OLIVER5 MAXFIELD (Joshua4-3, Joseph2, John1) was born at Vermont, on 14 December 1821 a son of Joshua Maxfield, Jr., and his second wife Asenath Young. He died at Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan, on 28 May 1901.[1] He married about 1843-4 MARY M. PARRISH. She was born at Washington County, New York, about 1822-3[2] and died sometime between 1892 (reported on census) and 1900 (husband reported on census as widower). Mary's maiden name is derived from the marriage record of their son Julian.[3]
There is no record directly linking Oliver to Joshua and Asenath. Oliver appeared in Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, where the only other Maxfields were Joshua and his sons. Oliver's birth year and state fit in well with the reported family of Joshua Maxfield in 1830.
If we have correctly identified the parents of Oliver, he was probably born at Chester, Windsor County, Vermont. Sometime before he was nine years old his family had moved to Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont. By the time he had reached the age of fourteen, his family had moved to Fort Ann. There Oliver lived most of his life and raised a family. Oliver was reported in censuses as a shoemaker in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1892, but as a boatman in 1855, 1875 and 1880. As a boatman he would have probably worked on the Champlain Canal, which favorably impacted the economy of Fort Ann.
The Oliver Maxfield family was reported at Fort Ann in federal and state census records from 1850 through 1892. Family members and their ages were as follows (All censuses reported information as of 1 June of the census year, except the 1892 census, based on 16 February):[4]
| name | 1850 | 1855 | 1860 | 1865 | 1870 | 1875 | 1880 | 1892 |
| Oliver | 29 | 34 | 38 | 43 | 55 | 53 | 58 | 70 |
| Mary | 28 | 32 | 37 | 42 | 48 | 52 | 57 | 69 |
| Julian | 9 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 21 | |||
| Cynthia | 7/12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 25 | 30 | |
| Melvin | 1/4 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 20 | |||
| Clarence | 3 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 22 |
In 1870 son Julian was working as a boatman.
By 1875 Julian was married and no longer in the home; Cynthia was a seamstress, Melvin a boatman, and Clarence a farm hand.
By 1880 Cynthia and Melvin were married, but Cynthia was in the parental household with her husband, Walter B. Stuart. Walter was a boatman, Cynthia a dressmaker; Clarence, age 22, was a student.
In 1892 all of the children were gone, but Oliver and Mary had a grandchild in their household, Grace, daughter of Julian, age 16.
The 1900 census reported Oliver Maxfield, widower, born December 1821, living with his son Clarence at Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan,[5] where Clarence served as pastor of the First Baptist Church.
I have no further record of Mary beyond the 1892 Census. Oliver Maxfield died at Benton Harbor in 1901 with senile debility and acute pericarditis, and was buried at Fort Ann.[6]
Oliver and Mary Maxfield had the following children:
1Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, Berrien County, Certtificate 606, Oliver Maxfield, 1901; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 June 2023). State of birth from multiple census records.
2New York State Census, 1855, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1-2, p. 30, household 132, Oliver Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 11 September 2013).
3Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4756, Marriage, Maxfield-Cook, 1873; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 18 August 2013).
4Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 91A, household 358, Oliver 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, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, ED 1-2, p. 30, household 132, Oliver Maxfield family; Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 754, household 34, Oliver 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, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 2, household 14, Oliver Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 6 October 2014); Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 130B, household 185, Oliver 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, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 24, household 201, Oliver Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 6 January 2012); New York State Library, Albany; Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 134, p. 98A, household 47, Oliver Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; New York, State Census, 1892, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 6, Oliver Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 16 September 2013).
5Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan, enumeration district (ED) 55, p. 13B-14A, household 283, Clarence E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 July 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
6Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, Berrien County, Certtificate 606, Oliver Maxfield, 1901.
71880 Census, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, ED 134, p. 98A, household 47, Oliver Maxfield family.
Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan. Death Records, 1867-1952. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2023.
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, State Census, 1875, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2012.
________, New York, State Census, 1892, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
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.
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.
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