Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

JESSE ABBOTT⁵ MAXFIELD (Richard⁴, Joseph^3-2, John¹ ) was born at Bradford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 8 December 1801,^[1] a son of Richard Maxfield and his wife Sally Young. He died at Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont, on 18 June 1885.^[2] He first married at Bradford on 17 August 1834 BETSEY ABBOTT.^[3] She was born at Vermont about 1800-1, and died at New Hampshire, on 5 June 1854.^[4] Jesse married as his second wife at Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, on 30 October 1861 ELISA CHASE.^[5] She was born at Salem about 1804-5.

Jesse Maxfield grew up in Bradford, the second of five children. During his adult life he often moved, was sometimes living apart from his family, and his children were soon dispersed. He was described as a farmer in 1840, 1850, and 1880, a tin and sheet metal worker in 1860, and a carpenter in 1865.

The 1840 census reported him at Newbury [called Fishersfield to 1837], Merrimack County, New Hampshire. The breakdown of the household by age and sex categories could be explained as follows:^[6]

The census taker either greatly over-estimated Jesse's age, or just put the mark in the wrong column.

The 1850 census reported Jesse Maxfield at Franklin, Merrimack County. The household consisted of Jesse A., 48, farmer, Betsey, 49, Franklin, 13, and Thomas H., 15. Betsey was born at Vermont, the rest of the family at New Hampshire; the boys were attending school.^[7] That same census also reported Jesse A. Maxfield at Bradford, a laborer, age 50, in the home of Enoch and Jane Sweatt.^[8] I have not found son John in this Census. Moses Maxfield, age 11, resided in the household of John (age 60, farmer) and Mary (age 40) Smith, at Bradford.^[9] Andrew Maxfield, age 6, lived in a household at Franklin headed by Stephen (56, farmer) and Marinda (45) Sawyer.^[10] I have not been able to determine any relationship to the Smiths or Sawyers. I do not know why these children were not living with their parents.

Betsey Maxfield, wife of Jesse A. Maxfield, died on 5 June 1854, age 53, and is buried at Presbury Cemetery, Bradford.^[11] Moses Maxfield, child of Jesse Maxfield, died at Amherst, Hillsborough County, on 5 December 1859, age 19.^[12]

The 1860 census reported Jesse A. Maxfield, 59, tin and sheet metal worker, at Concord, Merrimack County, in the home of Charles S. (30) and Mary (29) Wilson.^[13] Andrew J. Maxfield, 16, farm laborer, resided at Salisbury, Merrimack County, in the home of Merinda Sawyer (54).^[14] On 4 February 1861 Merrimack County Probate Court granted guardianship of Andrew Maxfield to Marinda Sawyer.^[15] I have not found the oldest three sons in this census.

Jesse A. Maxfield of Bradford and Elisa Chase of Salem, Massachusetts, married at Salem on 30 October 1861. C. C. Beaman, clergyman, presided. Jesse and Elisa each claimed this to be their first marriage.^[16]

The 1865 Massachuestts state census reported Jesse Maxfield, 65, carpenter, and Eliza Maxfield, 60, at Salem, in a household that included eleven other persons, perhaps a boarding house.^[17] Son Thomas, a veteran of the Civil War, resided at Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in that census.^[18] Son Frank Maxfield, 28, lived at Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, where he worked as a knitter.^[19]

I have not found Jesse or Elisa in the 1870 census. The 1880 census reported Jesse as divorced. So they divorced some time between 1865 and 1880. I have no further record of Elisa. The 1880 census reported Jesse Maxfield at Bradford in the following household:^[20]

Sarah A. (Bailey) Taylor was the daughter of Elbridge Gerry Bailey and his wife Mary Maxfield, a sister of Jesse Maxfield. New Hampshire was one of only eight states that never passed anti-miscegenation laws. Inter-racial marriage was always legal. James Taylor of Bradford, colored cook, 36, and Sarah Bailey, white, 26, were married at Bradford on 31 May 1869 by minister of the Gospel John Gillingham of Bradford.^[21]

Jesse Maxfield died at Hyde Park, Vermont, on 18 June 1885, with a kidney complaint.^[22] How did he end up in Hyde Park? His brother George had lived there, and Goerge's widow still resided there.

