JAMES GARDNER6 MAXFIELD (Stephen5, Amos4, perhaps Joseph3, Joseph2, John1) was born at Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 22 July 1838, a child of Stephen Clough Maxfield and his wife Clarissa Staples. He died at Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 11 March 1889.[1] He married at Lowell on 14 June 1860 SARAH ELIZABETH ATKINSON,[2] a child of Johnson P. and Sabrina Atkinson. She was born at Sandwich, Strafford County, New Hampshire, on 18 May 1839 and died at Lowell on 7 August 1921.[3]
The third of seven children, James grew up mostly at Lowell; his father was involved in the textile industry, variously described in census records as "laborer" "manufacturer" and "overseer in a mill."
James fought in the Civil War. When he enlisted on 25 August 1862 he was described as 24, a student, and was made a Sargeant in the 6th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. This unit was stationed at Suffolk, Virginia. James was mustered out on 3 June 1863. However, he enlisted in the Navy on 9 February 1864 and was mustered out on 25 September 1864.[4] He served as steward to the surgeon on the U.S.S. Osceola, a gunboat designed to blockade the coast of states in rebellion, and pursue blockade runners.
At the time of his marriage in 1860 James was a medical student. After service in the war he completed his studies at Harvard Medical School. He then practiced medicine in Michigan for ten years,[5] and was reported in the 1870 Census at Clyde Township (Rugby Post Office), Saint Clair County, Michigan:[6]
| Name | Age | Sex | Race | Occupation | R.E. | P.E. | Birth | Other |
| Maxfield, James | 32 | M | W | physician | $900 | $400 | MA | |
| Maxfield, Sarah | 31 | F | W | keeping house | NH | |||
| Maxfield, James | 5 | M | W | MA |
Dr. James Gardner then served as physician at the Taugus, Maine, Soldiers Home, where he and Sarah were reported in the 1880 Census.[7] Their son, James P. Maxfield, 14, was staying with his grandmother Clarissa Maxfield, in Lowell, where he attended school.[8]
Dr. James G. Maxfield died at Lowell in 1889 from "softening of the brain."[9] The National Tribune noted his passing:[10]
| Maxfield-- Dr. James G. Maxfield, a veteran Surgeon, died at his home in Lowell, Mass., March 11, aged 50 years. He came to Lowell in his early days from Nashua, N.H., and in 1862 enlisted and served nine months in the 6th Mass. He was afterward Hospital Steward in the Navy and Medical Officer in various vessels. After the war he was for five years Surgeon at the Soldiers' Home in Togus, Me., and resigned in 1883 on account of ill health. He leaves a widow and one son. He was a member of Post 42 and a Knight Templar. |
Widow Sarah Maxfield was listed in the 1890 Vereran's Census, as widow of a veteran, living at Lowell.[11] The 1900 Census reported her at Lowell:[12]
| Line | Name | Related | Race | Sex | Born | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
| 84. | Maxfield, Sarah E. | head | W | F | May 1839 | Wd | NH | NH | NH | dry goods dealer |
| 85. | Maxfield, James P. | son | W | M | Sep 1864 | M | MA | NH | NH | dry goods salesman |
| 86. | Maxfield, Deborah G. | daughter-in-law | W | F | May 1866 | M | Canada (English) | Canada (English) | Canada (English) | |
| 87. | Maxfield, Nellie M. | sister-in-law | W | F | Apr 1847 | S | NH | NH | NH |
This record further stated that Sarah had one child, who was living, James and Deborah had been married 16 years; she had 2 children, one of whom was living. Deborah came to the United States in 1882. Nellie, also known as Helen, was an unmarried sister of the late James Gardner Maxfield. James P. Maxfield and his wife Deborah had two children: Royal died at the age of four from bronchitis;[13] Grace, who would have been fifteen in 1900, I have not found in the census.
James Percy Maxfield, son of Dr. James and Sarah Maxfield, committed suicide in 1903. The Lowell Sun reported the incident:[14]
Ends His Life with Poison at Troy, N.Y. James P. Maxfield, Warwick Street, a Traveling Salesman--He Leaves a Family James P. Maxfield, a traveling salesman, residing at 52 Warwick street, this city, committed suicide Thursday in a Troy, N. Y. hotel, by taking poison. He died at the Troy hospital about five o/clock in the afternoon. Mr. Maxfield was 36 years of age and resided in this city through the greater part of his life, having been a graduate of the military academy at Worcester. He always had a hankering for the militia and when the Spanish-American war broke out he enlisted with company C and served during the campaign though he was sick during the greater part of the time. Upon his arrival home his wife was anxious that he would leave the army and last December he started on the road selling Stoddard's lectures, for the Balch publishing company. He had the New York territory assigned to him and arrived in Troy, Wednesday evening and went directly to one of the hotels and after settling his room retired for the night. He was about the hotel after rising in the morning and after 11 o'clock complained of a sick stomach. The man lingered about the place and becoming worse the proprietor called a doctor. When the physician arrived he questioned Maxfield, who admitted that he had taken a poison. Shortly after 4 o'clock the ambulance was called and Maxfield was taken to the Troy hospital where he died about an hour later. Maxfield before he died said he has so many troubles that he did not care to live any longer. A coroner was notified and an autopsy was performed Friday morning. Death was found to have been due to poisoning and the coroner decided that an inquest was unnecessary. Maxfield was about 36 years old and leaves a wife and one child. In his clothes was found a letter to his mother saying that he had lost his position through drinking and that he had decided to kill himself. Mrs. Maxfield received a telegram yesterday, stating that her husband had committed suicide and she immediately made preparations for the removal of the remains to this city. The remains arrived this morning and were taken to his lat home in Warwick street.
