Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

EZRA FRENCH5 MAXFIELD (John4, Michael3, John2-1) was born at Chichester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 22 January 1784[1] a son of John N. Maxfield and his wife Rhoda French. He died at Chichester (by then in Merrimack County) on 20 July 1833.[2] He married on 17 November 1808 ABIGAIL PHILBRICK.[3] She was born at Epsom, Rockingham County, on 3 January 1785, a daughter of Daniel Philbrick and his wife Ruth Morrill. She died at Gilford, Belknap County, New Hampshire, on 14 August 1881.[4]

Ezra grew up in Chichester. However, soon after marriage, by 1810, he and wife Abigail had moved to Starksboro, in Addison County, Vermont. They farmed there at least twenty years, and their eight children were born there.

Soon after 1830, the family moved back to Chichester, where Ezra was elected highway supervisor in 1842.[5] He died the following year, at the age of 49. His grave marker stands in Hillside Cemetery, Laconia, Belknap County.[6]

Ezra French Maxfield wrote his will at Chichester on 3 July 1833, and it was published in Merrimack County court on 27 August 1833.[7] A transcription of the text of the will follows:

WILL OF EZRA F. MAXFIELD

In the name of God, Amen. I, Ezra F. Maxfield of Chichester in the county of Merrimack and state of New Hampshire, being weak in body but of sound and disposing mind and memory and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs while I have strength and capacity so to do, do make and publish this my last Will and Testament and herein and hereby dispose of all my worldly estate in manner following, viz:
1st. I give and bequeath unto my well beloved wife Abigail Maxfield one-third part of my homestead farm, meaning this fifty acre lot on which the buildings are and the Joppan lot so called lying in Pittsfield, so long as she shall remain my widow, I also give and bequeath to Abigail my said wife two beds and the household goods with furniture except the other beds, ands also one cow during her natural life.
2d. I give and bequeath unto my three daughters Delia G. Rhoda F. and Abigail Maxfield one bed and bedding and seventy-five dollars each to be paid to them severally by my Executor hereinafter named, the beds when they arrive at eighteen years of age and the seventy-five dollars when they arrive at twenty-one.
3d. I give and bequeath to my sons John H. and Harvey Maxfield one hundred dollars each to be paid by my said Executor when they arrive twenty-one years of age.
I further give and bequeath unto my said wife Abigail forty dollars for the purpose of purchasing a mourning suit for her, and other necessary uses, as soon as may be after my decease.
4th. I give and bequeath and devise unto my other two sons Daniel P. and Ezra Maxfield their heirs and assigns all my real estate lying in Chichester and Pittsfield also my share in the saw mill in said Chichester to have and to hold to them their heirs and assigns forever reserving to their mother her right agreable to the first article in this Will and further it is my Will and I do hereby order that the farm be carried on as usual and Daniel P. to take the lead of business until Ezra shall arrive at twenty-one years of age, and that the said Ezra help carry on the same until he shall arrive at that age and I further order that my four children under fourteen years of age be provided for out of the above estate until they arrive at that age.
I further bequeath unto my said sons Daniel P. and Ezra all my stock of creatures, farming utensils and all the rest residue and remainder of my personal estate to be equally divided between them after my just and the foregoing legacies are all paid and perform all the obligations to my father and mother agreable to the same except a note of hand of one hundred and twenty-five dollars against William Hill of Starksboro Vermont which I give and bequeath unto my son Daniel.
5th and lastly. I hereby nominate constitute and appoint my son Daniel P. Maxfield sole executor of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Wills by me made.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this third day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.
Ezra F, Maxfield

As the will indicated, when Ezra died at the age of forty-nine, his parents were still living, and only one child was of legal age. Widow Abigail was left with minor children ages 18, 16, 13, 8, 7, and 3.

The Ezra Maxfield family was reported at Starksboro in the censuses of 1810, 1820, and 1830. The age and sex designations, with a possible explanation. follow:[8]

1810
male 26-44 Ezra, 26
female 26-44 Abigail, 25
male 0-9 unidentified
1820
male 26-44 Ezra, 36
female 26-44 Abigail, 36
male 0-9 David, 9
male 0-9 Ezra, 5
female 0-9 Adelia, 3
female 0-9 Rhoda, 0
female 0-9 unidentified
1830
male 40-49 Ezra, 46
female 40-49 Abigail 45
female 30-39 unidentified
male 15-19 Ezra, 15
female 5-9 Rhoda, 10
male 5-9 John, 5
female 5-9 umidentified
female 0-4 Abigail, 4
male 0-4 Harvey, 0

Son Daniel, 19, and daughter Adelia, 13, are not indicated in the 1830 census record.

