Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Sixth Generation

PHILO⁶ MAXFIELD (probably Henry⁵, David⁴, Eliphalet³, Nathaniel², John¹) was born at Vermont about 1800-1,^[1] perhaps a child of Henry and Minerva Maxfield. He was still living at Benzie County, Michigan, on 11 March 1869. He married before 1833 (birth of child) SUSANNA ________, who was born at Vermont about 1812-3.^[2]

This identification of Philo's parentage is not proven. It is based on Philo appearing in the same town as Henry in the 1840 census, and Henry having sons in Philo's age category in the preceding three censuses.

"Phila" Maxfield was listed as an agriculturist in the 1840 census in the Town of Milton, Vermont; his family consisted of a male 30-39 (Philo, 39), a female 20-29 (Susanna 27), a female 5-9 (Martha 7). and 1 male and two females under 5 (Philo 5, Sarah Jane 3, and one unidentified female).^[3]

The 1850 census reported this family at Madison Township, Lake County, Ohio, as follows:^[4]

Based on the birthplaces of the children as indicated in this census, the family moved from Vermont to Ohio sometime between 1841 and 1844.

I have not found the Philo Maxfield family in the 1860 census. The family appears to have been broken up by then. The three daughters had married, and the sons were dispersed in different households:

• Martha had married John Southworth, but I do not find them in the census.
• Sarah Jane had married Lyman Mann and they lived at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with two children. Lyman was a fireman for the railroad.^[5]
• Isaac Maxfield, 20, was at Madison Township, Lake County, Ohio, in the household of James and Laulona Dayton.^[6]
• Alvira had married Alonzo Seekins in 1859; this may be the Alonzo Seekins family at Dayton, Cattaraugus County, New York.^[7]
• Eugene Maxfield, 16, attending school, was reported at Madison in the household of Louis and Emeline Roberts.^[8]
• Joel Maxfield, 13, attending school, was also reported at Madison in the household of Isaac and Lucy Waite.^[9]
• I find no mention of wife Susanna or sons Philo and Warren.

Isaac and Eugene were soon serving in the Army in the Civil War, and Joel enlisted later in the war.

In 1869, Benzie County, Michigan, probate records reported Philo Maxfield, partially deranged, living at Benzonia Township, Benzie County. The court received a petition on 18 January 1869, in reference to a poor, partially deranged man named Philo Maxfield. He was described as an old man, living on a homestead with no family for five years. One son who lived not far away had left and moved to Ohio. He had other children there, a daughter with her husband living near but described as poor and having children.

Mr. Maxfield has a singular swelling in his head, an enlargement of the skull bone so that his brain is affected. He is partially deranged and is incapable of taking care of himself. Children have not properly taken care of him. I was notified of his situation by the Benzonia people. I visited him two weeks ago last Saturday and found him alone in a very open log house in filth and with the appearance of suffering for want of proper care and in danger of burning up his house or dying there alone.

The 1870 Census reported the children of Philo as follows:

• Martha (Maxfield) Southworth lived at Cleveland with her husband John and four children, a brother and nephew.^[11]
• Sarah (Maxfield) Mann lived at Homestead Township, Benzie County, with her husband Lyman, a farmer, and six children.^[12]
• Isaac Maxfield, divorced, and his six year old son lived at Cleveland with his sister Martha.^[13]
• Alvira (Maxfield) Seekins lived at Cleveland with her husband Alonzo Seekins, teamster, and four children.^[14]
• Eugene Maxfield, newly married in 1870, I do not find in the census.
• Joel (called Joseph by the census taker) Maxfield also lived in Cleveland, with his bride and one month old twins.^[15]

Philo and Susanna Maxfield had the following children:

