Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

MOSES⁵ MAXFIELD (David⁴, Eliphalet³, Nathaniel², John¹) was born at Vermont, about 1777-8 a son of David Maxfield and his wife Judith Clough. He died at Milton, Chittenden County, Vermont, on 18 January 1855. He married ELIZABETH HILL. She was born at Vermont about 1785-6, and was living when she applied for pension benefits as a widow on 21 February 1865.^[1]

The 1850 Census reported Moses Maxfield to be 60 years old. However this is inconsistent with other data. Moses was reported between 26 and 44 in 1820; in 1840 Moses was reported in his 60s. If we combine these two estimates, Moses would have been born between 1776 and 1780. This is consistent with his pension record, which reported him 73 years old in February 1851, or born about 1777-8. Elizabeth was reported between 26 and 44 in 1820, and in her 50s in 1840. This places her birth between 1780 and 1790. Her age was reported as 79 in pension records on February 1865, which would place her birth about 1785-6. Elizabeth's maiden name is Given in the pension records as well as on daughter Lorain's death record.

Moses Maxfield bought and sold property at Georgia, Franklin County, Vermont, in his younger years:

• 4 February 1808, David Maxfield of Georgia sold to Moses Maxfield [his son] for $700, 37 ½ acres in Georgia between land he had already deeded to Levi Maxfield and Jonathan Hill.^[2]
• 21 January 1811, Moses Maxfield of Georgia sold to David Maxfield of Georgia [his father] for $600, land in Georgia adjacent to other land that Moses owned.^[3]
• 10 March 1812, Moses Maxfield of Georgia sold to Seth Castle for $50, land in Georgia that formerly belonging to his father David.^[4]
• 21 November 1812, Moses Maxfield of Georgia sold to Nathaniel M. Torrey of Georgia for $35, land in Georgia.^[5]

Moses Maxfield fought in the War of 1812, serving from from 25 September 1813 to 18 November 1813, as a private in the Vermont militia. He served under Col. Jacob Davis and Col. Luther Dixon, for the defense of the norhtern border. His service began at Burlington, Chittenden County, and he was dicharged at Plattsburg, Clinton County, New York.^[6]

Moses Maxfield was reported at Georgia in the 1820 census, and at Milton, Chittenden County, Vermont, in the 1840 and 1850 censuses. I have not found him in the 1830 census. The 1820 and 1840 censuses reported numbers in various age and sex categories, a few of which can be tentatively identified as follows:^[7]

They could have had more children, as yet unidentified, and definitely had more people in their household. Lorain and Jane have been identifed as children of Moses and Elizabeth based on the names of their parents given on their death records. Stephen has not been proven to be a child of this couple. He is placed here as a possible child because he was reported in the same town in the 1850 census, and he fits into the earlier census categories for this family.

Both of the early censuses call Moses Maxfield an agriculturalist.

The 1850 census reported Moses and Elizabeth an "empty nest" couple at Milton:^[8]

Moses' property was valued at $50.

Moses Maxfield applied for a pension as a War of 1812 veteran on 3 February 1851, and received as bounty a land claim. Widow Elizabeth Maxfield applied for pension benefits on 21 February 1865; at the time she resided at Wilmington, Essex County, New York.^[9]

Moses Maxfield and his wife Elizabeth Hill had the following children, perhaps others:

1. LORAIN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Georgia on 11 January 1815; d. at Milton on 29 March 1875; m. ________ NAY.^[10]
2. probably STEPHEN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont on 7 July 1816.
3. JANE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Milton on 27 October 1827; d. at Georgia on 13 September 1885;^[11] m. at Georgia on 1843 ALEXANDER McARTHUR,^[12] b. about 1820-1, d. on 13 March 1909.^[13]

¹Pension and Bounty Land Application Files Based on Service between 1812 and 1855, microfilm publication Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Archives, Washington D. C., Photocopies provided by John Bilow (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, ), 450:38, War of 1812: Moses Maxfield.
²Georgia Town, Franklin County, Vermont, Deeds, 3:340-41; Georgia Town Clerk, Georgia, Franklin County, Vermont.
³Ibid., 4:183.
⁴Ibid., 4:205.
⁵Ibid., 4:228-29.
⁶Pension Record: War of 1812: Moses Maxfield, 450:38. ⁷Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Georgia, Franklin County, Vermont, p. 72, Moses Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 19 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. ; Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Milton, Chittenden County, Vermont, p. 81, Moses Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁸Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Milton, Chittenden County, Vermont, p. 200B, household 1169, Moses Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁹Pension Record: War of 1812: Moses Maxfield, 450:38. ¹⁰Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 245, Death, Lorain Nay, 1875; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 30 June 2013).
¹¹Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 5182, Death, Jane Maxfield McArthur, 1885.
¹²Cindy O'Hara, "Moses Maxfield of VT, b. c. 1790," Maxfield Family Genealogy Forum, discussion list, 16 January 1999, # 28 (genforum.genealogy.com/maxfield).
¹³Hope Cemetery, East Georgia, Georgia, Franklin County, Vermont, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 22 December 2012), Alex-Jane McArthur; Created by: Star.

Georgia Town, Franklin County, Vermont. Deeds. Georgia Town Clerk, Georgia, Franklin County, Vermont.

Hope Cemetery, East Georgia, Georgia, Franklin County, Vermont. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2012.

Maxfield Family Genealogy Forum. Discussion list. genforum.genealogy.com/maxfield.

United States Department of the Census. Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, 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.

United States, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Pension and Bounty Land Application Files Based on Service between 1812 and 1855. Microfilm publication Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington D. C., Photocopies provided by John Bilow. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.

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 : 2013.