Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

JOSEPH⁵ MAXFIELD (Benjamin⁴, Joseph^3-2, John¹) was born at Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, on 28 July 1815^[1] a son of Benjamin Maxfield and his wife Polly Sargent. He died at Mower County, Minnesota, on 12 May 1887.^[2] He married at Wayne County, New York on 27 September 1840 ARTEMISIA MUNSON.^[3] She was born at Tully, Onondaga County, on 5 May 1820,^[4] a daughter of Glover Munson and Sarah Graham. She died at LeRoy, Mower County, on 27 October 1904.^[5]

Joseph Maxfield and his family moved steadily westward. In his childhood Joseph moved with his family to Wayne County, New York. There he married Artemisia Munson, they farmed for about fifteen years, and their six children were born. In 1855 this family of eight moved to Washington County, Wisconsin, Seven years later, in 1862, they moved to LeRoy Township in Mower County, Minnesota. This was frontier country. The first settler had arrived in the county about ten years before, and the railroad arrived five years after the Maxfields. Joseph Maxfield farmed in LeRoy Township until 1871, when they retired into town. After his death his widow Artemis lived with family in LeRoy village for the remaining fifteen years of her life. Four of the six children remained in Mower County. Son Glover moved to northeast Iowa; son Aldice moved to Oregon.

Joseph Maxfield bought and sold land in Wayne County, as follows:

• 13 September 1849, Joseph Maxfield of Sodus, Wayne County, sold to Ansel Cornwall of Williamson, Wayne County, for $200, land in Williamson, one-half acre in the village of Pultneyville, signed Joseph Maxfield and Artemisia Maxfield.^[6]
• 1 October, 1850. Masterson and John Gordon, through Joseph Fellows, attorney, sold to Joseph Maxfield of Sodus for $150, a parcel of land in Sodus, part of subdivision # 4, lot # 10, second range, 46.43 acres.^[7]
• 7 April 1854, Joseph Maxfield and his wife Artemisia of Sodus sold to John Webster of Williamson for $550, land in Sodus, part of division 4, lot 10, second range.^[8]

The 1850 census reported a Maxfield family of six at Sodus, consisting of Joseph Maxfield, 34, farmer, Artemesia, 30, Glover B., 8, Miles, 6, Aldis M., 4, and Sarah, 2. Glover and Miles attended school; all were born at New York.^[9]

The 1860 census reported this family in the town of Hartford, Washington County, Wisconsin, as follows:^[10]

The census taker evidently misunderstood "Aldice" for "Alisa" which he understood to be a girls name. Another entire family of seven persons was included in this household, Ozias (45) and Mary Ann (44) Clark, and five children ages 17 to 3. I have found no connection of this family to the Maxfields.

Joseph Maxfield purchased 150 acres in LeRoy township, to which they moved in 1862. They broke and improved the land, and expanded the farm to a total of 230 acres. The Maxfield family were active members of the Presbyterian Church of LeRoy.^[11] The 1865 state census reported all six children at home, as did the 1870 federal census.^[12] Glover married in 1874 and Aldice had also left home by the time of the 1875 state census, which reported the parents and the remaining four children at home.^[13]

The 1880 census reported Joseph and Artemisia Maxfield a family of two living at LeRoy.^[14] Glover, Aldice and Sarah had all married. The remaining three children, Joseph, 36, Martha, 29, and Peter, 26, formed a household and the two brothers were recorded as farmers.^[15] The 1885 state census reported these three adult children again living with their parents.^[16]

Joseph Maxfield died on 13 May 1887 and is buried at the LeRoy Cemetery.^[17] Artemisia was reported in the 1895 state census, and the 1900 federal census, at LeRoy, with her two adult children who never married, Joseph and Martha.^[18] Artemisia died on 27 October 1904 and is buried at LeRoy Cemetery.^[19]

The 1910 census reported Miles J. Maxfield, 66, and his sister Martha Maxfield, 56, residing at LeRoy. A school teacher was boarding with them.^[20] In 1920 their brother Richard had joined them:^[21]

Joseph Miles Maxfield (the son) after finishing school farmed for eleven years, then became a grain buyer. He then engaged in the livery business with his brothers until 1904. He served the community as a justice of the peace and as a constable. He was a Republican, and, like the rest of his family, active in the Presbyterian Church.^[22] His sister Martha, besides being a homemaker, was an artist.^[23] Joseph died in 1922, Martha in 1929. both are buried at the LeRoy Cemetery.^[24]

Joseph Maxfield and his wife Artemisia Munson had the following children:^[25]

1. GLOVER BENJAMIN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 2 December 1841.
2. JOSEPH MILES⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Wayne County on 24 February 1844;^[26] d. at Mower County on 13 December 1922.^[27]
3. ALDICE MAHLON⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 20 July 1846.
4. SARAH POLLY⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 1 July 1848;^[28] m. at First Presbyterian Church, LeRoy on 1 July 1879 MANUEL H. MILLER.^[29]
5. MARTHA ANN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 29 March 1851;^[30] d. on 1929.^[31]
6. RICHARD PETER⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Wayne County on 13 November 1853.

