Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

STEPHEN CLOUGH⁵ MAXFIELD (Amos⁴, probably Joseph³, Joseph², John¹) was born at Fishersfield, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 7 May 1809 a son of Amos Maxfield and his wife Eleanor Clough. He died at Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 10 August 1862.^[1] He married at Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, on 21 December 1831 CLARISSA STAPLES.^[2] She was born at Chichester on 4 November 1811, and died at Lowell on 19 September 1898.^[3]

When Stephen was six years old his father died; the following year his mother remarried. Stephen left home as a young adult to join the Industiral Revolution. He worked in textile mills at Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Newmarket, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, and Lowell, Massachusetts, rising to the position of overseer. His wife, Clarissa, ran boarding houses once their youngest children had become teenagers, and after her husband's death.

At the time of their marriage at Chichester in 1831, Stephen was described as from Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Clarissa from Chuchester. Note that the name of the town of Stephen's birth, Fishersfield, was later changed to Newbury, and it bordered Bradford.

Stephen Clough Maxfield worked for seventeen years for the Nashua Manufacturing Company.^[4] Stephen and Clarissa's first five children were born at Nashua, from 1832 to 1842, and the 1840 census reported them at Nashua. That census stated that Stephem Clough was the head of a family of seven and was engaged in manufacturing. It listed persons in certain age and sex categories, which could be explained as follows:^[5]

This designation assumes some miscalculations of ages.

Stephen and Clarissa had a child born at Nashua in 1842, a child born at Lowell in 1846, and a child born in New Hampshire about 1848-9. The family appeared in Newmarket, a small manufacturing center, in the 1850 census, as follows:^[6]

The household also included five other persons, all young women between 17 and 24, perhaps operatives in the mill boarding in their home. I have no further information on Emma.

Five years later the Massachusetts 1855 state census reported the family at Lowell. Susanna had married two months before the census, and nothing more is know of Emma, but all the other family members were present. Stephen was called a laborer.^[7]

The 1860 census reported the family at Lowell. Rufus, who had married in 1856, was no longer present. The census was supposed to report information as of 1 June, 1860, but the census taker did not arrive at the Maxfield household until 27 July. It reported son James, who was married on 14 June, and his wife Elizabeth, in the household. The report follows:^[8]

The household also included fourteen other persons, all mill hands. Stephen had an important position in mill society; the three sons still at home were moving into their different careers, and Clarisa was very busy operating a boarding house. Harder times came on the family when Stephen died of consumption on 10 August 1862. He was a Methodist^[9] and a member of Mechanic's Lodge I. O. O. F.^[10]

The 1865 state census reported Clarissa Maxfield operating a boarding house at Lowell. Also in the boarding house were S. Webster Maxfield, machinist, daughter-in-law Sarah E. Maxfield and Daughter Nellie, both operatives, and son James, with the U. S. Army.^[11] Jared had married in 1861 and lived elsewhere in Lowell, working as a belt maker.

By 1870 son James and his wife had moved to Michigan, where he practiced medicine, and son Stephen Webster Maxfield had married and moved to Boston, Suffolk County, Massachuestts, where he worked as a machnist. Clarissa Maxfield and her daughter Nellie were keeping house for a boarding house in Lowell, composed of young female operatives.^[12]

The 1880 census reported Clarissa Maxfield and daughter Nellie in Lowell, continuing to operate a boarding house. Also in the household was Clarissa's grandson, James P. Maxfield, 14, son of James and Sarah Elizabeth.^[13]

Clarissa Maxfield died of old age at Lowell on 19 September 1898.^[14] She had outlived three of her sons: James died in 1889, Jared in 1891, Rufus in 1896. Helen "Nellie" Maxfield then lived with her sister-in-law, Sarah Maxfield, widow of James, with whom she was reported in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.^[15]

