Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

DAVID H.⁵ MAXFIELD (Joshua^4-3, Joseph², John¹) was born at Bradford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 23 February 1805 a son of Joshua Maxfield and his second wife Ascenath Young. He died at Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, on 11 November 1882.^[1] He married first at Rockingham, Windham County, Vermont, on 6 May 1828 LAURA MILLER.^[2] She was born at Rockingham about 1806-7, a child of Matthew and Mary Miller. She died at Chester on 24 August 1876.^[3] He married second at Chester on 2 March 1879 REBECCA (THOMAS) CARPENTER.^[4] She was born at Rindge, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, on 4 August 1803, a daughter of Francis and Elizabeth (Gregg) Thomas. She died at West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 18 February 1895.^[5] She had married first at Rindge on 1 May 1928 SETH CARPENTER.^[6] He was born on 28 August 1802 and died on 3 June 1843.^[7]

David Maxfield was the first child of Joshua Maxfield and his second wife. He had one older half-sister who survived to adulthood, and at least six younger siblings - five brothers and one sister. David spent his childhood at Bradford. By the age of fifteen his family had moved to Chester. A decade later his family of origin would be in Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont, and soon after that at Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, but David and his half-sister remained in Vermont. David lived the rest of his life at Chester.

David Maxfield worked as a shoemaker. He was active in the benevolent movements of his day. He participated in the Liberty Party,^[8] an anti-slavery political party, and in 1852 he was a signer of a call to a meeting on the evils of slavery.^[9] He represented Chester at County Temperance Conventions in 1866 and 1871,^[10] and probably other years.

David Maxfield of Chester married Laura Miller of Rockingham at Rockingham on 6 May 1828. Sylvester Sage, minister, presided. According to a child's death record, Laura was born in the village of Saxtons River, which is in the Town of Rockingham. They had eleven children; at least seven, perhaps nine, survived to adulthood.

Census records before 1850 only listed the name of the head of household, and number in various age and sex categories. The 1830 and 1840 censuses could be partly explained as follows:^[11]

Perhaps the unidentifed persons are a combination of older relatives and young apprentices.

The 1850 census listed the members of this family at Chester:^[12]

The 1860 census indicated changes in the evolving family. The census taker incorrectly recorded the family name as "Maxwell." The last child, Franklin, had been born about 1851-2, Mary Emma died in 1854, and Mary Ann married in 1859. Laura and Caroline were absent from the census, although Caroline is known to have been still alive. David was listed as a boot and shoe manufacturer, Horace a shoe maker, and George a boot and shoe apprentice. George, Charles, Abby and Franklin were all attending school.^[13]

By 1870 the family had shrunk to three persons. Julia married in 1865. Caroline died in 1867. George married about 1868-9, and in 1870 lived at Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont, where he worked in a shoe factory.^[14] Abbie married in 1870. Horace had moved to Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, where he worked in a shoe factory.^[15] Franklin and Laura have not been located in this census with any degree of certainty. The household consisted of David, 65, Laura, 63, and Charles, 23, who worked as post-master.^[16] Horace returned to Chester and in April 1875 opened a grocery store.^[17]

Laura (Miller) Maxfield died at Chester on 24 August 1876, from cancer of the liver.^[18] That her death was reported in the Congregationalist is a sign of their prominence in religious and benevolent activity.

David Maxfield, of Chester, age 76, married Rebecca (Thomas) Carpenter, of Westminster, 74, at Chester on 2 March 1879. Henry Y. Slack, pastor of the Congregational Church, presided. Rebecca had married Seth Carpenter when she was 24 yers old. When he died, Rebecca was left a 39-year-old widow with three children. The 1850 census reported her living at Westminster with her children Edwin H., 21, Alfred, 17, and L. Elizabeth, 14.^[19] In 1860 she was at Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, living with her son-in-law, Albert S. Granger, 25, her daughter, Loretta E. Granger, 24, and their son Clement, 2;^[20] Edwin Carpenter, 31, was in the next entry. In 1870 she was still with the Grangers, then at Westminster.^[21] Rebecca married David Maxfield after almost thirty-six years of widowhood.

