Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

JAMES BATCHELDER⁵ MAXFIELD (Nathaniel⁴, Eliphalet³, Nathaniel², John¹) was born at Loudon, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 10 February 1783^[1] a son of Nathaniel Maxfield and his first wife Mehitable Rowe. He died at New Boston, Mercer County, Illinois, on 16 August 1840.^[2] He married at Loudon on 8 March 1807 HANNAH BATCHELDER.^[3] She was born at Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 1789,^[4] and died at Troy, Perry County, Indiana, on 19 March 1840.^[5]

James Maxfield grew up in Loudon, the ninth of thirteen children. When James was about ten years old his last sibling was born and his mother died. About a year after that James acquired a new step-mother. James was baptized at the Congregational Church of Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 6 August 1783.^[6]

When James Maxfield and Hannah Batchelder married in 1807, they both resided at Loudon; Rev. Jedidiah Tucker of Loudon performed the service.^[7]

The newlyweds moved directly to Union, in Lincoln County, District of Maine. The births of ten of their eleven children, from 1807 to 1828 were recorded at Union (one was recorded at nearby Appleton). The 1810 census found them at Appleton, Maine, but in 1820 and 1830 they were recorded at Union. James Maxfield was a farmer.

When this Maxfield family moved to Maine it was still part of Massachusetts, which had an established church. Each landowner was assessed for support of the Congregational minister. However, persons affiliated with other denominations could have their tax accredited to their church. James Maxfield's tax in the Town of Union of $1.00 in 1807 was allocated to the Methodist Church, as was his assessment of $1.99 in 1809.^[8]

The voters of the Town of Union elected James Maxfield to the position of tithingman in 1825 (one of three) and 1828 (one of two).^[9] According to the Miriam-Webster online dictionary, a tithingman was, "an annually elected official chosen in New England towns until well into the 19th century and charged primarily with preserving order in church during divine service and enforcing the observance of the Sabbath."

In 1838 James and Hannah Maxfield, ages 55 and 49 respectively, moved West with some of their family. According to Elizabeth Wright, "They left Gardner, Maine, 25 October 1838, and arrived at Troy, Indiana, 18 November 1838."^[10] Hannah died there in 1840. James immediately moved on. Wright wrote, "He left Troy 19 March 1840, and reached North Henderson, Illinois, 9 April 1840, where he stayed with his niece and nephew, the Samuel Shaws, until May 1. Then he went to a farm three miles east of New Boston, where he died."^[11] James died in August, only five months after his wife, but a state away.

The federal census reported this family at Appleton in 1810, and at Union in 1820 and 1830. The census taker found James and some of his children at North Henderson, Mercer County, Illinois, in June, 1840. The figures for family members in age and sex categories can be explained as follows:^[12]

Perhaps either Huldah or Nancy was working out or with a relative. It should not be surprising that the 1840 census, describing a family in deep transition, might have some inconsistiencies. Josiah, 27, Cyrus, 15, and Helen, 11, were missing. Perhaps the unidentified person is an error of the census taker who either mistook Cyrus' gender or Helen's age?

James Batchelder Maxfield and his wife Hannah Batchelder had the following children:

1. ASA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 4 October 1807;^[13] d. at Union on 29 December 1807.^[14]
2. HARRIET⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 2 May 1809;^[15] m. on 1829 JAMES THOMPSON, b. on 6 November 1802.^[16]
3. JAMES⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 25 September 1810;^[17] d. at Union on 30 April 1823.^[18]
4. JOSIAH⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 23 August 1812.
5. WILLIAM⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Appleton on 10 January 1814.
6. HULDA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 11 December 1816;^[19] d. at Belfast, Waldo County, Maine, on 28 March 1901;^[20] m. at Belfast on 7 May 1848 Capt. JAMES GAMMONS,^[21] b. at Belfast on 23 November 1795,^[22] d. at Belfast on 26 November 1884.^[23] He m. (1) REBECCA BAILEY.
7. NANCY⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 27 March 1818;^[24] d. at Keithsburg, Mercer County, on 16 May 1879;^[25] m. at Mercer County on 26 November 1840 GEORGE JAY Jr.,^[26] b. at Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on 1806, d. at Keithsburg on 14 October 1897.^[27]
8. NATHANIEL WILLIAM⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 23 June 1821.
9. MATILDA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 28 August 1823;^[28] d. at Union on 29 August 1823.^[29]
10. CYRUS H.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 23 September 1824.
11. HELEN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Union on 6 December 1828;^[30] d. on October 1846;^[31] m. at Mercer County on 11 October 1845 JAMES MONROE EMERSON,^[32] b. at Wayne County, Indiana, on 2 January 1815, d. at Mercer County on 20 April 1881.^[33] James m(2) on 30 September 1846 HARRIET BRIDGER b. at Wayne County on 2 January 1815, d. at Merecer County on 20 April 1881.^[34]

