Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Sixth Generation

LEONARD6 MAXFIELD (Levi5, David4, Eliphalet3, Nathaniel2, John1) was born at Vermont about 1807-8[1] a child of Levi Maxfield and his wife Laura Richmond. He married NANCY MENTER, a child of Daniel Menter by his first wife. She was born at New York about 1819-20[2] and died before the 1870 Census.

Nancy's father, Daniel Menter, and Leonard's mother, Laura (Richmond) Maxfield had married. So Leonard and Nancy were step-siblings. If Nancy is the mother of all of Leonard's children, she was fourteen years old when she first gave birth. I cannot determine if this was the case, or if Leonard's first children were by an earlier wife. Not having any contrary evidence, I will assume that Nancy is the mother of all of Leonard's children.

According to the birth places of Leonard's children, they were living in Ohio by 1834, had moved back to New York between 1838 and 1840, then moved to Michigan between 1844 and 1847. Leonard was called a farmer in the 1840 census, a sawyer in 1860, 1870 and 1880.

The 1840 census reported the Leonard Maxfield family at Madrid, Saint Lawrence County, New York, consisting of a male in his 30s (Leonard 32), a female in her 20s (Nancy 20), and three children under 5, two girls and a boy (Arvilla 6, Calvin 2, Laura 0).[3]

The 1850 census reported this family at Plymouth Township, Wayne County, Michigan. The family consisted of Leonard, 42, Nancy, 30, Arvilla, 16, Calvin, 14, Laura, 9, Mary, 6, and Henry K., 2.[4]

The 1860 census reported the family at the same township as follows:[5]

Name Age Sex Occupation R.E. P.E. Birthplace Other
Leonard Maxfield 52 M sawyer $200 $150 VT
Nancy Maxfield 42 F housekeeper NY
Calvin Maxfield 23 M OH
Laura Maxfield 18 F housekeeper NY school
Mary Maxfield 16 F housekeeper NY school
Henry R. Maxfield 13 M MI school
Hona Maxfield 7 F MI school
Andrew F. Maxfield 2 M MI

Henry Maxfield, age 13, was also reported at Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, in the Reform School for larceny.[6] Henry Maxfield fought in the Civil War. He enlisted at age 18 on 19 August 1864 as a private in Company F of the Michigan 28th Infantry Regiment. He did not survive the war, dying at Kinston, Lenoir County, North Carolina, on 16 March 1865.[7]

Nancy died between 1860 and 1870. The 1870 census reported Leonard Maxfield, age 60, sawyer, living at Hartland Township, Livingston County, Michigan, with his mother, Laura Maxfield, age 80. According to this record, both mother and son were born at Vermont, both were widowed, and neither could write.[8]

The 1880 census found Leonard back at Plymouth Township, living in the hotel of his son Calvin. That record gave Leonard's age as 77, occupation sawyer, and he and both parents were born at Vermont.[9]

A Leonard H. Maxfield was reported in the 1894 Michigan Census, age 83, living at Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, boarding in the household of William H. and Jennie Cornell.[10] This is probably the same Leonard Maxfield who died on 28 June 1895 and is buried at Grand Rapids.[11] This could be the Leonard Maxfield of this article, but I have no proof.

Leonard Maxfield had the following children, probably by his wife Nancy:

  1. ARVILLA7 MAXFIELD b. at Ohio on 29 August 1834, d. at Northville, Wayne County, Michigan, on 12 November 1908;[12] m(1). at Wayne County on 25 July 1852 GEORGE P. McFARLIN[13] b. at New York on 1826, d. at Plymouth, Wayne County, on 13 May 1877;[14] Arvilla m(2). at Wixom, Oakland County, on 26 November 1879 STEPHEN TAYLOR.[15]
  2. CALVIN7 MAXFIELD b. Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on 4 December 1838.
  3. LAURA7 MAXFIELD b. at New York about 1841-1.[16] No information beyond 1860 Census.
  4. MARY7 MAXFIELD b. at New York about 1843-4.[17] No information beyond 1860 Census.
  5. HENRY7 MAXFIELD b. at Michigan about 1847-8;[18] d. at Kinston, Lenoir County, North Carolina, on 16 March 1865.[19]
  6. HONA7 MAXFIELD b. at Michigan about 1852-3.[20] No information beyond 1860 Census.
  7. ANDREW F.7 MAXFIELD b. at Michigan about 1857-8.[21] No information beyond 1860 Census.

NOTES

1Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 369A-369B, household 75, Leonard Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 4 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
21850 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 369A-369B, household 75, Leonard Maxfield family.
3Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Madrid, Saint Lawrence County, New York, p. 227, Leonard Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
41850 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 369A-369B, household 75, Leonard Maxfield family.
5Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 483, household 187, Lenard Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
61860 Census, Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, p. 245, household 365, Reform School.
7Historical Data Systems, comp., "U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2013), Henry Maxfield.
8Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Hartland, Livingston County, Michigan, p. 131A, household 174, Leonard Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
9Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, enumeration district (ED) 260, p. 308B, household 192, Calvin Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 9 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
101894 Michigan State Census, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, Leonard Maxfield; database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 21 April 2022); Michigan State Archives, Lansing, Michigan.
11Oak Hill Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, Find a Grave, database (findagrave.com : database 4 September 2016), Leonard Maxfield; Created by: Robert Worden.
12Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952, Wayne County, certificate 154, Arvilla Taylor, 1908; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 July 2023).
13Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research, comp., "Michigan Marriages, 1851-1875," Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 3 September 2013), .
14Oakwood Cemetery, Northville, Wayne County, Michigan, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 5 December 2012), George-Arvilla McFarline; Originally Created by: Jim Ditton, Maintained and Photo by: NGSCemeteries.
15Michigan Department of Vital Records, Lansing, Michigan, "Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925," index and images, Family Search (familysearch.otg : accessed 11 February 2024), Oakland County, 1879, p. 27, e. 300: Taylor-McFarline.
161850 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 369A-369B, household 75, Leonard Maxfield family.
171850 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 369A-369B, household 75, Leonard Maxfield family.
181850 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 369A-369B, household 75, Leonard Maxfield family.
19"U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865," database, Ancestry, Henry Maxfield.
201860 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 483, household 187, Lenard Maxfield family.
211860 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 483, household 187, Lenard Maxfield family.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dodd, Jordan. Liahona Research, comp. "Michigan Marriages, 1851-1875." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Historical Data Systems, comp. "U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan. Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2023.

Michigan Department of State. 1894 Michigan State Census. Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2022.

Michigan. Department of Vital Records, Lansing, Michigan. "Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925." Index and images. Family Search. familysearch.otg : 2024.

Oak Hill Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Database. findagrave.com : 2016.

Oakwood Cemetery, Northville, Wayne County, Michigan. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2012.

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 : 2012.

________. Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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