Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

SETH5 MAXFIELD (Edmund4, Timothy3-2, John1) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 2 December 1775[1] a son of Edmund Maxfield and his wife Rachel Russell . He died at Dartmouth on 4 March 1850.[2] He married at Dartmouth on 8 September 1803 PHEBE WING.[3] She was born at Westport, Bristol County, on 26 June 1782, a daughter of David and Sarah (Kirby) Wing.[4] She died at Dartmouth on 21 July 1874.[5]

Seth Maxfield grew up in Dartmouth, the fourth of five sons and six children of Edmund Maxfield, a cooper and merchant. Seth was 5' 8" tall, and had a dark complexion and brown hair.[6]

Seth Maxfield participated briefly in the whaling enterprise. He sailed on the ship Gleaner on a whaling expedition to Patagonia, from 12 May 1818 to 1 January 1819.[7] This may be the cause of his sometimes being called "Captain Seth Maxfield." From the 1820 census onwards all records describe him as a farmer in North Dartmouth.

Seth and Phebe had three children from 1807 to 1815, and the family remained close throughout their lives.

Census records before 1850 list only the head of household and numbers in various age and sex categories. These records for Seth's family, and a possible explanation, follow:[8]

1810
male 26-44 Seth, 34
female 26-44 Phebe, 28
male 0-9 David, 3
1820
male 26-44 Seth, 44
female 26-44 Phebe, 38
male 10-15 David, 13
female 0-9 Lydia, 8
female 0-9 Rhoda, 4
1830
male 50-59 Seth, 54
female 40-49 Phebe, 47
male 20-29 David, 23
female 20-29 Lydia, 18
female 10-14 Rhoda, 14
1840
male 60-69 Seth, 64
female 50-59 Phebe, 57
female 20-29 Lydia, 28
female 20-29 Thoda, 24

Except for an over-estimation of Lydia's age in 1830, these figures fit the known facts of this family.

Son David, like his father, went on a whaling cruise as a young man. He sailed on the Hydaspe for Patagonia on 24 June 1830 and returned on 26 March 1831. The crew list described him as 5' 8", light complexion, and brown hair.[9] David married in 1832, and was recorded in the 1840 census at Dartmouth, engaged in agriculture. The household consisted of a man and a woman in their thirties (David, 33, Maria, 31), and a male between 15 and 20, perhaps a farm hand.[10]

Seth Maxfield died suddenly on 4 March 1850 at Dartmouth, and is buried at the Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth[11] (photo from findagrave.com Created by and Photo by: Jim Grasela).

The 1850 census, taken four months after Silas' death, reported widow Phebe Maxfield living with her son David at Dartmouth as follows:[12]

Line Name Age Sex Occupation Birthplace Other
2. David W. Maxfield 42 farmer MA
3. Maria G. Maxfield 41 MA
4. Phebe Maxfield 67 MA
5. Rhoda Smith 34 MA
6. Seth T. Gifford 4 MA school

Lydia had married in 1840, she had a child, Seth Gifford, born at Dartmouth on 26 June 1845.[13] Lydia died a few weeks later, on 19 August, 1845.[14] Her husband remarried the next year. Seth was raised by his uncle David and Maria, who had no children of their own. Rhoda had been married less than a year; her husband earned his living from the sea, and so was often absent from home. David's property was valued at $3000.

The 1855 Massachusetts state census reported David, 48, Maria, 46, Phebe, 74, and Seth, 9.[15] In 1860 the household, reported in the North Dartmouth Post Office section of Dartmouth, had grown again:[16]

Line Name Age Sex Occupation Birthplace Other
36. David M. Maxfield 52 M farmer MA
37. Maria G. Maxfield 54 F MA
38. Phebe Maxfield 79 F MA
39. Seth T. Gifford 15 M MA school
40. Rhoda Smith 49 F MA
1. John C. Smith 44 M master mariner MA
2. Thomas G. Smith 9 M MA school

This three-generation household headed by David Maxfield included his wife Maria, his mother, Phebe, his nephew Seth, his sister Rhoda, her husband John, and their son Thomas. David was reported possessing real estate of $2500 and a personal estate of $200. John Smith had real estate of $5000 and a personal estate of $2000. The 1865 state census reported a smaller household of David, Maria, Phebe, and a farm hand, Harvey Ryder.[17] The 1870 census reported the same composition of the family.[18] In 1880 Maria G. Maxfield was keeping house for her husband's cousin Benjamin T. Maxfield.

