Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

ISAAC SHERMAN⁵ MAXFIELD (Abraham⁴, John³, Timothy², John¹) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 3 November 1795^[1] a son of Abraham Maxfield and his wife Elizabeth Hathaway. He died at Dartmouth on 25 December 1857.^[2] He published his intentions to marry at Dartmouth on 24 October 1819 GRACE SHERMAN.^[3] She was born at Dartmouth on 13 April 1798, a daughter of Zoheth and Delight Sherman.^[4] She died at Dartmouth on 4 December 1860.^[5]

Isaac S. Maxfield was described in 1820 as 6' 1" tall, with light complexion and brown hair.^[6]

Isaac S. Maxfield made his living from the sea. Census records repeatedly called him a sailor or a mariner. On 12 September 1820 he set out on the Lorenzo an a whaling expedition to the Pacific Ocean. He departed on another whaling tour of the Pacific on the Allince on 21 May 1822, and returned on 5 October 1824.^[7]

Isaac and Grace Maxfield lived at Dartmouth, where they were recorded on censuses from 1840 to 1860. The 1840 census reported Isaac S. Maxfield head of a household consisting of a male and a female in their forties. This was the only census to record his occupation as agriculture.^[8] The 1850 census reported Isaac S. Maxfield, 54, sailor, and Grace, 52.^[9] The 1855 state census reported Isaac S. Maxfield, 60, mariner, and Grace, 57.^[10] In 1860 Grace Maxfield, 62, headed a household that included three others.^[11]

As their only child died in childhood, Isaac and Grace remembered in their wills numerous members of their extended family. Isaac S. Maxfield's will of 15 September 1856, proved on 2 February 1858, provided bequests to the following:^[12]

• Dinah Gifford [sister] $50
• Abby Howland [sister] $50
• Lucy Jones [sister] $50
• Abby [Durfee] Sherman, wife of Abner Sherman, $ 25 [niece, daughter of Elizabeth (Maxfield) Durfee]
• Judith Durfee, daughter of Thomas Durfee, $25 [niece, daughter of Elizabeth (Maxfield) Durfee]
• Eunice Miller wife of David Miller $50 [niece, daughter of Ebenezer H. Maxfield]
• Isaac M. Jones $100 [nephew, son of Lucy Ann (Maxfield) Jones]
• Grace M. Collins, wife of Richard Collins $100 [wife's niece]
• Beloved wife Grace S. Maxfield, the remainder

Grace (Sherman) Maxfield wrote her will on 12 November 1858, added a codicil on 11 October 1860, and it was proved on 5 February 1861. She granted bequests to the following:^[13]

• to my two sisters Sally Collins wife of Jonathan Collins and Delight Durfee wife of Thomas Durfee, all of my wearing apparel and household furniture;
• To Dinah Gifford wife of Hallet Gifford, $450;
• To Abby Howland widow $450;
• To Abby Sherman wife of Abner Sherman and Judith M. Durfee, both daughters of Thomas Durfee each the sum of $225;
• To Lucy Jones wife of Jeremiah Jones, $450;
• To Eunice Miller the daughter of Ebenezer Maxfield, $450;
• To William Jones the son of Lucy and Jeremiah, $100; to
• Elizabeth Jones and Mary R. Jones the daughters of Lucy and Jeremiah, $50 each;
• To my sister Sally Collins one fourth part of all the remainder of my estate;
• To my sister Delight Durfee the same share as to my sister Sally . The remaining one half of the said remainder, I give and devise to the widow and children of David Sherman, deceased, namely Nancy Sherman, Prince Sherman, Zoheth Sherman, David B. Sherman, Delight Smith, Maria Howland, Grace M. Collins, Almira Sherman and Annie Sherman; the said Annie taking by right of representation as daughter of Mary Ann Sherman, deceased, to be divided equally among and between the above named persons.

Grace Maxfield worshipped at the Christian Church of North Dartmouth, to which she left a bequest in the codicil of her will.^[14]

Isaac, Grace, and their daughter Zoeth are all buried at the South Dartmouth Cemetery, in the village of Padanaram.^[15]

Isaac Sherman Maxfield and his wife Grace Sherman had the following child:

1. ZOETH S.⁶ MAXFIELD b. on 6 January 1823; d. at Dartmouth on 16 January 1826.^[16]

¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929,1929,1930), v. 1, p. 158.
²Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 11 September 2017), vol. 111, p. 97, e. 8, Dartmouth Deaths, 1857 Isaac S. Maxfield.
³Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 2, p. 313.
⁴Ibid., v. 2, p. 313.
⁵"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 138, p. 71, e. 111, Dartmouth Deaths, 1860 Grace S. 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.
⁸Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 178, p. 319, Isaac S. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁹Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 309, p. 439B, household 582, Isaac S. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁰Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 5, p. 84, household 45, Isaac S. Maxfield family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 13 August 2022); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹¹Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 492, p. 863, household 2363, Grace Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹²Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Records, 181:709-11; Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts.
¹³Ibid., 182:827-30.
¹⁴Ibid.
¹⁵South Dartmouth Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 26 July 2018), Isaac S. Maxfield; Created by: goose, Photo added by J.Bosworth.
¹⁶Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 48; Elm Street Cemetery, South Dartmouth.

Bristol County, Massachusetts. Probate Records. Court House, Taunton, 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 : 2022.

South Dartmouth Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

United States Department of the Census. 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.

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

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.