Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

JOSEPH⁵ MAXFIELD (Patrick⁴, Timothy^3-2, John¹) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 9 May 1772^[1] a son of Patrick Maxfield and his wife Freelove Babcock. He died at New Bedford, Bristol County, on 28 August 1807.^[2] He married at New Bedford on 30 March 1794 SUSANNA CLAGHORN.^[3] She was born at New Bedford on 29 July 1773, a daughter of William and Thankful Claghorn. She died at New Bedford on 3 February 1863.^[4] She was sometimes called "Sukey."

Joseph Maxfield grew up in the growing whaling port of New Bedford. When Joseph was twenty years old, his father died at sea. The following year Joseph married. In property transactions, Joseph Maxfield was most often called a merchant, sometimes a trader. In their thirteen years of married life Joseph and Susanna had at least five children.

Joseph Maxfield participated in a number of property transactions:

• 21 September 1795, Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, trader, and Susannah his wife, sold to Eastland Babcock of New Bedford, housewright, for $ 300, one undivided third part of a lot in New Bedford with one undivided third of the dwelling house, barn, wood house and other out buildings, on Water Street, property which William Claghorn late of New Bedford, gentleman, died seized of and which descended to Susannah as one of his children and heirs.^[5]
• 27, 2nd month, 1796, Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, merchant, sold to Edmund Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $500, land in Dartmouth, 1st lot east of Smith Mills, 33 acres; also a 2d lot, west of Aponeganset Great Cedar Swamp, about 28 acres.^[6]
• 6 April 1796, Eastland Babcock of New Bedford, housewright, and his wife Elizabeth, sold to Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, merchant, for $ 90, a twelfth part of lot and store in New Bedford.^[7]
• 6 April 1796, William Claghorn of New Bedford, mariner, sold to Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford for $ 100, one-twelth of a certain lot and store in New Bedford, Bedford village.^[8]
• 20 Mar 1797, Benjamin Babcock, Jr., of Dartmouth, mariner, mortgaged to Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, merchant, for £ 60 a tract in Dartmouth with a building on it, dwelling house, barn, corn house, loan to be paid back in one year with interest.^[9]
• 5 December 1797, Alice Cushman, formerly Alice Babcock of New Bedford, administratrix of the estate of Spooner Babcock, late of New Bedford, licensed to sell real estate of the deceased, sold to Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, merchant, for $ 72.50 land in Dartmouth, about 8 acres, at public sale.^[10]
• 18 April 1799, Preserved Fish of New Bedford, trader, sold to Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, trader, for $ 300, one undivided sixth part of a lot in New Bedford, NW corner of four-corners in Bedford village, New Bedford, and one undivided sixth part of the store or building thereon. This is the same store two twelfths of which Joseph Maxfield had already purchased in 1796.^[11]
• 30 September 1799, Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, merchant, sold to Seth Russell of New Bedford, merchant, for $ 600, five twelfths of a lot in New Bedford, Bedford village, together with same number of parts of store standing thereon. The same property in the previous transaction.^[12]
• 5 September 1804, Joseph Maxfield of New Bedford, merchant, mortgaged to Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $900, a tract of land in Dartmouth and the buildings thereon, dwelling house and corn house, about 10 acres, also another tract north of first, across County Road, about 8 acres, $ 450 to be paid back in two years.^[13]

When Joseph Maxfield died in 1807 he was thirty-five years old. Widow Susanna Maxfield was thirty-four years old, with children ages 12, 10, 9, 7, and 3.

Widow Susanna (Claghorn) Maxfield sold some property to pay for debts and costs of administration of the estate. On 23 December 1808 she sold to Abraham Maxfield for $513 the property Joseph had mortgaged to him. At a public sale on 21 May 1810 she sold to Benjamin Barstow of New Bedford, shipwright, for $ 510 a lot on North Street in the north part of Bedford Village. At that same sale she sold to Thurston Chapman of New Bedford, shipwright, for $ 240, a lot on North Street in the north part of Bedford village.^[14]

This family was reported at New Bedford in censuses from 1800 through 1840. The censuses reported numbers in the household in various age and sex categories, which could be explained as follows:^[15]

Of the three boys under ten in 1800, the 1820 Census allows for only two remaining. As I have no information on Patrick beyond that date, I dropped his name. Of the unidentified males in 1830, it is conceivable that the first three could be sons Henry, Patrick, and Joseph. However they could also be boarders. As I have no evidence of some of the sons living to that date, I have not listed them.

