William Maxfield spent his enite life in the villages of North Hyde Park and Hyde Park, which lie within the town of Hyde Park. In 1880 the entire town had a population of 1,715. William was at various times a tinsmith, a peddler, and proprietor of a general store. We know much about William because of frequent articles in the Lamoille News, the Morrisville News and Citizen and other local papers, which are available on the Chronicling America website.
The first reference to William Maxfield in the paper occurred when he was seventeen, in the Lamoille Newsdealer on 28 October 1863.[4]
Geo. W. Maxfield Hyde Park, Oct. 15th, 1863
|
At that time in history a man's wife and minor children were not considered financially responsible. The husband/father, responsible for any debts of his dependents, also had the right to claim any of their income. to "give [a dependent] his time" was to grant them the right to keep their own income, and also the responsibility for their own debts.
Six years later we learn of William's occupation in the following notice dated 26 January 1869 and advertisement dated 26 October 1869:[5]
| Mr. Wm. Maxfield, lately in the employ C. S. Page, Esq. proposes to start a tin shop at No. Hyde Park, shortly. Wm. is energetic, independent, and of good habits, and we hope will succeed. |
at low prices! All kinds of barter taken in exchange. Also, I have a new assortment of Groceries, Flour, Corn, Meal, Fish, Tea, Coffee, Tobacco, Sugar, Salt, all kinds of Spices, &c., &c. Wm. C. Maxfield No. Hyde Park, Oct 24, 1869 |
Fourteen months later William gave up his shop, reported 22 March 1870:[6]
| - Mr. Wm. Maxfield has sold his interest in the tin-shop to Wm. Fletcher. - We understand that Mr. Maxfield intends to try peddling this summer. |
His supplies for sale were robbed, as reported on 7 December 1870:[7]
| No. Hyde Park -- A short time since a party of boys ages of 10 and 15, broke into barn belonging to Wm. Maxfield used for storing groceries, and helped themselves to about three pecks of peanuts and a liberal amount of powder. They were arrested and legally dealt with, but it seems the proceeding did not have the desired effect, as one of them was heard to say - he "expected to pay something, but did not care, he would have the fun of trying it over again." |
Two years later, William, described as having a store, was selling off his stock at public auction:[8]
WM. MAXFIELD J. M. Parker, Auctioneer Sept. 6th, 1862[sic] |
When William and Ida married in 1877, William was 31 and Ida 24. The following year William was elected constable for the town of Hyde Park.[9] Shortly thereafter, on 17 May 1878, he was in court:[10]
| Friday p.m. case of Sawyer v. Maxfield was taken up. This was a case brought by E. B. B. Sawyer to recover damages for being forcibly ejected from Mr. Wm. Maxfield's store by the proprietor. We enter into no detailed report of the case, save to say that it appeared that Mr. Sawyer was ordered to leave the store and while doing so, was kicked by Mr. Maxfield. The damages were set at $500. Verdict for the plaintiff to recover $9, which with the costs will make a bill of about $45. |
Two years later he broke his leg:[11]
| Wm. C. Maxfield had the misfortune to break one of the bones in his right leg just above the ankle last Sabbath. It occurred at his farm, some three miles from his home in this village. He jumped from the mow of a box a short distance to a small bunch of hay which lay on the barn floor, striking his foot on a stick which lay concealed under the hay, causing the ankle to turn and breaking the leg. He succeeded in placing the broken bone himself and got into his wagon and rode home, when Dr. Hendrick was called and finished up the surgical operation. |
The 1880 Census reported Wm. Maxfield, 34, merchant, at Hyde Park, with his wife, Ida, 25, keeping house, and also a nephew, John Manning, 17, a niece Nora Meacham, 12. and a servant, Ellen Boyd, 16.[12] Later that year William was expanding his business:[13]
| --F. P. Keeler has sold his entire stock of boots and shoe to W. C. Maxfield of this place. Frank wishes all who are indebted to him to call and settle their accounts immediately. |
At the Lamoille County Fair in 1882 W. C. Maxfield received awards for his one year old heifer, his beets, and onions.[14] In 1883 William was getting out of the tinsmith business and concentrating on the general store:[15]
| M. B. Eaton, of Waitsfield, formerly in the employ of A. M. Churchill of Morrisville, has purchased of W. C. Maxfield his tinsmith business, and rented his tools and the rooms in the basement of his store. The rooms have been enlarged and made quite commodious. Mr. Eaton has had large experience at the business and is called a first-class workman. On account of poor health and other business engagements, this branch of Mr. Maxfield's business has for the past few years been somewhat neglected, and now that we have a man who intends to devote his whole time to it, we hope our people will show their appreciation by giving Mr. E. their patronage. Pull out the old rags with which your tinware has been mended so long, and have the holes filled with solder. |
In 1885 and 1886 William was elected a selectman of Hyde Park.[16] In New England the town is governed by a "Board of Selectmen." William and Ida had two sons, the first in 1883, the second in 1888, who died in 1890. W. C. Maxfield also had a cat:[17]
| Hyde Park - W. C. Maxfield has a smart cat that sits on the ridge of his store - a three-story building - and catches the chimney swallows as they fly around. |
The Morrisville News and Citizen reported on 7 February 1889:[18]