Rufus Amos Maxfield had a career in the textile business. The 1865 Massachusetts census reported him at Lowell, working as an overseer.^[16] In 1870 he was in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, superintendent of a cotton mill.^[17] In 1880 he was at Nashua, agent for a cotton mill. His household at that time, besides his wife Mary, included his brother-in-law Parker P. Spaulding, 40, "loosing reason," and his wife's cousin Almira Spaulding, 27.^[18] Mary Maxfield, wife of Rufus, died at Lowell on 3 July 1890 from organic disease of the heart.^[19] When Rufus Maxfield applied for a passport in 1891 he was described as a resident of Lowell, manufacturer, age 56 years, 5' 7" tall, high forehead, blue eyes, straight nose, medium mouth, round-double chin, grey hair, rather dark complexion, round face.^[20] Rufus Maxfield, retired manufacturer, died at Lowell on 21 November 1896 from hematemesis (the vomiting of blood).^[21]

Stephen Webster Maxfield was twice married, but, to the best of my knowledge, childless. He married Rose J. Ingalls at Nashua on 4 April 1866.^[22] The 1870 census reported Webster Maxfield, 28, machinist, and Rose Maxfield, 23, at Boston.^[23] In 1880 he was reported at Nashua working in a railroad shop; there was no mention of a wife.^[24] In 1881 he married Elizabeth (Warner) Simmonds.^[25] The 1900 census reported Stephen W. Maxfield, born May 1842, machinist, and Ellen E. Maxfield, born June 1838, lodged in Concord, Middlesex County.^[26] Elizabeth Maxfield died at Concord on 19 October 1904, from acute uremia also pernicious anemia.^[27] I have no further information on Stephen Webster Maxfield

Stephen Clough Maxfield and his wife Clarissa Staples had the following children:

1. SUSANNA T.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Nashua about 1831-2;^[28] d. at Wolfeboro, Carroll County, New Hampshire on 2 April 1901;^[29] m. at Lowell on 21 March 1855 CHARLES PARKER,^[30] b. at Pepperell, Middlesex County, on 9 June 1829,^[31] child of Eliphalet Parker and Mary (Lawrence) Prescott. Child of Susanna and Charles:
   1. Clara Parker b. at Massachusetts about 1855-6.^[32]
2. RUFUS AMOS⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Nashua on 5 March 1835;^[33] d. at Lowell on 21 November 1896;^[34] m. at Pepperell on 10 May 1856 MARY ANN SPAULDING,^[35] b. at Pepperell on 1 December 1832, d. at Pepperell on 3 July 1890, child of Joshua and Patty S. Spaulding.^[36]
3. JAMES GARDNER⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Nashua on 22 July 1838.
4. JARED P.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Nashua about 1839-40.
5. STEPHEN WEBSTER⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Nashua on 17 May 1842; d. at Boston on 14 June 1916;^[37] m. (1) at Nashua on 4 April 1866 ROSA J. INGALLS,^[38] b. at New Hampshire about 1846-7;^[39] m. (2) at Nashua on 10 February 1881 ELIZABETH A. (WARNER) SIMMONDS,^[40] b. at Nashua on 30 June 1837, d. at Concord, on 16 October 1904, child of David A. L. Warner and Elizabeth E. Sawyer.^[41]
6. HELEN A.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Lowell on 24 October 1846;^[42] d. there on 19 April 1917.^[43]
7. EMMA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New Hampshire about 1849-50;^[44] No record beyond 1850 census.

