Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Sixth Generation

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN6 MAXFIELD (Enoch5, John4, Michael3, John2-1) was born at Gilmanton, Strafford County, New Hampshire, on 21 March 1828 a son of Enoch Maxfield and his wife Sarah Thompson . He died at Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, on 7 May 1904.[1] He married at Loudon on 22 July 1863 JULIAETTA S. FRENCH.[2] She was born at Loudon on 19 December 1835, a daughter of Daniel Smith French and his first wife Ann H. Neal. She died at Loudon on 7 September 1905.[3]

Juliaetta was the second of two children, both daughters, of Daniel French and Ann Neal, who married at Loudon on 12 September 1833.[4] A month before Juiiaetta's fourth birthday, her mother died, on 19 November 1839.[5] Eight months later her father married Mary M. Haines, at Canterbury, Merrimack County, on 19 July 1840.[6] The marriage record calls her "Mrs." but I have not found a prior marriage record. About a year later, Juliaetta's step-mother gave birth to her third sister, Ann Augusta. When Juliaetta was six, her father died, on 2 August 1842.[7] This left Mary (Haines) French a widow of 34 years, with three girls to raise, all under eight years.

Benjamin Franklin Maxfield grew up on the family farm in Gilmanton, which was part of Strafford County unitl 1840, when it was transferred to Belknap County. He was the second of eleven children. At ther age of fifteen Benjamin left home to engage in farming at Loudon Ridge for four years. After a short period working on the rilroad, he worked for a year on the farm of a Deacon Brown. Next he went to the farm of Mary French and her three daughters, where he conducted the farming.[8] The 1850 census reported this family as follows:[9]

Line Name Age Sex Occupation R.E. Birthplace Other
5. Mary H. French 41 F $2800 NH
6. Vienna J. French 16 F NH school
7. Julia S. French 14 F NH school
8. Ann A. French 9 F NH school
9. Benjamin F. Maxfield 22 M farmer NH

A biographical volume of families of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, compiled in 1897,described Benjamin's rise.

Starting as a farm hand, with but thirty-five cents that he could call his own, by the closest economy he was able to put by enough money to buy the farm and become independent for life. He and his wife now own about two hundred acres. In addition to his general farming he carries on fruit-raising and stock-raising.[10]
In 1863, after living as part of the same household for over thirteen years, Benjamin and Juliaette married. They continued on the farm on which Juliaetta had always lived.

The census taker made some mistakes regarding surnames in 1870, but reported a family little changed. They were at Louden, Louden Ridge Post Office.[11]

Line Name Age Sex Race Occupation R.E. P.E. Birth
37. Maxfield, Benjamin F. 41 M W farmer $2800 $1000 NH
38. Maxfield, Juliett L. 33 F W keeping house NH
39. Maxfield, Augusta A. 28 F W NH
40. Maxfield, Mary H. 61 F W NH

The census taker had mistakenly given Mary and Augusta the surname Maxfield. In 1880, Mary H. French, 71, and daughter Augusta A. French, 39, were reported in the household immediately after Benjamin and Juliette.[12] Juliaetta's oldest sister, Vienna Jane B. French, had died on 27 October 1854.[13]

The Benjamin and Juliette Maxfield family had only one child. Daniel French Maxfield died on 22 May 1871. As he was not present for the census on 1 June 1870, he was probably born after that date, and died in infancy.Juliaetta' step-mother, Mary H. French, died at Loudon on 31 December 1890, from gangrene, associated with old age.[14]

The 1900 census reported Benjamin and Juliette Maxfield, ages 72 and 64, living at Ludon. Benjamin was a farmer. They had been married 48 years. Juliet had given birth to only one child, who did not survive.[15]

Benjamin Maxfield died in 1904. from heart disease.[16] In his will, written 13 November 1894 and proved 28 July 1904, he left everything to his wife Juliette.[17]

Julia (French) Maxfield died in 1905 from dropsy.[18] Her will of 7 September 1905, proved on 12 September 1905, left the following legacies:

I have not identified these persons.

Benjamin Maxfield and his wife Juliette French had the following child:

  1. BENJMIN FRENCH7 MAXFIELD b. after 1 June 1870 (not in census); d. on 22 May 1871.[2-]


Loudon Center Cemetery
findagrave.com
photo by Randy Cummings

NOTES

1New Hampshire, State of. Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 15093, Death, Benjamin F. Maxfield, 1904; digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 25 January 2017).
2New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 9829, Marriage, Maxfield-French, 1863.
3New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 15167, Death, Juliette S. Maxfield, 1905.
4New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 19354, Marriage, French-Neal, 1833.
5Loudon Center Cemetery, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 14 February 2017), sunmitted by Randy Cummings, Joseph French marker.
6New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 19356, Marriage, French-Haines, 1840.
7Loudon Ridge Cemetery, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 14 February 2017), submitted by Randy Cummings, Daniel French marker.
8Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review, vol. 22 of Atlantic States series of biographical reviews (Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897), Benjamin F. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 30 January 2013.
9Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 436, p. 7A, household 107, Mary French household; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 February 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432.
10Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire, Benjamin F. Maxfield.
11Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, roll 846, p. 380A, household 101, Benjamin French family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593.
12Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, enumeration district (ED) 184, roll 766, p. 371A, household 203, Mary French family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9.
13Loudon Center Cemetery, Find a Grave, sunmitted by Randy Cummings, Vienna French.
14New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 12519, Mrs. Mary haines French, 1890.
15Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, enumeration district (ED) 169, roll 949, p. 5B, household 123, Benjamin Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2013); NARA microfilm group T623.
16New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 15093, Death, Benjamin F. Maxfield, 1904.
17Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Probate Records, vol. 100 p. 534, will of Benjamin Maxfield; "New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973," digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org: accessed 12 January 2014).
18New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937, index card 15167, Death, Juliette S. Maxfield, 1905.
19Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Probate Records, vol. 101 p. 480, will of Juliaette Maxfield.
20Loudon Center Cemetery, Find a Grave, submitted by Randy Cummings, Benjamin F. Maxfield marker.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Loudon Center Cemetery, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

Loudon Ridge Cemetery, Loudon, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review. Vol. 22 of Atlantic States series of biographical reviews. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Probate Records. "New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973." Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org: 2014.

New Hampshire, State of. Division of Vital Records, Concord, Newe Hampshire. New Hampshire: Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937. Digital images. New England Historic Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

United States Department of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, 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.

Return to "Chuck Maxfield's Genealogy Page"

Return to Maxfield Genealogy

Go to Maxfield Genealogy Outline Index

This page updated in 2017
This web page in the intellectual property of Charles A. Maxfield of Lansdale, PA.
Permission is granted to create links to this page.
Permission is granted to make a copy of this page for personal use only.
For any other use, contact the proprietor of this website Charles A. Maxfield