachel's daughter, Hannah Maxfield, who did not become a Buswell until she married Nicholas' son Samuel in 1856. The 1860 Census reported Rachel, probably a widow, living with her daughter Hannah, and her step-son and son-in-law Samuel at Gilmanton:^[20]

I have not found a death record for either Nicholas or Rachel Buswell.

James French Maxfield and his wife Rachel Blake had the following children:

1. JEWETT⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 20 September 1802.
2. BENJAMIN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 11 June 1804.
3. JAMES⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 5 June 1806.
4. JOHN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 10 April 1810;^[21] d. at Gilmanton on 14 August 1859;^[22] m. at Barnstead, Belknap County, New Hampshire, on 4 December 1849 LOUISA PARSONS,^[23] b. at New Hampshire about 1809-10,^[24] d. at Laconia, Belknap County, on 4 April 1896.^[25] The 1860 census reported Louise Maxfield, 50, tailoress, living at Gilmanton Iron Works with Mary Parsons, 56, tailoress, perhaps a sister.^[26] They apparently didn't age too rapidly, as the 1870 census reported Mary Persons, 61, and Louisa Maxfield, 56, keeping house together at Gilmanton Iron Works.^[27] The 1880 census reported Louisa Maxfield, 70, keeping house by herself at Gilmanton.^[28] Louisa Maxfield married at Gilmanton on 19 December 1882 MORSE P. DOCKHAM.^[29] The marriage record reported them both of Gilmanton, he a farmer age 70 years, she 66. Morse was born at Tuftonborough, Carroll County, New Hampshire, a child of Ephraim D. and Dolly Dockham,and this was his fourth marriage. Louisa Maxfield was born at Gilmanton to Joseph Parsons and this was her second marriage. Morse Dockham was reported in the 1880 census at Gilmanton, age 68, farmer, married to Mary, age 67.^[30] He had married Mary J. Gilman at Gilmanton on 19 March 1873.^[31] Morse died at Laconia on 19 April, 1893, of old age.^[32] Louisa survived him by three years and died at the Belknap County Farm of old age and consumption.^[33]
5. JOANNA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 1 May 1812;^[34] d. at Chichester on 5 July 1882;^[35] m. at Barnstead on 28 October 1841 CHARLES HODGDON CARPENTER,^[36] b. at Chichester on 18 December 1818, d. at Chichester on 30 November 1910, child of David Carpenter and Mary Perkins.^[37] Children of Charles and Joanna (as reported in the 1850 Census):
   1. John L. Carpenter b. at New Hampshire about 1840-1
   2. Mary J. Carpenter b. at New Hampshire about 1842-3
6. RACHEL⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Hampshire about 1813-14;^[38] m. at Pittsfield on 9 April 1842^[39] (intuntions published at Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, 13 March 1842)^[40] WILLIAM KENNEY, b. at Massachusetts about 1804-5.^[41] Children of William and Rachel (as reported in the 1870 Census)
   1. William R. Kenney b. at Massachusetts about 1845-6.
   2. Sarah J. Kenney b. at Massachusetts about 1847-8.
   3. Adeline Kenney b. at massachusetts about 1849-50.
7. NAOMI⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 7 February 1819;^[42] d. at Northwood, Rockingham County, on 30 April 1898;^[43] m. on 19 June 1845 EBEN COE DOW,^[44] b. at Northwood on 25 April 1818, d. at Northwood on 7 April 1900, child of Phineas Dow and Elizabeth Hoitt.^[45]
8. HANNAH WEED⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chichester on 10 February 1821;^[46] d. at Albany, Orleans County, Vermont, on 30 October 1919;^[47] m. at Canterbury, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, on 8 May 1856 SAMUEL BUSWELL,^[48] b. at Canterbury (then Rockingham County) on 22 February 1805, d. at Hopkinton, Merrimack County, on 12 April 1892, child of Nicholas Buswell and his first wife Hannah French.^[49]