The 1840 census record implies that eldest son Daniel was maintaining the rest of the family on the farm, as directed in his father's will. Although that census did not give names of family memebers, the age and sex categories indicate that Daniel could have had in his household his grandmother Rhoda, mother Abigail, and brothers John and Harvey, as well as his wife and three children.[9]

The 1850 census reported Abigail Maxfield, age 65, head of a household at Meredith, Belknap County, New Hampshire. The household included her children, Adelia G., 32, John H., 25, Abby, 24, and Harvey, 20. This household was at the same address as Abigail's daughter Rhoda. This other household consisted of John Davis 2d, 41, Rhoda Davis, 30, and children Sarah 13, and Nathaniel, 7. John Davis was engaged in manufacturing.[10]

The 1860 census reported widow Abigail Maxfield back in Chichester, living with the family of son Daniel.[11] In 1870 she was reported at Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire, with daughter Rhoda. That household concisted of John Davis, 61, working in a saw mill, Rhoda Davis, 50, their daughter Olive, 8, Abigail Maxfield. 85, Adelia Maxfield, whose age was incorrectly reported as 80 (she was 53), and two young women with other surnames, probably boarders, who worked in a woolen mill.[12] The 1880 census found Abigail Maxfield, 95, at Gilford, New Hampshire, living with her single daughter, Adelia, 63.[13]

Widow Abigail Maxfield died at Gilford on 14 August 1881, age 96 years, 7 months and 11 days, of old age.[14]

Maiden daughter Adelia Maxfield, of Laconia, wrote her will in July 1893, and it was proved on 20 November 1894. She left to her two sisters, Mrs. Rhoda F. Davis and Mrs. Abbie M. Dixon, $100 each, the residue to be divided equally among the two sisters and brother John H. Maxfield.[15]

Adelia Maxfield, age 77 years, single, dressmaker, died at Tilton, Belknap County, New Hampshire, on 16 October 1894, of sclerosis of the spinal cord.[16]

Ezra French Maxfield and his wife Abigail Philbrick had the following children:

  1. DANIEL PHILBRICK6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 29 December 1810.
  2. EZRA6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 23 May 1815.
  3. ADELIA G.6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 13 February 1817;[17] d. at Tilton on 16 October 1894.[18]
  4. RHODA FRENCH6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 7 August 1824;[19] d. at Laconia on 28 January 1909;[20] bur. Union Cemetery, Laconia; m. at Meredith 12 November 1835 JOHN DAVIS,[21] b. at New Hampshire on 10 November 1808, d, on 10 September 1876.[22]. Children of John and Rhoda (as reported in ther 1850 Census):
    1. Sarah Davis b. at New Hampshire about 1836-7.
    2. Nathaniel Davis b. at New Hampshire about 1847-8.
  5. ABIGAIL P.6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 8 June 1822;[23] d. at Starksboro on April 1823.[24]
  6. JOHN H.6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 7 August 1824.
  7. ABIGAIL6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 9 May 1826;[25] d. at Tilton on 20 March 1899;[26] m. at Meredith on 10 November 1851 SYLVESTER DIXON[27] b. at Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., on 26 August 1830, child of Ira Dixon and Betsy R. Tetherly; d. at Tilton on 3 May 1896.[28]
  8. HARVEY6 MAXFIELD b. at Starksboro on 16 April 1830.

NOTES

1New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Ezra F. Maxfield, 1784; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 30 December 2016).
2Hillside Cemetery, Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 13 February 2023), Ezra F. Maxfield; Created and photo by: Virginia Hansen.
3Daughters of the American Revolution, "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search," database, Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org, accessed ), No. 272871.
4New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6127, Death, Abigail P. Maxfield, 1881.
5French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
6Hillside Cemetery, Laconia, Ezra F. Maxfield; Created and photo by: Virginia Hansen.
7Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Probate Records, "New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973," digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org: accessed 2014); 8:260-61; docket 1007.
8Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, p. 60A, Ezra Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, p. 52B, Ezra Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 19 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, p. 184, Ezra Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 September 2011); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
9Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 240, p. 45, Daniel Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
10Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Meredith, Belknap County, New Hampshire, roll 425, p. 27A, household 343, Abigail Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
11Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 677, p. 546, household 187, Daniel Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 9 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
12Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire, roll 836, pp. 146A-146B, household 249, John Davis family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
13Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Gilford, Belknap County, New Hampshire, enumeration district (ED) 5, roll 760, p. 62B, household 281, Adelia Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
14New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6127, Death, Abigail P. Maxfield, 1881.
15Belknap County, New Hampshire, Wills: vol. 22, p. 530 ; New England Historic Genealogical Society (microfilm), Boston, Massachusetts.
16New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6129, Death, Adelia G. Maxfield, 1894.
17Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4388, Birth, Delia Maxfield, 1817; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 22 December 2016).
18New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6129, Death, Adelia G. Maxfield, 1894.
19Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4410, Birth, Rhoda Maxfield, 1820.
20Union Cemetery, Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 26 May 2018), Rhoda French Maxfield Davis; Created and photo by: Cindy Shepard.
21New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 5595, Marriage: Davis-Maxwell, 1835.
22Union Cemetery, Laconia, John Davis; Created and photo by: Cindy Shepard.
23Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4385, Birth, Abigail P. Maxfield, 1822.
24Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4382, Death, Abigail Maxfield, 1823.
25Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4384, Birth, Abigail Maxfield, 1826.
26New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 8653, Death: Abbie Dixon, 1899.
27New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Marriage, Dixon-Maxfield, 1851.
28New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 8722, Death: Sylvester Dixon, 1896.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Belknap County, New Hampshire. Wills. New England Historic Genealogical Society (microfilm), Boston, Massachusetts.

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

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.

Hillside Cemetery, Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2023.

Merrimack County. Probate Records. "New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973." Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org: 2014.

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.

Union Cemetery, Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

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 : 2011.

________. 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.

________. 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.

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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