¹Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 11 September 2017), vol. 157, p. 171, Lowell Deaths, 1862, Stephen C. Maxfield.
²New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9956, Marriage, Maxfield-Staples, 1831; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 24 January 2017).
³"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 482, p. 269, e. 1330, Lowell Deaths, 1898, Clarissa Maxfield.
⁴French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
⁵Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, p. 30, Stephen C. Mansfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 September 2014); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁶Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Newmarket, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, p. 156B, household 718, Stephen Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁷Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, v.22, p. 435, household 1, S. C. Maxfield family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 15 August 2022); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁸Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, roll 507, p. 740, household 2740, Stephen C. Maxfield boarding house; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 3 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
⁹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
¹⁰"Odd Fellows Funeral," Lowell Daily Citizen and News, 11 August 1862; 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark : accessed 30 September 2013).
¹¹Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, v. 20, p. 460, household 54, Clarissa Maxfield boarding house; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 16 August 2013); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹²Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, roll 628, p. 206A, household 112, Clarissa Maxfield family and boarding house; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹³Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, enumeration district (ED) 448, roll 544, p. 55B, household 279, Clarissa Maxfield boarding house; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁴"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 482, p. 269, e. 1330, Lowell Deaths, 1898, Clarissa Maxfield.
¹⁵Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, enumeration district (ED) 818, roll 661, p. 12, household 258, Sarah E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 April 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, enumeration district (ED) 849, p. 5A, household 127, Sarah E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2013); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁶1865 Massachusetts State Census, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, v. 20, p. 455, household 1, Rufus A. Maxfield family.
¹⁷1870 Census, Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, p. 198A, household 303, Rufus Maxfield family.
¹⁸1880 Cdensus, Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, ED 149, roll 764, p. 501C, household 26, Rufus A. Maxfield family.
¹⁹"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 410, p. 163, e. 963, Lowell Deaths, 1890, Mary A. Maxfield.
²⁰"U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925," digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 30 September 2013), Rufus Atwood Maxfield.
²¹"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 464, p. 264, e. 1738, Lowell Deaths, 1896, Rufus A. Maxfield.
²²New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, p. 324, e. 4, Marriage: Maxfield-Ingalls, 1866.
²³1870 Census, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, roll 645, p. 256A, household 1637, George E. Warren family and boarders.
²⁴1880 Census, Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, ED 144, roll 764, p. 426C, household 230, Silas Bracket family.
²⁵New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9958, Marriage, Maxfield-Simonds, 1881.
²⁶1900 Census, Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, ED 735, roll 658, p. 2, household 37, Luther Franks family.
²⁷Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 34, certificate no. 313, Concord Deaths, 1904, Elizabeth A. Maxfield.
²⁸1850 Census, Newmarket, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, p. 156B, household 718, Stephen Maxfield family; also marriage record.
²⁹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Death: Susan F. Parker, 1901.
³⁰"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 88, p. 92, e. 179; Lowell Marriages 1855; Parker-Maxfield.
³¹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
³²1865 Massachusetts State Census, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, v. 20, p. 460, household 54, Clarissa Maxfield boarding house.
³³Woodlawn Cemetery, Pepperell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 30 July 2018), Rufus-Mary Maxfield; Created by: Denise, photo Added by FJP3.
³⁴"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 464, p. 264, e. 1738, Lowell Deaths, 1896, Rufus A. Maxfield.
³⁵"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 100, p. 200, e. 3; Pepperell Marriages 1856; Maxfield-Spaulding.
³⁶Woodlawn Cemetery, Pepperell, Rufus-Mary Maxfield; Created by: Denise, photo Added by FJP3.
³⁷Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1916-1920," difital images, American Ancestors (american ancestors.org : accessed 20 January 2023), 1916 Deaths,,Boston v. 2, p. 25, e. 6325; Stephen W. Maxfield.
³⁸New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, p. 324, e. 4, Marriage: Maxfield-Ingalls, 1866.
³⁹1870 Census, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, roll 645, p. 256A, household 1637, George E. Warren family and boarders.
⁴⁰New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 9958, Marriage, Maxfield-Simonds, 1881.
⁴¹"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 34, certificate no. 313, Concord Deaths, 1904, Elizabeth A. Maxfield
⁴²"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 23, p. 60, e. 744, Lowell Births, 1846-7, (female) Maxfield.
^43/A>"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1916-1920," 1917 Deaths, v. 44, p. 374; Nellie Maxfield.
441850 Census, Newmarket, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, p. 156B, household 718, Stephen Maxfield family.

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

Lowell Daily Citizen and News. Lowell, Massachusetts. 11 August 1862.

Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Secretary of the Commonwealth. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1916-1920." Digital images. American Ancestors. american ancestors.org : 2023.

Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2022.

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

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.

"U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925." Database and images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

United States Department of the Census. Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.

________. 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.

Woodlawn Cemetery, Pepperell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.