JEWETT6 MAXFIELD (James5, John4, Michael3, John2-1) was born at Chichester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, on 29 September 1802[1] a son of James French Maxfield and his wife Rachel Blake . He died at Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, on 18 August 1836.[2] He married first at Salem on 28 June 1829 ELECTA SMITH.[3] She was born at Danvers, Essex County, on 8 October 1806, a daughter of Nathan and Lydia Smith.[4] She died at Salem on 12 June 1833.[5] He married second, after they published their intentions to marry at Salem on 7 June 1835 MARTHA TOWNE.[6] She was born at Andover, Essex County. on 1798, a daughter of Elijah and Martha (Fish) Towne. She died at Salem on 16 May 1866.[7]
Jewett grew up in Chichester, the oldest of eight children. When he was twenty-one years old, Jewett moved to Salem, Massachusetts, to work as a shipwright.[8] Jewett and Electa were married there when he was 26, and she was 22.
The 1830 federal census gathered information effective 1 June 1830, about eleven months after their marriage. It reported the Jewett Maxfield family at Salem, consisting of a male and a female in their twenties, and a female under the age of five.[9] If they had a daughter very early, she probably did not live long, as there is no further record of her or indication of her existence.
Their son, and only surviving child, Jewett Edward, was born in February 1832. Electa died in 1833, at the age of 26, having been married almost four years. Jewett was left a widower with a 16 month-old child. Two years later he married Martha Towne. He was 32, she was 37. They had no children; their marriage lasted only 14 months before Jewett's tragic death.
Jewett Maxfield, working at Joshua Putnam's machine shop in Salem, died in a workplace accident. The Salem Landmark reported:[10]
Mr Jewett Maxfield, while engaged in turning a drum, upon the shaft of a steam engine, was killed instantaneously. He was at work near the balance wheel, which was situated very close to a square post or standard. It is supposed that he made some misstep, by which his head was thrown between the balance wheel and the post. His head was mangled in the most shocking manner, one side of his face and the top of his head being almost severed from his body.
Martha (Towne) Jewett, having been married only fourteen months, was left a widow at age 38, with a four-year-old step-son. She lived to the age of 68 and never remarried. The 1850 Census reported Martha Maxfield head of a household in Salem that included Elizabeth Darby, 50, and Mary Wolcott, 20.[11] Jewett was living with the family of his Uncle James at Salem.[12] Perhaps Jewett had been with his Uncle James as early as the 1840 Census, which indicated the presence of a male child between five and nine, not otherwise accounted for, in the family of James.[13] The 1860 Census reported Martha Maxfield in a Salem household headed by Nancy D. Cole, a woman of some wealth. In addition to Nancy and Martha, the household included two Irish servants and also Catherine Towne,[14] possibly a sister of Martha.
Martha (Towne) Maxfield died of "old age" at Salem in 1866; she was 68 years old. Martha Maxfield wrote her will at Salem on 28 April 1851.[15] She left property in Andover to her brother Harman Towne. Upon his death the property was to pass to his step-son and his children. The will was proved on 3 July 1866.[16]
Jewett Maxfield and his first wife Electa Smith had the following children:
1New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH, Index of Births to 1900.
2Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts, to the Year 1849 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1918), 6:52.
3Ibid., 4:76.
4Vital Records of Danvers, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1909), 1:337.
5Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts, to the Year 1849, 6:62.
6Ibid., 4:76
7Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Division of Vital Statistics, State House, Boston, MA, 192: 211:131.
8William Leavitt, "History of the Essex Lodge of Freemasons," Essex Institute Historical Collections, 3 (1861): 257.
9Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Salem, Essex Co., MA, 61:408; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2012).
10"Dreadful Accident," Farmers' Cabinet, 26 August 1836; Readex (http://infoweb.newsbank.com: accessed 2012), America's Historical Newspapers.
11Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Salem Ward 4, Essex Co., MA, 312:235A, 901; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 4 October 2012).
12Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, Population, Salem Ward 3, Essex Co., MA, 312:148B, 605.
13Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Salem Ward 3, Essex Co., MA, 182:281; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 25 September 2012).
14Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Salem Ward 3, Essex Co., MA, 497:424, 3488; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 2 November 2012).
15Essex County, Massachusetts, Probate Records, 424, 383, .
16Ibid.
Amherst, NH. Farmers' Cabinet. 26 August 1836.
Essex County, Massachusetts. Probate Records. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Leavitt, William. "History of the Essex Lodge of Freemasons." Essex Institute Historical Collections 3 (1861):
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Division of Vital Statistics. Vital Records of Massachusetts. New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, MA.
New Hampshire. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH. Index of Births to 1900.
United States Department of the Census. 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.
Vital Records of Danvers, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1909.
Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts, to the Year 1849. Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1918.
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