¹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
²Perkins-Maxfield Cemetery, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 21 November 2017), James F. Maxfield; Created by: Amy Levesque, photo Added by Brenda Boswak. See further discussion in article.
³New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9885, Marriage, Maxfield-Blake, 1802; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 24 January 2017).
⁴French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.; supported by age in census records.
⁵New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage: Buswell-Maxfield, 1835.
⁶New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9885, Marriage, Maxfield-Blake, 1802.
⁷Deeds, 166:298; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds (nhdeeds/rockingham : accessed 2012).
⁸Ibid., 166:299
⁹Ibid., 182:267-68; 193:101-03
¹⁰Ibid., 190:371
¹¹Ibid., 200:45
¹²Ibid., 208:323
¹³Ibid., 210:355
¹⁴Ibid., 211:296
¹⁵Ibid., 223:50
¹⁶Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Chichester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, roll 25, p. 315, Jas. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Chichester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, roll 25, p. 315, Jas. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 76, p. 179, James Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁷"Cemetery Transcriptions from the New England Historic Genealogical Society Manuscript Collections," database Perkins-Maxfield Cemetery, Pleasant Street, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire.
¹⁸New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, , Marriage: Buswell-Maxfield, 1835.
¹⁹Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, p. 105A, household 41, John Mackfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 1 September 2011); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²⁰Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, p. 260, household 423, Samuel Buswell family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 August 2011); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
²¹Buzzell Cemetery, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 16 November 2017), John Maxfield; Created by: Scott B., photo Added by Randy Cummings. French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
²²New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6162, Death, John Maxfield, 1859.
²³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9899, Marriage, Maxfield-Pearsons, 1849.
²⁴1809-10 based on cenus records for 1850, 1860 and 1880; 1813-4 in 1870 Census.
²⁵New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages
²⁶1860 Census, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, roll 666, p. 223, household 79, Mary Parsons family.
²⁷Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, roll 836, p. 121A, household 237, Mary Parsons family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
²⁸Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, enumeration district (ED) 7, roll 760, p. 88C, household 179, Louisa Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²⁹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage: Dockham-Maxfield, 1882.
³⁰1880 Census, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, ED 7, roll 760, p. 85B, household 119, Morse Dockham family.
³¹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 14166, Marriage: Dockham-Gilman, 1873.
³²New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages
³³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 8807, Death: Louisa Dockham, 1896.
³⁴Pine Ground Cemetery, North Chichester, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, database (findagrave.com : 8 December 2012), Joanna Maxfield Carpenter; Created by: Mayflower Pilgrim 332.
³⁵New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Application for disinterment: Joanna Carpenter, 1882.
³⁶New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage: Carpenter-Maxfield, 1841.
³⁷Pine Ground Cemetery, North Chichester, Capt Charles Hodgdon Carpenter; Created by: Mayflower Pilgrim 332.
³⁸1870 Census, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, roll 613, p. 553A, household 34, William Kenney family.
³⁹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, , Marriage: Kenney-Maxfield, 1842.
⁴⁰Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts: to the Year 1849 (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1918), v. 4, p. 76.
⁴¹1870 Census, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, roll 613, p. 553A, household 34, William Kenney family.
⁴²Canterbury Cemetery, Northwood, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 19 July 2013), Eben-Naomi Dow; Created by: Amy Levesque.
⁴³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 11877, Naomi Dow, 1898. Also: Canterbury Cemetery, Northwood, Eben-Naomi Dow; Created by: Amy Levesque.
⁴⁴French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
⁴⁵Canterbury Cemetery, Northwood, Eben-Naomi Dow; Created by: Amy Levesque.
⁴⁶Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card, Death, Hannah Buswell, ; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 23 January 2016).
⁴⁷Ibid.
⁴⁸French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
⁴⁹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Death: Samuel Buswell, 1892.

Buzzell Cemetery, Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

Canterbury Cemetery, Northwood, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2013.

"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.

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.

Perkins-Maxfield Cemetery, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017. Also known as Pleasant Street Cemetery.

Pine Ground Cemetery, North Chichester, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Database. findagrave.com : 2012.

United States Department of the Census. 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.

________. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.

________. Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.

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

________. Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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

Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. Digital images. New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2016.

Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts: to the Year 1849. Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1918.