The 1880 census reported David and Rebecca Maxfield, both 75, at Chester.^[22] Their marriage came to an end three and a half years after it began, when David died at Chester on 11 November 1882 from "inflamation."^[23] Rebecca died at West Bridgewater on 18 February 1895 from bronchitis. She is buried at Surrey.^[24]

Son George Maxfield had moved to Gloversville, Fulton County, New York, by 1875, where he worked as a glove cutter.^[25] Horace Maxfield married in 1879 at Chester. He and his wife Marian were reported in the 1880 Census at Haverhill, living with George Wiggin, the widower of his sister Julia, and the two Wiggin daughters. George Wiggin and Horace Maxfield were both described as unemployed shoemakers.^[26]

David Maxfield and his first wife Laura Miller had the following children:

1. MARY ANN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester about 1829; d. at Rockingham on 27 October 1882 of typhoid fever;^[27] m. at Chester on 29 August 1859 HENRY O. THATCHER,^[28] b. at Vermont on 17 August 1832, d. at Cavendish, Windsor County, on 7 May 1910 of cerebral hemorage.^[29]
2. MERCY⁶ MAXFIELD b. about 20 December 1833; d. at Chester on 20 June 1834.^[30]
3. HORACE O.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester about 1834-5; d. at Plaistow, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 11 June 1903, found dead in a field, death caused by exhaustion, exposure, and other causes;^[31] m. at Chester on 1 January 1879 MARIAN KEYES,^[32] b. at Ludlow, Windsor County, on 31 December 1835, d. at Haverhill on 25 June 1884 from heart disease, child of Horace Keyes.^[33]
4. LAURA A.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about 1835-6^[34]
5. CAROLINE J.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester on 17 February 1839; d. there on 15 February 1867, strangulated hernia.^[35]
6. JULIA F.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester about August 1841; d. at Haverhill on 20 December 1878 meningitis;^[36] m. at Chester on 30 June 1865 GEORGE H. WIGGIN,^[37] b. at Massachusetts abt. 1838-9. Children of Julia and George:^[38]
   1. Maud Wiggin b. at Massachusetts about 1867-8.
   2. Nellie Wiggin b. at Massachusetts about 1872-3.
7. GEORGE C.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester on January 1844.
8. CHARLES M.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester abt 1845.
9. MARY EMMA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about August 1848; d. at Chester on 21 June 1854.^[39]
10. ABBIE S.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Chester about October 1849; d. at Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 17 November 1872, hernia;^[40] m. at Chester on 15 June 1870 HARVEY G. KITTRIDGE^[41], b. at Mount Vernon, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, about 1849; d. on 1906.^[42]
11. FRANKLIN M.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about 1851-2.^[43] He could be the Frank Maxfield reported in the 1880 census at Lyonsdale, Lewis County, New York, age 28, boarder, single, working in a saw mill, born Vermont, parents b. Vermont.^[44]