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Deborah, the wife of James P. Maxfield, died the following year from carcinoma.[15]
The 1910 Census reported Sarah Maxfield, widow, 70, at 52 Warwick Street, Lowell. With her were her sister-in-law Helen Maxfield, 60, and her granddaughter Grace Nichols, 35. Grace is the daughter of James P. and Deborah Maxfield. The record is somewhat confusing in that it lists Grace as single, but married six years. Grace is described in this census record as a singer on the stage.[16] Grace had married Hector Nichols in 1904. Their marriage record described Grace as an actress and Hector as a waiter.[17] I have no further information on Hector.
Sister-in-law Helen Maxfield died in 1917 from pulmonary tuberculosis.[18]
I have not found widow Sarah Maxfield in the 1920 Census. Her death in 1921 was reported in the Lowell Sun:[19]
I have not found granddaughter Grace in either the 1920 or 1930 census. Her death in 1933 was reported in the Lowell Sun:[20]
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James Gardner Maxfield and his wife Sarah E. Atkinson had the following child:
1Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 11 September 2017), vol. 401, p. 126, e. 322, Lowell Deaths, 1889, James G. Maxfield.
2"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 136, p. 108, e. 14; Lowell Marriages, 1860; Maxfield-Atkinson.
3"Deaths," Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun, 8 August 1921; Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed through americanancestors.org 26 April 2024). p. 12.
4Massachusetts Adjutant General, ed., Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War, 8 volumes (Boston, Massachusetts: The Adjutant General, 1931), 1:422.
5French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
6Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Clyde, Saint Clair County, Michigan, p. 114A, household 42, James Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2013); NARA microfilm record group M593; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
7Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Chelsea, Kennebec County, Maine, enumeration district (ED) 88, roll 481, p. 151D, household 227, James Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 August 2017); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
81880 Census, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, ED 448, roll 544, p. 55B, household 279, Clarissa Maxfield boarding house.
9"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 401, p. 126, e. 322, Lowell Deaths, 1889, James G. Maxfield.
10"Mustered Out," obituary, National Tribune, 2 May 1889; Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 26 August 2010). p. 6.
11Eleventh Census of the United States: 1890, union veterans and widows, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, enumeration district (ED) 521, p. 1, household 86, James G. Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 July 2013).
12Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, enumeration district (ED) 818, roll 661, p. 12, household 258, Sarah E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 April 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
13"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 437, p. 234, e. 433, Lowell Deaths, 1893, Royal C. Maxfield.
14"Lowell Man Dead," Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun, 1 March 1902; Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed through americanancestors.org 26 April 2024). p. 13.
15"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 32, certificate no. 151, Lowell Deaths, 1903, Deborah L. Maxfield.
16Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, enumeration district (ED) 849, p. 5A, household 127, Sarah E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2013); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
17"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 547, p. 456, e. 644 Lowell Marriages, 1904, Nichols-Maxfield.
18Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1916-1920," digital images, American Ancestors (american ancestors.org : accessed 20 January 2023), 1917 Deaths, v. 44, p. 374; Nellie Maxfield.
19"Deaths." Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun, 8 August 1921.
20"Deaths," Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun, 20 February 1933; Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed through american ancestors.org 26 April 2024). p. 17.
21"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 178, p. 163, e. 405, Lowell Births, 1865, James P. Maxfield.
22New York Department of Health, Albany, New York, "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 September 2018), James B. Maxfield, no. 8052.
23"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 362, p. 121, Lowell Marriages, 1885; Maxfield-Beattie.
241900 Census, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, ED 818, roll 661, p. 12, household 258, Sarah E. Maxfield family. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 32, certificate no. 151, Lowell Deaths, 1903, Deborah L. Maxfield.
25Jay and Delene Holbrook eds., "Massachusetts Vital and Town Records," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 26 March 2012), Lowell: Birth, Grace Maxfield; Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts; 1885.
26"Deaths," Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun, 20 February 1933.
27"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 547, p. 456, e. 644 Lowell Marriages, 1904, Nichols-Maxfield.
28"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 386, p. 152, e. 48, Lowell Births, 1888, Royal C. Maxfield.
29"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 437, p. 234, e. 433, Lowell Deaths, 1893, Royal C. Maxfield.
French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass. New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, New Hampshire, about 1952.
Holbrook, Jay and Delene eds. "Massachusetts Vital and Town Records." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.
Lowell Sun. Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed through americanancestors.org).
Massachusetts Adjutant General, ed. Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War. 8 volumes. Boston, Massachusetts: The Adjutant General, 1931.
Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Secretary of the Commonwealth. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1916-1920." Digital images. American Ancestors. american ancestors.org : 2023.
National Tribune. Washington, D. C. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov).
New York Department of Health, Albany, New York. "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
United States Department of the Census. 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 : 2017.
________. 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.
United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Eleventh Census of the United States: 1890, union veterans and widows. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
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