Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

IRA⁵ MAXFIELD (Joshua^4-3, Joseph², John¹) was born at New Hampshire about 1809-10 a son of Joshua Maxfield, Jr., and his second wife Asenath Young. He died probably at Whitehall, Washington County, New York, sometime after the 1880 census. He married probably before 1836 (first child born 1836) MARY M. RIPLEY. She was born at Whitehall about 1820. She died probably at Whitehall sometime after the 1880 census.

Ira Maxfield is placed as a child of Joshua and Asenath for the following reasons:

• He appears next to Joshua Maxfield at Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, in the 1840 census;
• He gave his first daughter the name of Asenath (Joshua's wife's name);
• He fits into the age and sex categories of a child of Joshua in the 1810 and 1820 censuses.

If Ira is correctly identified as a child of Joshua and Asenath, he was born in New Hampshire. Census records give diverse answers to the state of his birth: New York in the 1850 and 1880 censuses, Vermont in 1855, 1860 and 1865, New Hampshire in 1870 and 1875. He did come from all three states. The census records also have slight variations on his year of birth based on his age reported in the censuses. He was born in 1809-10 (1850, 1870, 1875 censuses) or 1810-11 (1855, 1860 and 1880 censuses) or 1811-12 (1865 census). The earliest recorded date, 1809-10, is most likely--perhaps in 1810 before the June 1 census date.

The maiden name of Ira's wife, Mary, is given on the death record of their daughter Mary. That document also states she was born at Whitehall.^[1] Her birthplace is given as Washington County in the 1855 and 1865 censuses, Warren County, New York, in 1875.

If we have correctly identified Ira, he probably spent his early childhood with his parents at Bradford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. By the age of ten he had moved with his family to Chester, Windsor County, Vermont. At some point in his young adulthood he moved with most of his family to Fort Ann. Ira was reported there in the 1840 census, at nearby Dresden, Washington County, in 1850, and at another nearby community, Whitehall, in 1855 and for the rest of his life. According to the 1840 census Ira was engaged in agriculture, however in 1850, 1865 and 1870 he was called a laborer, and in 1855 and 1860 he was specifically described as a boatman. The Champlain Canal, connecting Lake Champlain with the Hudson River, was completed through Whitehall in 1823, and provided jobs in that area throughout the nineteenth century.

A problem in understanding this family is daughter Mary (Maxfield) Scott. According to her death record she was born at Whitehall to Ira Maxfield and Mary Ripley on 3 January 1844.^[2] However the census records for this family do not report a daughter Mary, and do not record any children born between 1841 and 1847. I will accept this death record as accurate and include Mary in this family. Perhaps she was placed, for some reason, in another family, and in childhood was recorded in censuses with the last name of that family?

The 1840 census reported the Ira Maxfield family at Fort Ann, next to the Joshua Maxfield family. Ira's family consisted of a male 30-39, female 15-19, male 0-4 and female 0-4.^[3] This corresponds approximately to the other information on this family, as Ira, about 30, Mary, about 20, William, 4, and Asenath, less than a year.

Census records from 1850 to 1880, all supposedly reporting information on 1 June of the year, report this family with ages of family members as follows:^[4]

Adeline and Angeline were twins. Son William married and had his own family. Son George also married, but in 1880 he and his wife were living separately and their children were with her parents. Adeline was also reported in 1850, age 9, a laborer in the household of D. B. Snody, Dresden,^[5] and in 1855, as A. Maxfield (could be either Adeline or Angeline), age 13, a servant in the household of Asa and S. Hemminway, a farmer of Granville, Washington County.^[6] I have no further information on the daughters beyond these census records. I have no further information on Ira and Mary beyond the 1880 census.

Ira Maxfield and his wife Mary Ripley had the following children:^[7]

1. WILLIAM H.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Whitehall on 1836.
2. ASENATH⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Washington County about 1839-40; no information beyond 1860 census.
3. ADELINE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Washington County about 1841; no information beyond 1860 census.
4. ANGELINE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Washington Co. abt. 1841; no information beyond 1860 census.
5. MARY⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Whitehall on 3 January 1844; d. at Fair Haven, Rutland County, Vermont, on 8 May 1904, cause of death tuberculoses; m. ________ SCOTT.^[8]
6. ANNETTE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Washington County about 1847; no information beyond 1865 census.
7. GEORGE W.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Washington County on October 1848.

¹Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 254, Death, Mary Maxfield Scott, 1904; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 18 August 2013).
²Ibid.
³Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 236, Ira Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 26 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁴Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Dresden, Washington County, New York, p. 125A, household 22, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; New York State Census, 1855, population, Whitehall, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1, p. 147, household 386, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 11 September 2013); Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Whitehall, Washington County, New York, p. 75, household 5, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; New York, State Census, 1865, population, Whitehall, Washington County, New York, p. 12, household 100, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 5 October 2014); Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Whitehall, Washington County, New York, p. 569B, household 89, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 9 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; New York, State Census, 1875, population, Whitehall, Washington County, New York, p. 32, household 284, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 7 January 2012); New York State Library, Albany; Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, , population, Whitehall, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 158, p. 530C, household 400, Ira Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. .
⁵1850 Census, Dresden, Washington County, New York, p. 125A, household 19, D. B. Snody household.
⁶New York State Census, 1855, Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
⁷Information on the children of this family is derived from census records, already noted, except for additional information on Mary.
⁸Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 254, Death, Mary Maxfield Scott, 1904.

New York County Offices. New York State Census, 1855, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

________. New York State Census, 1865, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2014.

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

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.

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.