BENSON GILMAN6 MAXFIELD (John5-4, Michael3, John2-1) was born at Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, on 18 October 1824 a son of John Msxfield and his wife Betsey Gilman . He died at Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, on 22 June 1900.[1] He married at Starksboro on 11 March 1869 VIOLA THOMPSON.[2] She was born at Starksboro on 17 March 1847, a daughter of Orin Thompson and Polly Stokes. She died at Starksboro on 4 December 1907.[3]
Benson was the third of three children, and the only son, of a family in Chichester, New Hampshire. At some point in his early childhood the family moved to Starksboro, Vermont, where they were reported in the 1830 census.[4] Benson grew up on a farm there. When he was seventeen, one of his sisters died; when he was nineteen, his other sister married. Benson remained on the farm, with his parents as long as they survived.
After his father's death, and seven months before his mother's death, Benson Maxfield married. He was 44, his bride 21. Benson and Viola (Thompson) Maxfield continued to farm at Starksboro, and raised two sons to adulthood. They may have lived briefly in the adjoining town of Monkton, as their first son was born there in 1869.
The 1870 census reported the family at Strksboro, consisting of Benson, 44, Viola, 24, and Newton, 6 months. Benson owned property valued at $3000 and a personal estate of $300.[5] The 1880 census reported Benson, 56, Viola, 33, John [Newton John], 10, and Burt, 5. Benson was a farmer, Viola kept house, and both boys were in school.[6]
Newton married in 1889, Burton in 1896; they both remained in Starksboro. The 1900 census reported a household of Benson, 76, Viola, 53, Burton, 25, and Burton's wife Flora, 20, and their first two children, Earl, 2, and Gertrude, 1.[7]
Benson Maxfield died in 1900, three weeks after the census, from consumption.[8] Viola died in 1907 from phthisis.[9]
Benson Gilman Maxfield and his wife Viola Thompson had the following children:
1Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4506, Death, Benson Gilman Maxfield, 1900; digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 19 August 2013). Green Mount Cemetery, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 3 February 2017), submitted by jburritt, image by Alan Lathrp, Benson Maxfield marker.
2Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4278, Marriage, Maxfield-Thompson, 1869.
3Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4537, Death, Viola Maxfield, 1907. Green Mount Cemetery, Starksboro, submitted by jburritt, image by Alan Lathrp, Benson Maxfield marker.
4Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, roll 184, p. 184, John Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 September 2011).
5Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, roll 1614, p. 263B-264A, household 54, Benson Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593.
6Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 19, roll 1341, p. 235A, household 8, family of Benson Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9.
7Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 21, roll 1689, p. 1B, household 17, family of Benson Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 3 September 2013); NARA microfilm group T623.
8Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4506, Death, Benson Gilman Maxfield, 1900.
9Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4537, Death, Viola Maxfield, 1907.
Green Mount Cemetery, Starksboro, Addison County, Vermont. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.
United States Department of the Census. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
________. 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 Historic Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2013
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