Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

HIRAM⁵ MAXFIELD (Joshua^4-3, Joseph², John¹) was born at New Hampshire on 15 June 1806 a son of Joshua Maxfield and his second wife Ascenath Young. He died at Richfield, Genesee County, Michigan, on 20 January 1885.^[1] He married first before 1830 SARAH IRISH. She was born at New York on 5 May 1809, a daughter of David Irish and his wife Sarah Phelps. She died at Genesee County on 8 May 1863.^[2] Hiram married second at Genesee County on 22 November 1863 ZILPHA (ORMSBY) HERINGTON,^[3] widow of ISAAC HERRINGTON. She was born at Vermont about 1814-5^[4] and died before the 1880 Census. Isaac was born at Vermont about 1810-1.

A birth record for Hiram has not been found clearly linking him to Joshua and Ascenath Maxfield. However, the 1835 New York state census placed Hiram, Varnis and Joshua next to each other in Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, all censuses give his place of birth as New Hampshire, and his birth date, from his grave stone, places him within the categories of age/sex groupings in the Joshua Maxfield household in the 1810 census. Hiram is also closely associated with Varnis Maxfield, both appearing in the same township in Michigan in the 1840 census, along with David Irish, the father of their wives.

Anna Gallagher has been researching this family, and has provided me with images of the 1835 New York census, and the headstones of Hiram and Sarah.^[5] More research could be done on the interconnections of the Maxfield, Irish and Phelps families of Fort Ann.

Hiram Maxfield probably spent his boyhood in his parents' home at Bradford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. By the time he reached the age of thirteen his family had moved to Chester, Windsor County, Vermont. In another ten years his family of origin would move to Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont, and five years later to Fort Ann. But Hiram was already on the move. He married Sarah Irish of Fort Ann by 1830 (their first child was born about 1830-1). In 1830 he received a land-warrant in section 18 of what would become Atlas Township, Genesee County, Michigan.^[6] However, it was all wilderness then. Hiram and Sarah lived at New York, where their children were born on 1830-1 and 1833, and where they were reported in the 1835 state census at Fort Ann.^[7]

Then they moved West. They were early settlers of Atlas Township, which was first settled in 1837.^[8] The 1840 census reported them at Groveland Township, Oakland County, Michigan, along with Hiram's brother Varnis and his inlaws David and Sadie Irish. The Hiram Maxfiled household consisted of a male and a female in their 30s, and a male and a female between 5 and 9.^[9] This can be explained as Hiram, 33, Sarah, 31, Laura, 9, and young Hiram, 6. Hiram and Sarah resumed building their family, having Josephine at Groveland in 1840, Gertrude in Michigan in 1844, and Edna at Genesee, Genesee County, about 1847-8. The census takers found Hiram in Atlas Township in 1850, 1860 and 1870. The 1850 census, with several mis-spellings, reported "Ira Maxford" farmer, age 42, with Sarah, 41, Hiram D., 16, Josephine, 9, Rachel, 6, and Armenia, 2.^[10] In 1860 Laura (called "Louisa") had rejoined the family, but young Hiram was not present.^[11]

Sarah (Irish) Maxfield died on 8 May 1863, and is buried at Goodrich Cemetery, Genesee County.^[12] In about six months widower Hiram Maxfield married widow Zilphah Herrington; he was 57, she 48. Young Hiram married about 1865, and Josephine and Gertrude married their husbands on the same day, 17 August 1865; Gertrude married Charles Herrington, Zilpha's son; Edna married in 1868. The 1870 census reported Hiram, 64, farmer, and Zilphah, 55, with no children at home.^[13]

The 1880 census reported Hiram Maxfield, 74, widower, laborer, living with his daughter Josephine and her husband Henry Hamlin at Hadley Township, Lapeer County, Michigan.^[14] However, that same census reported "Elipha" Maxfield, 63, married, called "mother" in the household of Zilpha's son Charles Herrington, 44, farmer, and his wife, Hiram's daughter, Gertrude, 35, with their children Rosa Herrington, 10, and Hiram Max Herrington, 7.^[15] Hiram Maxfield died at Richfield on 20 January 1885, and is buried at Goodrich Cemetery.^[16]

Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, Atlas Township, Genesee County, Michigan
findagrave.com

