Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

STEPHEN⁵ MAXFIELD (Nathaniel⁴, Eliphalet³, Nathaniel², John¹) was born at Canterbury, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 7 February 1770^[1] a son of Nathaniel Maxfield and his wife Mehitable Rowe. He died on 1833.^[2] He married at Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 3 September 1797 HANNAH MOODY^[3], who was born on 1770 and died on 1833.^[4]

Stephen Maxfield was born in that portion of Canterbury which in 1773 was incorporated as the town of Loudon. His father, Nathaniel, was a tanner who moved several times. He was reported of Kensington, Rockingham County, in 1770, at Candia, Rockingham County, in 1777 and 1778, at Epping from 1780 through 1794, and at Loudon in 1797. Stephen was the eldest son and third child of Nathaniel and Mehitable, who had at least thirteen children. By the time Stephen was 24 years old, his mother had died and his father remarried.

Stephen and Hannah Maxfield lived at Loudon, where he worked as a "cordwainer," that is, a shoe maker. he participated in several property transfers there.

• 29 December 1798, Nathaniel Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer [Stephen's father] sold to Stephen Maxfield of Epping, cordwainer, for $100, land in Loudon, 5 acres from lot 138, also 1 acre of same lot, also half my barn.^[5]
• 31 December 1798, Nathaniel Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer, sold to Stephen Maxfield of Epping, cordwainer, for $300, full one half of my homestead farm lot #138, excepting what I have deeded off from said farm, also reserving to myself the house and one half the barn now standing on the premises. Also on same date, Stephen Maxfield of Epping Cordwainer, granted to "my honored Father Nathaniel Maxfield" the use of the land which his father sold to him "to Nathaniel to farm during his natural life," paying $500.^[6]
• 31 January 1809, Nathan N. Maxfield of Loudon, husbandman [uncle of Stephen], granted to Stephen Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer, for a valuable consideration, land in Loudon out of lot 138 1st division, also another piece of land, including the garden on the west end of Stephen Maxfield's house and half of barn. Also, certain land which was part of widow Hannah Maxfield's dower to be Stephen's when his father's widow died.^[7]
• 26 March 1822, Stephen Maxfield and Nathaniel Maxfield [Stephen's son] of Louden, yeomen, sold to David Clifton of Loudon, yeoman, for $18, a tract in Loudon. Also, on the same date, Stephen Maxfield of Loudon, cordwainer, sold to David Clifford of Loudon, trader, for $800, land in Loudon, of lot #138, 1st division, including the garden of Stephen Maxfield, now fenced, and half of barn. Signed Stephen Maxfield, Hannah Maxfield (her mark).^[8]

Census records reported the Stephen Maxfield family at Loudon in 1800, 1810, 1820 and 1830. The information in those censuses, giving numbers in various age and sex groups, corresponds closely to what we otherwise know of the family:^[9]

I cannot explain the absence of Stephen in 1810, nor can I identify the unidentified young man in 1810 and 1820. Otherwise, the data is congruent with what is otherwise known of this family.

Stephen and Hannah Maxfield both died in 1833, and are buried in the Maxfield Cemetery.^[10]

Stephen Maxfield and his wife Hannah Moody had the following children:

1. NATHANIEL⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Loudon on 13 January 1797.
2. JONATHAN GORDON⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Loudon on 1799.
3. BETSEY⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Loudon about 1802-3;^[11] m. (1) at Canterbury on 11 January 1821 THOMAS WIGGIN;^[12] m. (2) DANIEL BLAISDEL. The 1860 census reported at Loudon a household of Daniel Blaisdell, 54, farmer, Betsey Blaisdell, 57, and Ann Blaisdell, 24, milliner.^[13] When Ann Blaisdell married in 1861 she listed her parents as Daniel Blaisdell and Betsey Maxfield.
4. MEHITABLE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Loudon on 9 August 1806; d. at Canterbury on 3 September 1883;^[14] m. at Canterbury on 28 September 1831 SIMEON M. BROWN,^[15] b. at Rye, Rockingham County, on 1808, d. at Canterbury on 21 March 1869.^[16]
5. RUFUS⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Loudon on 1809.

Several other persons have been suggested as possible members of this family. However, the census tables shown above do not allow for any other children, and other evidence is lacking.

ELEANOR MAXFIELD was listed as a possible child of this family by Harry Dana French. I find no other evidence for this person. Perhaps French confused her with Ella Norton Maxfield, a younger sister of Stephen.

MARTHA ANN MAXFIELD was also listed as a possibler child of this family by Henry Dana French. I do not know where to place this person. The facts of her life are these: Martha Ann Maxfield married at Lowell, Massachusetts, on 4 December 1841 JOSIAH W. FRENCH.^[17] The 1850 Census reported this family at Manchester, New Hampshire. It consisted of Josiah W. French, 34, painter, Martha A. French, 30, Laura A., 7, Sarah C., 6, and Clara E., 4, all born at New Hampshire.^[18] Martha A. French died at Manchester on 13 September 1859, age 39 years and 2 months, from dropsey and tumor. She was the wife of Josiah W. French; her parents were not named on the death record.^[19] I can not identify the parents of Martha, but do not believe she belongs to this family.

Another STEPHEN MAXFIELD was reported at Loudon in the 1820 Census. This household consisted of a male between 26 and 44, a female between 16 and 25, and two girls under ten.^[20] It is tempting to identify this person with the unidentified "A" in the above census lists. However that person is listed in this same census in the other household. Also, the age places this Stephen's birth at least three years before the other Stephen's marriage. I find no mention of this family in any record other than the 1820 Census, and cannot identify him with any known Maxfield family.

¹New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, Stephen Maxfield, 1770; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 30 December 2016).
²Maxfield Cemetery, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 20 November 2017), Maxfield monument (Jonathan Gordon); Created and photo by: Randy Cummings.
³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, , Marriage: Maxfield-Moody, 1797.
⁴Maxfield Cemetery, Loudon, Maxfield monument (Jonathan Gordon); Created and photo by: Randy Cummings.
⁵Deeds, 149:154; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds (nhdeeds/rockingham : accessed 28 August 2012).
⁶Ibid., 149:153; 150:404-05.
⁷Ibid., 234:424.
⁸Ibid., 232:301-02.
⁹Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, roll 20, p. 364, Stephen 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, Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, roll 25, p. 433, Stephen Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; FFourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, roll 60, p. 82, Stephen 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, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 76, p. 84, Stephen Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁰Maxfield Cemetery, Loudon, Maxfield monument (Jonathan Gordon); Created and photo by: Randy Cummings.
¹¹Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, p. 86, household 661, Daniel Blaisdell family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 September 2011); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹²SNew Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 10399, Marriage: Wiggin-Maxfield, 1821.
¹³1860 Census, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, p. 86, household 661, Daniel Blaisdell family.
¹⁴Elizabeth Wright, "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants," The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 7:42.
¹⁵New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, , Marriage: Brown-Maxfield, 1831.
¹⁶Wright, "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants," 7:42-43.
¹⁷Vital Records of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1930), v. 3, p. 61.
¹⁸Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Manchester, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, p. 161A, household 1250, Josiah W. French family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 September 2011); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, , Death: Martha French, 1859.
²⁰1820 Census, Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, roll 60, p. 82, , Stephen Maxfield.

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

Maxfield Cemetery, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

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.

Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. "Land Records." Digital images. Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. nhdeeds/rockingham : 2012.

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.

________. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.

________. Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.

Vital Records of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1930.

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.