Widow Phebe Maxfield died of old age at Dartmouth on 21 July 1874. She is buried at the Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth.[19]

Seth Maxfield and his wife Phebe Wing had the following children:

  1. DAVID WING6 MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 3 July 1807; d. at Dartmouth on 1 May 1877;[20] m. at Dartmouth on 15 April 1832 MARIA G. RIDER,[21] b. at Dartmouth on 12 February 1809, d. at Mattapoisett, Plymouth County. Massachusetts, on 9 May 1890,[22] child of Edward and Mary Rider.
  2. LYDIA T.6 MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 12 September 1811; d. at Dartmouth on 19 August 1845;[23] m. at New Bedford, Bristol County, on 26 October 1840 PERRY GIFFORD.[24]. Child of Lydia and Perry, reported in the 1850 and 1860 censuses:
    1. Seth T. Gifford b. at Massachusetts about 1845-6
  3. RHODA6 MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on October 1815; d. at Dartmouth on 7 April 1886;[25] m. at Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island on 26 November 1849 JOHN C. SMITH,[26] b. at Dartmouth on 1817, d. on 1912.[27] Child of Rhoda and John as reported in the 1860 Census:
    1. Thomas G. Smith b. about 1850-1 Massachusetts

NOTES

1Anne Borden Harding, editor, George Soule, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, 3 (Plymouth, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1980), 364.
2Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 25 July 2018), Seth Maxfield;Created by and Photo by: Jim Grasela.
3Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929,1929,1930), v. 2, p. 314.
4Ibid. v. 1, p. 158; record of Society of Friends, Dartmouth Monthly Meeting - Wilburites
5Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 11 September 2017), vol. 265, p. 77, e. 32, Dartmouth Deaths, 1874 Phebe Maxfield.
6"Whaling Archives," database, New Bedford Free Public Library, City of New Bedford, Massachusetts (https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : accessed 20 January 2014)
7Ibid.
8Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 17, p. 285, Seth 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, Seth Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 59, p. 361, Seth Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 178, p. 326, Seth Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
9"Whaling Archives," David Maxfield. 1830-1.
101840 Census, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 178, p. 326, David W. Maxfield.
11Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Seth Maxfield;Created by and Photo by: Jim Grasela
12Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 309, p. 438B, household 552, David W. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
13Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 100.
14Ibid., v. 3, p. 33
15Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 5, p. 87, household 94, David Maxfield family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 13 August 2022); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
16Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 492, p. 867, household 2406, David W. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
17Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 5, p. 135, household 602, David W. Maxfield family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 19 June 2022); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
18Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 603, p. 114B, household 39, David W. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 4 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
19Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Phebe Maxfield; Created by: Zachary W., Photo added by Linking Ancestors.
20"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 292, p. 77, e. 16, Dartmouth Deaths, 1877 David Wing Maxfield.
21Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 2, p. 312.
22Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Maria G. Maxfield; Created and photo by: Linking Ancestors; "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 410, p. 433, e. 11, Mattapoisett Deaths, 1890, Maria G. Maxfield.
23Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 33.
24Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), v. 2, p. 366.
25South Dartmouth Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 26 July 2018), Rhoda Maxfield; Created by: goose; "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," v. 373, p. 84, e. 22; Dartmouth Deaths 1886; Rhoda Maxfield Smith.
26Janes N. Arnold, Vital Records of Rhode Island: 1636-1859 (Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1891–1906), v. 2, Providence Co., pt. 1, Providence, p. 121, Smith-Maxfield.
27South Dartmouth Cemetery, Dartmouth, John C. Smith; Created by: goose.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arnold, Janes N. Vital Records of Rhode Island: 1636-1859. Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1891–1906.

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

Harding, Anne Borden, editor. George Soule. Mayflower Families through Five Generations, 3. Plymouth, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1980.

Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2022.

________, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2022.

Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

South Dartmouth Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. 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 : 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.

________. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, mortality schedule. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. 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.

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. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941.

"Whaling Archives." Database. New Bedford Free Public Library. City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : 2014.

Wing, Conway P. A Historical Register of John Wing, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, and His Descendants, 1662-1881. Carlisle, Pemmsylvania: by author, 1881.

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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