Hiram Maxfield and his first wife Sarah Irish had the following children:

1. LAURA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York abt. 1830-1;^[17] no record beyond 1860 census.
2. HIRAM DANIEL⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 17 October 1833.
3. JOSEPHINE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Groveland on 8 May 1840; d. at Hadley on 10 November 1931;^[18] m. (1) at Genesee County on 17 August 1865 HENRY HAMLIN,^[19] b. at Michigan about 1845-6, d. at Hadley on 30 June 1880;^[20] Josephine m. (2) at Thomas, Oakland County on 25 June 1882 FRANK BOWLES,^[21] b. at Hadley on 14 April 1846, d. on 2 December 1929.^[22] Child of Josephine and Frank:
   1. Estella M. Bowles b. about 1877-8.
4. GERTRUDE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Michigan on 25 September 1844; d. at Goodar, Ogemaw County, Michigan on 21 September 1921;^[23] m. at Atlas on 17 August 1865 CHARLES HERRINGTON,^[24] b. at Vermont on 1836, d. at Au Gres, Arenac County, Michigan, on 21 December 1900,^[25] child of Isaac and Zilpha Herrington. Children of Gertrude and Charles:^[26]
   1. Rosa I. Herrington b. at Michigan about 1869-70.
   2. Hiram Max Herrington b. at Michigan about 1872-3.
5. EDNA ADELE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Genesee on 26 March 1851; d. at Muskegon, Muskegon County, Michigan, on 18 June 1916;^[27] m(1). at Atlas on 24 September 1868 FRANKLIN DUTCHER,^[28] b. at Lockport, Niagara County, New York, abt 1841-2. Edna m(2). at Muskegon on 24 December 1896 JAMES H. WHITNEY^[29] b. at Ontario County, New York, on 22 July 1843, d. at Muskegon County on 1 February 1905.^[30]

David Irish was the father-in-law of both Hiram and Varnis Maxfield. His father Benjamin and brother Rial were among the early settlers of Michigan Territory.

DAVID IRISH was born at New York on 24 January 1783, and died at Ortonville, Oakland County, on 8 January 1855.^[31] He married, as his first wife. probably around 1805, SADIE PHELPS, who may have been born at Hebron, Tolland County, Connecticut, on 31 July 1785, and died at Michigan on 17 February 1879.^[32] David and Sadie divorced on 15 November 1847,^[33] and David married as his second wife, before the 1850 Census, DELILA ________.

David Irish and family were recorded at Fort Ann in the 1820 and 1830 censuses, at Groveland in 1840 and 1850.^[34]

David Irish and his first wife Sadie Phelps had the following children, perhaps others:

1. NORMAN IRISH b. on 16 January 1806, d. 0n 25 June 1846,^[35] m. JUDITH JENKINS b. at New York on 22 June 1814, d. on 19 March 1893.^[36]
2. SARAH IRISH b. at New York on 5 May 1809; m. HIRAM MAXFIELD see above.
3. PERCEY AMANDA IRISH b. at New York on 21 August 1814; m. VARNIS MAXFIELD
4. MANLEY IRISH b. on 8 June 1819, d. at Saint John's, Clinton County, Michigan, on 21 September 1903.^[37]