1. MARTHA A.⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about 1832-3, d. on 11 July 1879,^[16] m. JOHN SOUTHWORTH b. at New York about 1834, d. on 2 January 1886.^[17] Children of Martha and John:^[18]
   1. Ida Southworth b. at Ohio about 1859-60.
   2. Eugene Southworth b. at Ohio about 1861-2.
   3. Carrie Southworth b. at Ohio about 1866-7.
   4. Louis Southworth b. at Ohio about 1868-9.
2. PHILO⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about 1834-5,^[19] no record after 1850 Census
3. SARAH JANE^y MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about 1836-7,^[20] d. at Washington on 20 January 1907;^[21] m(1). at Lake County on 1 August 1853 LYMAN MANN^[22] b. at Ohio about 1832,^[23] d. at Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan, on 18 May 1912.^[24] Sarah Jane m(2) at Seattle, King County, Washington on 6 October 1888 JAMES CLARK ^[25]Children of Sarah and Lyman:^[26]
   1. Sherman Mann b. at Ohio about 1854-5.
   2. Gertrude Mann b. at Ohio about 1855-6.
   3. Albert Mann b. at Ohio about 1861-2.
   4. Alfred Mann b. at Ohio about 1863-4.
   5. Florinda Mann b. at Michigan about 1867-8.
   6. Almira Mann b. at Michigan about January 1870.
4. ISAAC N.⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont on 2 May 1840.
5. ALVIRA⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Vermont about 1840-1,^[27] d. on 7 February 1930;^[28] m. at Cuyahoga County on 19 August 1859 ALONZO SEEKINS^[29] b. at Michigan about 1837-8, d. on 1 July 1903.^[30] Children of Alvira and Alonzo:^[31]
   1. Marion Seekins b. at New York about 1859-60.
   2. Adell Seekins b. at Ohio about 1862-3.
   3. Horace G. Seekins b. at Michigan about 1865-6.
   4. William Seekins b. at Michigan about 1867-8.
6. EUGENE ALBERT.⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Madison on 8 April 1841
7. JOEL⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Madison on 11July 1845
8. WARNER⁷ MAXFIELD b. at Ohio about December 1849.^[32]

¹Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 140B, household 446, Philo Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
²Ibid.
³Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Milton, Chittenden County, Vermont, p. 80, Phila Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁴1850 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 140B, household 446, Philo Maxfield family.
⁵Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 221, household 1891, Lyman Mann family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2024); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
⁶1860 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 362, household 340, James Dayton family.
⁷1860 Census, Dayton, Cattaraugus County, New York, p. 33, household 266, Alonzo Sekins family.
⁸1860 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 357, household 260, Lewis Roberts family.
⁹1860 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 354, household 217, Isaac Hickox family.
¹⁰Jay Homer, "Probate Files 81-134," Pioneer Families of Grand Traverse County, Michigan, information sharing site (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jayhomer/ : accessed] 4 January 2014).
¹¹Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 78, household 646, John Southworth family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2024); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹²1870 Census, Homestead, Benzie County, Michigan, p. 3, household 20, Lyman Mann family.
¹³1870 Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 278B, household 646, John Southworth family.
¹⁴1870 Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 158, household 1311, Alonzo Seekins family.
¹⁵1870 Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 289B, household 825, Joseph Maxfield family.
¹⁶Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : database 11 February 2019), Martha Maxfield Southworth; Created by: Sandra Wells Sucku.
¹⁷Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, John Southworth; Created by: Sandra Wells Sucku.
¹⁸1870 Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 278B, household 646, John Southworth family.
¹⁹1850 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 140B, household 446, Philo Maxfield family.
²⁰Ibid.
²¹Letter from Jack Billow to Charles A. Maxfield, 16 September 2019; held in by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
²²Ibid.
²³1870 Census, Homestead, Benzie County, Michigan, p. 3, household 20, Lyman Mann family.
²⁴Letter, Jack Billow to Charles A. Maxfield, 16 September 2019.
²⁵Ibid.
²⁶1860 Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 221, household 1891, Lyman Mann family; 1870 Census, Homestead, Benzie County, Michigan, p. 3, household 20, Lyman Mann family.
²⁷1850 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 140B, household 446, Philo Maxfield family.
²⁸Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, Alvira Maxfield Sekins; Created by: Sandra Wells Sucku.
²⁹Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2016, Cuyahoga County Marriage license applications, 1858-60, Sekins-Maxfield, 1859; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 13 May 2023).
³⁰Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, Alonzo Sekins; Created by: Sandra Wells Sucku.
³¹1870 Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, p. 158, household 1311, Alonzo Seekins family.
³²1850 Census, Madison, Lake County, Ohio, p. 140B, household 446, Philo Maxfield family.

Billow, Jack. Letter. 16 September 2019, to Charles A. Maxfield. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Homer, Jay. Pioneer Families of Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Information sharing site. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jayhomer/.

Monroe Street Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2019.

Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2016. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2023.

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 : 2024.

_______. Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2024.