¹Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4509, Death, David H. Maxfield, 1882; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 28 June 2013).
²Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4279, Marriage, Maxfield-Miller, 1828.
³Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4525, Death, Laura Maxfield, 1876.
⁴Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4727, Marriage, Maxfield-Carpenter, 1879.
⁵Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 13 September 2017), vol. 455, p. 669, e. 4, West Bridgewater Deaths 1895, Rebecca C. Maxfield.
⁶New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, Marriage: Carpenter-Thomas, 1828; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 10 February 2023).
⁷Frank Burnside Kingsbury, History of the Town of Surry, Cheshire County, New Hampshire: with a Genealogical Register and Map of the Town (Surry, New Hampshire: by the Town, 1925), 521.
⁸"Liberty State Convention," Green Mountain Freeman, 24 June 1847; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 22 October 2017), Historic American Newspapers.
⁹Vermont Chronicle, 18 May 1852; 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (infotrac.galegroup.com : accessed ); "Vermont Religious Convention," Green Mountain Freeman, 13 May 1852.
¹⁰Vermont Chronicle, 3 March 1866; 25 February 1871.
¹¹Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, p. 115, David H. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 September 2011); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, p. 210, David H. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹²Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, p. 324B, household 36, David Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹³Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, p. 110, household 1017, David H. Maxwell family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹⁴Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont, roll 1615, p. 353A, household 210, George Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹⁵1870 Census, Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, roll 608, p. 624B, household 177, Stephen Morse family.
¹⁶1870 Census, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, roll 1628, p. 313A, household 114, David H. Maxfield family.
¹⁷"Local Matters: Chester," Bellows Falls Times, 9 April 1875; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 23 October 2017), Historic American Newspapers.
¹⁸Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4525, Death, Laura Maxfield, 1876; Congregationalist, 6 September 1876; 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (infotrac.galegroup.com : accessed ).
¹⁹1850 Census, Westminster, Windham County, Vermont, p. 269A, household 6, Rebecca Carpenter family.
²⁰1860 Census, Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, p. 800, household 774, Albert S. Granger family.
²¹1870 Census, Westminster, Windham County, Vermont, p. 178B, household 267, A. S. Granger family.
²²Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 252, roll 1350, p. 83C-D, household 225, David H. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 24 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²³Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4509, Death, David H. Maxfield, 1882.
²⁴"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 455, p. 669, e. 4, West Bridgewater Deaths 1895, Rebecca C. Maxfield.
²⁵New York, State Census, 1875, population, Gloversville village, Johnstown, Fulton County, New York, p. 60, household 662, Geo. C. Maxfield; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 7 January 2012); New York State Library, Albany.
²⁶1880 Census, Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, ED 187, roll 529, p. 160A, household 98, George Wiggin family.
²⁷Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 1897, Death, Mary Ann Thatcher, 1882.
²⁸Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4303, Marriage, Thatcher-Maxfield, 1859.
²⁹Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 856, Death, Henry C. Thatcher, 1910.
³⁰Brookside Cemetery, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 7 March 2023), Mercy E. Maxfield; Created and photo by: Jade; Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4405, Death, Mercy Maxfield, 1834.
³¹New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6161, Death, Horace O. Maxfield, 1893.
³²Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4749, Marriage, Maxfield-Keyes, 1879; "Chester, Vermont, Vital Records," p. D:35, entry 1, Marriage: Maxfield-Keyes, 1879; New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.
³³"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 355, p. 212, e. 173, Haverhill Deaths, 1884, Marian Maxfield.
³⁴1850 Census, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, p. 324B, household 36, David Maxfield family. According to "Whitney Family Tree" by Roger Whitney at ancestry.com, Laura Asenath Maxfield married Charles Mayo Whitney near Chester Vermont on August 1860 (no source given). They appeared in the 1860 Census at Troy, New York, in 1870 and 1880 at Saint Louis, Missouri, and she died at New Westminster, British Columbia, on 22 December 1893. As I have no documentation for the marriage I cannot be confident that this information is for this person.
³⁵Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4389-90, Death, Caroline J. Maxfield, 1867.
³⁶"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors, v. 301, p. 194, e, 319; Haverhill Deaths 1878: Julia Wiggin.
³⁷Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4294, Marriage, Wiggins-Maxfield, 1865.
³⁸1880 Census, Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, ED 187, roll 529, p. 160A, household 98, George Wiggin family.
³⁹Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4404, Death, Marcy Emma Maxfield, 1854.
⁴⁰Edson Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachuestts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 30 July 2018), Abbie S. Kittredge; Created and photo by: Maureen Reilly.
⁴¹Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4275, Marriage, Kittridge-Maxfield, 1870.
⁴²Edson Cemetery, Lowell, Harvey G. Kittredge; Created by: Maureen Reilly.
⁴³1860 Census, Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, p. 110, household 1017, David H. Maxwell family.
⁴⁴perhaps the person mentioned in the following: 1880 Census, Lyonsdale, Lewis County, New York, ED 183, p. 319C, household 202, Lewis L. Stoddard household.

Bellows Falls Times. Bellows Falls, Rockingham, Windham County, Vermont. 9 April 1875.

"Chester, Vermont, Vital Records." New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

Congregationalist. Boston, Massachusetts. 6 September 1876.

Edson Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachuestts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

Green Mountain Freeman. Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont. 24 June 1847, 13 May 1852

Kingsbury, Frank Burnside. History of the Town of Surry, Cheshire County, New Hampshire: with a Genealogical Register and Map of the Town. Surry, New Hampshire: by the Town, 1925.

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

New Hampshire. Concord. Division of Vital Records. State of. New Hampshire. New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages. Digital images. New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2023.

New York Secretary of State. New York, State Census, 1875, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2012.

United States Department of the Census. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.

________. 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.

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.

Vermont Chronicle. Bellows Falls, Windham County, Vermont. 18 May 1852, 3 March 1866, 25 February 1871.