¹"Mower County: Biographies: Joseph Maxfield (b. 1815)," Minnesota GenWeb Project, information sharing site (rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mngenweb : accessed] 23 September 2013), from History of Mower County, 1911.
²Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001, Mower County Deaths 1887, p. 149, e. 28, Joseph Maxfield, ; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 7 June 2023); Multiple county courthouses, Minnesota.
³"Mower County: Biographies: Joseph Maxfield (b. 1815)."
⁴Meyers, Miriam, Research Notes (before 1996), privately held by William J. Barton, Tacoma, Washington, 2000. contained in a letter, Barton, William J., to Charles A. Maxfield, 7 November 2000.
⁵Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001, Mower County Deaths 1904, p. 83, e. 22, Artemesia Maxfield.
⁶New York, Land Records, 1630-1975: Wayne County, 77:338-39; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 26 February 2014).
⁷Ibid., 48:398-99.
⁸Ibid., 60:389-90.
⁹Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Sodus, Wayne County, New York, p. 162B, household 541, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁰Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Hartford, Washington County, Wisconsin, p. 292, household 441, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹¹"Mower County: Biographies: Joseph Maxfield (b. 1815)."
¹²Minnesota 1865 State Census, population, Leroy, Mower County, Minnesota, household 41, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2013); Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, Minnesota; Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Le Roy, Mower County, Minnesota, p. 17, household 127, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹³Minnesota 1875 State Census, population, Leroy, Mower County, Minnesota, p. 332, household 139, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 18 September 2013); Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
¹⁴Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Le Roy, Mower County, Minnesota, enumeration district (ED) 160, p. 470C, household 139, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁵1880 Census, Le Roy, Mower County, Minnesota, ED 160, p. 472D, household 176, Joseph Maxfield family.
¹⁶Minnesota 1885 State Census, population, LeRoy, Mower County, Minnesota, p. 2, household 14, Adelbert Folsom family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 20 September 2013); Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
¹⁷Le Roy Cemetery, Le Roy, Mower Coounty, Minnesota, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 5 December 2012), Joseph Maxfield; Created and photo by: LezleeO.
¹⁸1895 Minnesota State Census, LeRoy, Mower County, Minnestoa, p. 10, household 74, Artemisia Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 23 September 2013); Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, LeRoy, Mower County, Minnesota, enumeration district (ED) 90, p. 6B, household 272, Artemisia Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 July 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹⁹Le Roy Cemetery, Le Roy, Artimisa Maxfield; Created and photo by: LezleeO.
²⁰Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, LeRoy, Mower County, Minnesota, enumeration district (ED) 88, p. 3A, household 54, Miles J. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 26 September 2013); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²¹Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, LeRoy, Mower County, Minnesota, enumeration district (ED) 91, p. 2A, household 36, Jospeh Miles Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 29 September 2013); NARA microfilm record group T625, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²²"Mower County: Biographies: Joseph M. Maxfield," Minnesota GenWeb Project.
²³Meyers, Miriam, Research Notes.
²⁴Le Roy Cemetery, Le Roy, Joseph Miles Maxfield; Created and photo by: LezleeO.
²⁵Meyers listed an unnamed daughter b. 12 Feb 1841 who married Frank Obrine, her uncle. However she does not appear in any census. Meyers omits Glover, who was born 10 months after the unnamed daughter.
²⁶"Mower County: Biographies: Joseph M. Maxfield.
²⁷Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001, Mower County Deaths 1922, p. 192, e. 184, Joseph Miles Maxfield.
²⁸Meyers, Miriam, Research Notes.
²⁹Minnesota County Marriages 1860-1949, Mower County, p. 72, Miller-Maxfield, 1879; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 5 June 2023); County Courthouses, Minnesota.
³⁰Meyers, Miriam, Research Notes.
³¹Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001, Mower County Deaths 1929, p. 271, e. 16, Martha Ann Maxfield.

Le Roy Cemetery, Le Roy, Mower Coounty, Minnesota. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2012.

Meyers, Miriam, Research Notes. before 1996. Privately held by William J. Barton, Tacoma, Washington. 2000.

Minnesota 1865 State Census, population, Leroy, Mower County, Minnesota, household 41, Joseph Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2013); Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN.

Minnesota Census Bureau. Minnesota 1875 State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

________. Minnesota 1885 State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

Minnesota State Library and Records Service, Saint Paul, Minnesota. 1895 Minnesota State Census. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2023.

Minnesota GenWeb Project. Information Sharing Site. rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mngenweb.

Minnesota County Marriages 1860-1949. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2023.

United States Department of the Census. 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 : 2013.

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

________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Wayne County, New York. "New York, Land Records, 1630-1975: Wayne County." Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2014.