Jesse Abbott Maxfield and his first wife Betsey Abbott had the following children:

1. THOMAS H.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Bradford about 1834-5.
2. FRANKLIN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Hampshire on June 1836;^[23] d. at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 26 December 1902.^[24] Frank was reported in the 1900 census at Philadelphia at a lodging house, a day laborer.^[25] He was called a widower on that census, but single on his death record.
3. JOHN GILLINGHAM⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Bradford about 1837-8.
4. MOSES⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Hampshire about 5 June 1840; d. at Amherst on 5 December 1859.^[26]
5. ANDREW J.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Hampshire on October 1843.^[27] He may be the A. J. Maxfield, 26, at Lawrence, Saint Lawrence County, New York, in the 1870 census, a drug clerk in the household of A. N. Woodman, clergyman.^[28] He may be the Andrew J. Maxfield, tavern keeper, at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska, in the 1900 census. He was there described as a widower born at New Hampshire in October 1843.^[29] He may be the Andrew J. Maxfield, age 66, residing in the Old Peoples' Home at Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, in the 1910 census.^[30]

¹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
²Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4520, Death, Jesse Maxfield, 1885; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 28 June 2013).
³French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
⁴Presbury Cemetery, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 21 November 2017), Betsey A. Maxfield; Created by: George Peaslee, Photo added by Amy Levesque.
⁵Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 22 August 2017), vol. 144, p. 213, e. 42; Salem Marriages, 1861; Maxfield-Chase.
⁶Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Newbury, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 240 p. 173, Jesse Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁷Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Franklin, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 436, p. 244B, household 155, Jesse A. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁸1850 Census, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 436, p. 84B, household 521, Enoch Sweatt family.
⁹1850 Census, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 436, p. 82A, household 478, John Smith family.
¹⁰1850 Census, Franklin, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 436, p. 244A, household 148, Stephen Sawyer family.
¹¹Presbury Cemetery, Bradford, Betsey A. Maxfield; Created by: George Peaslee, Photo added by Amy Levesque.
¹²New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6173, Death, Moses Maxfield, 1860; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 25 January 2017).
¹³Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 675, p. 912, household 1685, Charles S. Wilson family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 9 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹⁴1860 Census, Salisbury, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 677, p. 1082, household 1056, Merinda Sawyer family.
¹⁵Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Probate Records; "New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973," digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org: accessed 11 January 2014); 37:81.
¹⁶"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 144, p. 213, e. 42; Salem Marriages, 1861; Maxfield-Chase.
¹⁷Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, v. 12, p. 201, household 399, Jesse Maxfield family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 16 August 2013); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹⁸1865 Massachusetts State Census, , Population, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, v. 34, p. 4, household 37, James Spargo family.
¹⁹1865 Massachusetts State Census, , Population, Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, v. 19. p. 353, household 355, Henry G. Adams Inn.
²⁰Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, enumeration district (ED) 163, roll 765, p. 58A, household 57, James F. Taylor family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²¹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card, Marriage - Taylor-Bailey, 1868.
²²Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4520, Death, Jesse Maxfield, 1885.
²³Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 205, p. 9A, household 133, George Wilkinson lodging house; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 April 2014); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
²⁴Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Death Certificates, 1803-1915, index and images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 12 July 2012).
²⁵1900 Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, ED 205, p. 9A, household 133, George Wilkinson lodging house.
²⁶Meadow View Cemetery, Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : datbase 17 November 2017), Moses Y. Maxfield; Created by: Jackie Marshall.
²⁷1900 Census, Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska, ED 11, p. 10A, household 256, Andrew J. Maxfield household.
²⁸Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Lawrence, Saint Lawrence County, New York, p. 379B, household 310, A. N. Woodman family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
²⁹1900 Census, Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska, ED 11, p. 10A, household 256, Andrew J. Maxfield household.
³⁰Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, enumeration district (ED) 86, p. 15A, household 344, Andrew J. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 September 2013); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

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

Meadow View Cemetery, Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Probate Records. "New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973." Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org: 2014.

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 : 2017.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Death Certificates, 1803-1915. Index and images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2012.

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

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.

________. Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.

________. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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.