The 1850 census reported Susannah Maxfield, age 76, at New Bedford. Living with her was her daughter, Eliza Wood, 52, by this time also a widow.^[16] The 1855 state census reported Susan Maxfield, age 82, living alone at New Bedford.^[17] The 1860 census reported Susan Maxfield, 87, at New Bedford. With her were her son, William C. Maxfield, 55, a sailor, and Thankful Homes, 61.^[18]

Widow Susan Maxfield died at her home on North Street, New Bedford, on 5 February, 1863, from consumption. She is buried at the South Second Street Cemetery, New Bedford.^[19]

I have no record beyond their births for sons Patrick and Joseph. Son Henry could be the Private Henry Maxfield who served in the 12th U.S. Infantry during the War of 1812. He was described as a "waterman" age 18 born at Massachusetts, 5' 6" grey eyes, dark hair, light complexion. He enlisted at Dumfries, Virginia, 10 May 1813, was discharged at camp near Buffalo on 31 May 1815.^[20]

Son William Claghorn Maxfield married Sarah T. Sherman, concerning whom I have no further information. He was a sailor. He could be the William C. Maxfield who owned a lot in San Francisco in 1847.^[21] The 1860 census reported him back in New Bedford with his mother. The 1865 state census also reported him in New Bedford.^[22] William C. Maxfield died at New Bedford on 27 November 1875, an act of suicide by pistol shot.^[23]

Joseph Maxfield and his wife Susanna Claghorn had the following children:

1. HENRY NEGUST⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 17 February 1795.^[24] Perhaps the Henry Maxfield who served in the Army from 10 May 1813 to 31 May 1815.
2. PATRICK⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 9 November 1796.^[25]
3. ELIZABETH⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 18 January 1798;^[26] d. at New Bedford on 30 May 1855;^[27] m. (intentions published at New Bedford on 13 January 1827) RUSSELL WOOD,^[28] b. about 1794-5 d. at New Bedford on 22 March 1843.^[29]
4. WILLIAM CLAGHORN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 21 March 1800;^[30] d. at New Bedford on 27 November 1875;^[31] m. at New Bedford on 12 May 1822 SARAH T. SHERMAN.^[32]
5. JOSEPH⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 4 April 1804.^[33]

¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929,1929,1930), v. 1, p. 158.
²Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), v. 3, p. 114.
³Ibid., v. 2, p. 366.
⁴Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 12 September 2017), vol. 165, p. 104, e. 64, New Bedford Deaths, 1863, Susan Maxfield.
⁵Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, 74:217-18, accessed 2013; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, MA (familysearch.org).
⁶Ibid., 74:446.
⁷Ibid., 74:501.
⁸Ibid.
⁹Ibid., 75:527.
¹⁰Ibid., 78:181-82.
¹¹Ibid., 78:114-15
¹²Ibid., 83:323-24.
¹³Ibid., 88:175
¹⁴Ibid., 90:442-43; 91:434-35; 91:398-99.
¹⁵Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 19, p. 817, Joseph Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed ); NARA microfilm publication M32; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 17, p. 299, Wd. S. 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, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 47, p. 500, Susan 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, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 59, p. 298, Susanna Maxfield Sr.; 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, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 178, p. 422, Susan Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁶Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 309, p. 317B, household 1724, Susanna G. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁷Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 6, p. 109, household 219, Susan Maxfield; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 5 April 2018); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹⁸Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 490, p. 550, household 838, Susan Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹⁹"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors, vol. 165, p. 104, e. 64, New Bedford Deaths, 1863, Susan Maxfield.
²⁰"Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 29 August 2013); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²¹"California Pioneers, 1542-1848," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 August 2013); extracted from Hubert Howe Bancroft, California Pioneer Register and Index 1542-1848: Including Inhabitants of California, 1769-1800 and List of Pioneers q (San Francisco:n.p.n.d.).
^22
22Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 6, p. 95, household 437, Esther S. Hampton family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 16 August 2013); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
²³"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 274, p. 130, e. 528, New Bedford Deaths, 1875, William C. Maxfield.
²⁴Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 324.
²⁵Ibid.
²⁶Ibid., v. 1, p. 323
²⁷"Death Records in the New Bedford Mercury, 1845-1874," 564, New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts.
²⁸Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, v. 2, p. 365.
²⁹Ibid., v. 3, p. 189; Griffin Street Cemetery, New Bedford.
³⁰Ibid., v. 1, p. 324.
³¹"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 274, p. 130, e. 528, New Bedford Deaths, 1875, William C. Maxfield.
³²Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, v. 2. p. 366.
³³Ibid., v. 1, p. 24

Bristol County, Massachusetts. Deeds. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).

"California Pioneers, 1542-1848." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013. Extracted from Hubert Howe Bancroft, California Pioneer Register and Index 1542-1848: Including Inhabitants of California, 1769-1800 and List of Pioneers. San Francisco: n.p.n.d..

"Death Records in the New Bedford Mercury, 1845-1874," New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

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

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 : 2018.

________, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2013.

"Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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.

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

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.

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.