| What might have been a serious conflagration occurred at Maxfield's store last Saturday about midnight. Mr. Maxfield occupies the dwelling apartments over his store. His wife, being awakened by the baby, smelled smoke and at once aroused the rest of the family. On going into the store below it was found to be filled with smoke. Upon investigation it was discovered that the floring between the store and the tin shop, and adjoining the chimney, was on fire--a good sized hole having been burned through the ceiling and was fast making its way through the flooring. The application of several pails of water soon extinguished the flames, which had caught from the chimney. There was no defect in the chimney, being well built of brick and plastered; but it is supposed that it had taken fire on the inside and heating the bricks soon set fire to the woodwork adjoining. The timely discovery was very fortunate, as a few minutes longer would have given the flames such a start that they could not so easily have been extinguished. The goods in both Mr. Maxfield's store and Mr. Eaton's shop were damaged to a considerable extent by the smoke. . . . A very amusing incident occurred at the fire at Maxfield's store last Saturday night. The wife of the proprietor was present and after the fire had been extinguished inquired if it "was all out." She was told that it was, but seeing a light down in the burnt hole, grabbed a pail of water and dashed it down. Immediately there came up from below "hold on!" "hold on!" followed by the appearance of Mr. Maxfield pretty well doused by the water. He had been down with his lantern investigating the place where the fire had been. He was not exactly pleased with the damp reception tendered him, and his ludicrous appearance caused considerable merriment for the spectators. |
The 6 March 1890 issue of that paper reported "goods at the Maxfield auction last Saturday went off "like hotcakes."[19] Later that month the paper reported:[20]
| Maxfield has vacated the store occupied by himself for a dozen or more years, and has moved into rooms in the basement. The store has been rented by Strong & Wood for a term of five years, and they are now moving their goods into the same. |
The following year he returned to tinsmithing:[21]
| M. B. Eaton, for several years engaged in the tin business in this place, has disposed of the same to W. C. Maxfield who will carry on the business at the old stand. |
The 1900 Census reported the William Maxfield family on Eden Street in the village of Hyde Park:[22]
| Line | Name | Related | Race | Sex | Born | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
| 18. | Maxfield, William | head | W | M | Dec 1845 | M | VT | NH | VT | tinsmith |
| 19. | Maxfield, Ida A. | wife | W | F | Jun 1855 | M | VT | VT | VT | |
| 20. | Maxfield, Bernard W. | son | W | M | Jul 1883 | S | VT | VT | VT | at school |
In the 1910 Census William and Ida were still on Eden Street, but he was described as a farmer.[23] Son Burton, who had been married four years, lived at nearby Eden, Lamoille County, where he was proprietor of a general store.[24] William C. Maxfield died in 1916 at the age of seventy from pneumonia, which he had for three days, and also Lagrippe.[25] The 1920 Census reported widow Ida Maxfield, 66, living alone but working as a housekeeper for a private family.[26] In 1930 she was still on Eden Street, and described as a seamstress.[27] Ida died in 1933 from chronic nephritis. The death was reported from Windham County, where her widowed son lived.[28]
Bernard W. Maxfield, the only child of William and Ida to survive to adulthood, did not have any children. He had a couple of accidents as a child. The Randolph Herald and News reported on 9 June 1892:[29]
| Bernard, son of W. C. Maxfield of Hyde Park, fell from the scaffold to the floor of his father's barn, and received what were at first believed to be fatal injuries. |
However the eight year old did survive, and had another accident when eleven, reported in the Morrisville News and Citizen on 24 January 1895:[30]
| A serious accident befell Bernard Maxfield last Wednesday while skating on company with several other youngsters on the meadow below the steam mill. One of the lads ran against him, knocking him senseless and breaking the ankle cap of his left leg. He was taken home and the limb properly cared for and is now fast recovering from the effects of the injury. |
Bernard married in 1905. The 1910 Census reported the childless couple on Eden Corners Road, Eden. Burton, 26, was proprietor of a general store; Leila, 26, was a dressmaker.[31] When Bernard registered for the draft in 1918 he described himself as a postmaster as will as store manager. No doubt the post office was located in his store. He was described as tall, mediun build, with gray eyes and brown hair.[32] The 1920 Census found him in a rooming house in Brattleboro, Windham County. Bernard, 36, was a salesman in a garage. The census record calls him single,[33] but he was probably divorced, as his first wife remarried in 1922.[34] The 1930 Census found him lodging in a home in Brattleboro, and described as stockkeeper in a garage. That census called him a widower.[35] The 1940 Census found him at the same residence and same occupation.[36]
Bernard Maxfield married for the second time at the age of sixty-six. His bride, also a widow, was 59. Bernard Maxfield, stock clerk, died two months later from instantanious myocardial infarction.[37]
William C. Maxfield and his wife Ida Meacham had the following children:
1Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 2291, Death, William C. Maxfield, 1916; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 25 June 2013).
2Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4773, Marriage, Maxfield-Meacham, 1877.
3Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 5455, Death, Ida A. Maxfield, 1933.
4"Liberation," Lamoille Newsdealer, 28 October 1863; Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 23 October 2017), Historic American Newspapers.
5Lamoille Newsdealer, 26 January 1869. Advertisement, Lamoille Newsdealer, 26 October 1869
6"No. Hyde Park," Lamoille Newsdealer, 22 March 1870
7"No. Hyde Park," Lamoille Newsdealer, 7 December 1870
8"Auction Sale," Lamoille Newsdealer, 11 September 1872
9"Town Elections," Burlington Free Press, 8 March 1878; Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 23 October 2016), Historic American Newspapers.
10"Lamoille County Court," Lamoille News, 22 May 1878; Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 23 October 2017), Historic American Newspapers.
11"Mere Mention," Lamoille News, 7 April 1880
12Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 125, roll 1345, p. 427A, household 296, Wm. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
13"Mere Mention," Lamoille News, 22 September 1880
14"The Fair," News and Citizen (Morrisville, Morristown, Lamoille County, Vermont), 5 October 1882; Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 23 October 2017), Historic American Newspapers.
15"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 20 September 1883
16"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 5 March 1885, 4 March 1886.
17"Lamoille County: Hyde Park," Vermont Watchman. Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont, 17 August 1887, p. 5; 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (http://infotrac.galegroup.com : accessed 18 August 2013).
18"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 7 February 1889
19"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 6 March 1890
20"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 13 March 1890
21"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 8 January 1891
22Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 131, roll 1692, p. 15A, household 367, William Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 3 September 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
23Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 128, roll 1612, p. 17B, household 361, William C. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 December 2013); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
241910 Census, Eden, Lamoille County, Vermont, ED 126, roll 1612, p. 8A, household 165, Bernard W. Maxfield family.
25Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 2291, Death, William C. Maxfield, 1916.
26Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 100, p. 13B, household 312, Ida A. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 25 January 2014); NARA microfilm record group T625, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
27Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 7, p. 2B, household 60, Ida A. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 10 March 2014); NARA record Group T626.
28Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 5455, Death, Ida A. Maxfield, 1933.
29"Vermont News," Herald and News. West Randolph, Randolph, Orange County, Vermont, 9 June 1892; Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 24 October 2017), Historic American Newspapers.
30"Hyde Park," News and Citizen, 24 January 1895
311910 Census, Eden, Lamoille County, Vermont, ED 126, roll 1612, p. 8A, household 165, Bernard W. Maxfield family.
32"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, United States, Selective Service System, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 March 2014), Bernard W. Maxfield
331920 Census, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont, ED 110, p. 21B, household 455, Minnie A. Johnson family.
34Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 6138-9, Marriage, Moore-Maxfield, 1922.
351930 Census, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont, ED 2, p. 1A, household 1, Anna L. Sykes family.
36Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont, enumeration district (ED) 13-6, p. 1B, household 14, Anna Sykes household; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 March 2014); microfilm record group T627.
37Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 5426, Death, Bernard W. Maxfield, 1950.
38Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 6602, Birth, Bernard W. Maxfield, 1883.
39Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 5426, Death, Bernard W. Maxfield, 1950.
40Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4718, Marriage, Maxfield-O'Brien, 1905.
411910 Census, Eden, Lamoille County, Vermont, ED 126, roll 1612, p. 8A, household 165, Bernard W. Maxfield family.
42Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 9211-2, Marriage, Maxfield-Hansen, 1950.
43Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 6138-9, Marriage, Moore-Maxfield, 1922.
44Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 6620, Birth, Harry Maxfield, 1888.
45Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4517, Death, Harry Maxfield, 1890.
Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont.
Herald and News. West Randolph, Randolph, Orange County, Vermont.
Lamoille News. Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont.
Lamoille Newsdealer. Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont.
News and Citizen. Morrisville, Morristown, Lamoille County, Vermont.
United States Department of the Census. 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.
________. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
United States, Selective Service System. "World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. Digital images. New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2013.
Vermont Watchman. Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont.
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