¹Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, Genesee County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 5 September 2018), Hiram Maxfield; Created and photo by: Glenn & Anna Sakcriska.
²Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, Sarah Maxfield; Created and photo by: Glenn & Anna Sakcriska.
³Genealogical Society of Utah, "Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 6 October 2013), Maxfield-Herrington, 1863.
⁴Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Atlas, Genesee County, Michigan, p. 410B, household 65, Hiram Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
⁵Anna Gallagher, to Charles A. Maxfield, electronic mail, 25 May 2013, "Joshua Maxfield, Jr., & Hiram and Varnis," privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
⁶Franklin Ellis, History of Genesee County, Michigan: with illustrations of its prominent men and pioneers (Philadelphia: Everts & Abbott, 1879), 254; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2013.
⁷Gallagher to Charles A. Maxfield, electronic mail, 25 May 2013. Includes digital image of 1935 New York State Census.
⁸Ellis, History of Genesee County, Michigan, 253.
⁹Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Groveland, Oakland County, Michigan, p. 142, H. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁰Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Atlas, Genesee County, Michigan, p. 295B, household 224, Hiram Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹¹Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Atlas, Genesee County, Michigan, p. 278, household 2135, Hiram Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 3 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹²Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, Sarah Maxfield; Created and photo by: Glenn & Anna Sakcriska.
¹³1870 Census, Atlas, Genesee County, Michigan, p. 410B, household 65, Hiram Maxfield family.
¹⁴Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Hadley, Lapeer County, Michigan, enumeration district (ED) 168, p. 241A, household 118, Henry Hamlin family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁵1880 Census, Wisner, Tuscola County, Michigan, ED 405, p. 156B, household 40, Charles Herrington family.
¹⁶Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, Hiram Maxfield; Created and photo by: Glenn & Anna Sakcriska.
¹⁷1860 Census, Atlas, Genesee County, Michigan, p. 278, household 2135, Hiram Maxfield family.
¹⁸Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan., Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, Lapeer County, certificate 44-3211, Josephine Bowles, 1931; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2023).
¹⁹"Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995," database, Family Search.
²⁰Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, J. H. Hamlin; Created and photo by: Lori War.
²¹Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867–1952, Oakland County, p. 20, e. 1289, Bowles-Hamlin, 1882; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 June 2023).
²²Hadley Community Church Cemetery, Hadley, Lapeer County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 6 September 2018), Frank Bowles; Created by: Sherry Wilson, Photo added by Brit.
²³Michigan Death Records, 1867-1952, Ogemaw County, certificate 65-61, Gertrude Harrington, 1921.
²⁴"Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995," database, Family Search.
²⁵Linwood Cemetery, Au Gres, Arenac County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 15 August 2011), Charles Harrington; Created by: s schmidt, Photo Added by Jennifer Beardsley. No dates on stone, information provided by informant.
²⁶1880 Census, Wisner, Tuscola County, Michigan, ED 405, p. 156B, household 40, Charles Herrington family.
²⁷Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, Muskegon County, certificate 453, Edna A. Whitney, 1916.
²⁸Michigan Marriage Records, 1867–1952, Genesee County, p. 161, e. 293, Dutcher-Maxfield, 1868.
²⁹Michigan Marriage Records, 1867–1952, Muskegon County, p. 425, e. 2937, Whitney-Maxfield, 1896.
³⁰Norton Cemetery, Norton Shores, Muskegon County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 20 July 2023), James H. Whitney; Originally Created by: M. Johnson, Maintained by: Smidge, Photo Added by Kindness Everlasting.
³¹Ortonville Cemetery, Ortonville, Oakland County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 4 October 2023), David Irish; Created and photo by: Rick Felsing.
³²Riverside Cemetery, Saint Charles, Saginaw County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 4 October 2023), Sally Irish; Created and photo by: Anonymous. Birth information is provided by informant.
³³Ibid. Information provided by informant.
³⁴Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 149, David Irish; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 May 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 320, David Irish; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 May 2012); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; 1840 Census, Groveland, Oakland County, Michigan, p. 142, , D. Irish.; 1850 Census, Groveland, Oakland County, Michigan, p. 334B, household 553, David Irish family.
³⁵Ortonville Cemetery, Ortonville, Norman Irish; Created by: Leah, Photo Added by Dick Lowthian.
³⁶Ortonville Cemetery, Ortonville, Judith Irish; Created by: Leah, Added by Dick Lowthian.
³⁷Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, certificate 302, Manley Irish, 1903.

Ellis, Franklin. History of Genesee County, Michigan: with illustrations of its prominent men and pioneers. Philadelphia: Everts & Abbott, 1879. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Gallagher, Anna. "Joshua Maxfield, Jr., & Hiram and Varnis." Electronic mail to Charles A. Maxfield. 25 May 2013. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

Genealogical Society of Utah. "Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

Goodrich Cemetery, Goodrich, Genesee County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

Hadley Community Church Cemetery, Hadley, Lapeer County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan. Michigan Death Records, 1867-1952. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2023.

________. Michigan Marriage Records, 1867–1952. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2023.

Norton Cemetery, Norton Shores, Muskegon County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2023.

Ortonville Cemetery, Ortonville, Oakland County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2023.

Riverside Cemetery, Saint Charles, Saginaw County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2023.

United States Department of the Census. 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.

________. 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.