¹New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Birth, James Bachlor Maxfield, 1783; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 30 December 2016).
²New Boston Cemetery, New Boston, Mercer County, Illinois, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 19 June 2017), James Maxfield; created and photo by E. M.
³New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9887, Marriage, Maxfield-Bachelder, 1807.
⁴Daughters of the American Revolution, "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search," database, Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org, accessed ), No. 488320.
⁵Elizabeth Wright, "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants," The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 7:45.
⁶Ibid., 7:23.
⁷New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9887, Marriage, Maxfield-Bachelder, 1807.
⁸John Langdon Sibley, A History of the Town of Union, Maine (Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey, 1851), 194, 1296.
⁹Ibid., 127.
¹⁰Wright, "John Maxfield and Some of His Descendants," 7:45.
¹¹Ibid.
¹²Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Appleton Ridge, Lincoln County, Maine, p. 144, James Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Union, Lincoln County, Maine, p. 274, Jas. 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, Union, Lincoln County, Maine, p. 246, James 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, Mercer County, Illinois, p. 329, James Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 24 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹³Genealogical Society of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah, "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 21 October 2012), Asa Maxfield, 1807
¹⁴Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, "Maine, Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910," Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 27 August 2013), Asa Maxfield, 1807.
¹⁵"Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," Harriet Maxfield, 1809.
¹⁶Sibley, A History of the Town of Union, Maine, 510.
¹⁷"Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," James Maxfield, Jr., 1810.
¹⁸"Maine, Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910," James Maxfield, 1823.
¹⁹"Waldo County, Maine Births, 1743-1892: Belfast," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 August 2013); extracted from James Flint comp., Vital Records of Belfast, Maine (Boston: NEHGS, n.d.).
²⁰Maine, Division of Vital Statistics. State Board of Health, Augusta, Maine, Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921, index card, Hukdah M. Gammans, 1901; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 3 March 2017).
²¹Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research, comp., "Maine, Compiled Marriages for Belfast, Hallowell and Pittston, 1748-1875," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 August 2013), Gammon-Maxfield.
²²"Waldo County, Maine Births, 1743-1892: Belfast."
^{23 24"Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," Nancy Maxfield, 1818.
25New Boston Cemetery, New Boston, Nancy Maxfield Jay; created by Jamie Dawn Paul.
26Illinois State Public Record Offices, "Illinois State Marriage Records," index, Ancestry (ancetry.com : accessed 1 September 2023), Jay-Maxfield, 1840.
27New Boston Cemetery, New Boston, George Jay, Jr.; created by Jamie Dawn Paul.
28"Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," Matilda Maxfield, 1823.
29"Maine, Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910," Family Search, Matilda Maxfield, 1823.
30"Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," Hellen Maxfield, 1828.
31New Boston Cemetery, New Boston, Helen Emerson; created by Helen Cook, photo by Mike & Robbie.
32"Illinois State Marriage Records," Emerson-Maxfield, 1845.
33New Boston Cemetery, New Boston, James M. Emerson; created by Helen Cook, photo by Mike & Robbie.
33Ibid.}

Daughters of the American Revolution, . "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search." Database. Daughters of the American Revolution. dar.org.

Dodd, Jordan , Liahona Research, comp. "Maine, Compiled Marriages for Belfast, Hallowell and Pittston, 1748-1875." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2012.

________. "Maine, Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910." Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

Illinois State Public Record Offices. "Illinois State Marriage Records." Index. Ancestry. ancetry.com : 2023.

Maine, State Board of Health, Division of Vital Statistics. Augusta, Maine. Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2017.

New Boston Cemetery, New Boston, Mercer County, Illinois. 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.

Sibley, John Langdon. A History of the Town of Union, Maine. Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey, 1851.

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.

"Waldo County, Maine Births, 1743-1892: Belfast." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013. Extracted from James Flint comp., Vital Records of Belfast, Maine. Boston: NEHGS, n.d.

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.