Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Eighth Generation

WILLIAM FRANKLIN⁸ MAXFIELD (W. Frederick⁷, David⁶, perhaps Isaac⁵, David⁴, Eliphalet³, Nathaniel², John¹) was born at Wisconsin about 1862 a son of William Frederick Maxfield and his wife Lydia W. Grimmer .^[1] I have no information on William Franklin "Frank" Maxfield after 1900. He married at Nebraska on 11 April 1886 KATIE PIERCE. She was born at Illinois on 11 January 1870, a daughter of Sidney G. and ________ Gridley.^[2] Frank and Katie were divorced by 1900. Katie then married at Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan, on 30 July 1904, SAMUEL PIFER,^[3] who was born at Michigan about 1871/2, to George W. Pifer and ________ Collier. Katie died at Benton, Berrien County, Michigan, on 3 March 1924.^[4]

Frank's family lived in Shawano County, Wisconsin until his teen-age years, when they moved to Nebraska. The oldest of ten children, Frank was seventeen when his mother died in 1879. The family was then scattered into several households. The 1880 census reported Frank Maxfield, 18, born at Wisconsin, living in York County, Nebraska, in the household of Fletcher and Matilday Whitcomb.^[5]

Frank Maxfield married Katie Pierce in 1886, and they had two sons, born in 1887 and 1888. In 1897 they were living in Bromfield (now Giltner), Hamilton County, Nebraska, when an incident occurred which went all the way to the State Supreme Court. Sadie Stevenson, a sixteen year old girl, accused Frank Maxfield of raping her on January 31 of that year. The conviction of a lower court was overturned by the Supreme Court on March 3, 1898. On the Sunday afternoon in question, Sadie went to the Maxfield home looking for Mrs. Maxfield. Frank said she was out visiting, but would be home soon, and Sadie went into the home. They played checkers, and then, according to Sadie, Frank raped her. However her testimony was inconsistent and contradictory. A physician examined her and testified that she was still a virgin and there was no sign of an attempted rape. The woman across the street, who was in front of her house making molasses candy, testified that she saw them enter the house, that she heard no outcry (as Sadie claimed), and that for at least twenty minutes of the hour Sadie was there, Frank was outside talking to a traveler with a team of horses.^[6]

I find no further record of William Franklin Maxfield. Frank and Katie divorced by 1900, when the census reported Katie and their two sons at Gothenburg, Dawson County, Nebraska:^[7]

The birth date for Clarence is in error; all other records point to his birth in 1888. Katy was reported as having two children, both living. Edward was also reported nearby living with his uncle Fred Maxfield.

Katie had returned to Benton Harbor, Michigan by the time of her marriage in 1904 to Samuel Pifer. The 1910 census reported this family at 118 Pipestone Street, Benton Harbor:^[8]

By the time of the 1920 census Sam Pifer had died, and both sons were married. Katie, age 50, was living in a separate residence at the same address as her son Edward, at 149 Pipestone Street. Her brother, Elmer Pierce, age 52, lived with her. He was a laborer in a casket factory, she was a helper at a restaurant.^[9] Katie (Pierce) (Maxfield) Pifer died at Benton on 3 March 1924 from mitrial regurgitation and organic heart disease.^[10]

The remainder of William Edward "Eddie" Maxfield's life was deeply troubled. In 1910 brother Clarence had to fight him off when Eddie, intoxicated, attempted to choke his mother. Eddie went to jail with two black eyes.^[11] Eddie married ELSIE (HOADLEY) KING in 1917. She had been married previously, and brought three children into their family, Kenneth, age 10 at the time of the 1920 census, Robert, age 8, and Loretta, age 7.^[12] Eddie worked as a mechanic at a garage, Elsie worked as a binder for a loose leaf ledger company. Eddie and Elsie had no children. Eddie's drinking caused stress on his marriage, and Elsie filed for divorce, and on June 26, 1928, had a restraining order issued against him. The following day Eddie shot his wife four times in the head, shot himself twice, and drank carbolic acid, to complete his suicide. Somehow, Elsie survived.^[13]

The 1930 Census reported Elsie Maxfield, widow, age 36, boarding at 169 Britain Avenue, Benton Harbor, and working as a crimper for a book manufacturing company.^[14]

William Franklin "Frank" Maxfield and his wife Katie Pierce had the following children:

1. WILLIAM EDWARD⁹ MAXFIELD b. at Nebraska on 18 February 1877;^[15] d. at Benton Harbor on 27 June 1928^[16]; m. at Benton Harbor on 1 November 1917 ELSIE (HOADLEY) KING,^[17] b. at Michigan about 1893, child of Freeman Hoadley and ________ Inman. Eddie was living with his Uncle Fred in Nebraska in 1900, returned to Michigan probably by 1904. His draft registration on 12 September 1918 gave his address as 435 Benson Road, Benton Harbor, his employment as mechanic at 194 Fifth Street, Benton Harbor, his next of kin as his wife Elsie, and described him as medium height medium build brown eyes black hair.^[18]
2. CLARENCE ELLSWORTH⁹ MAXFIELD b. at Dannebrog, Howard Co., NE on 13 June 1888.

¹about 1862/3 in Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Hartland, Shawano Co., WI, 1739:338A, 20; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013); about 1861/2 in Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, York Co., NE, enumeration district (ED) 130, 757:510A, 4; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 March 2013).
²Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935; digital images, (Family Search : accessed 2013); familysearch.org.
³Ibid.
⁴Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952; index, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
⁵Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, Population, York Co., NE, ED 130, 757:510A, 4.
⁶Nebraska Supreme Court, Report of Cases in the Supreme Court of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE: Grant Publishing Co., 1899), 54:44-53; digital images, Google Books, (accessed 2012).
⁷Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Gothenburg, Dawson Co., NE, enumeration district (ED) 90, 922:11B, 206; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
⁸Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Benton Harbor ward 3, Berrien Co., MI, enumeration district (ED) 63, 638:1A, 21; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 July 2013).
⁹Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Benton Harbor ward 3, Berrien Co., MI, enumeration district (ED) 73, 757:23B, 518; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 July 2013).
¹⁰Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952.
¹¹"Brevities: Drunk Arrested," News-Palladium, 10 April 1910; p. 5; Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed 2013).
¹²Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, Population, Benton Harbor ward 3, Berrien Co., MI, ED 73, 757:23B, 517.
¹³"Recovery of Gun Victim Likely Now," News-Palladium, 29 June 1928, p. 1; Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed 23 July 2013).
¹⁴Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., MI, enumeration district (ED) 8, 976:7B, 183; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 July 2013).
¹⁵Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952.
¹⁶Ibid.
¹⁷Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935.
¹⁸"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, United States, Selective Service System, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 July 2013).

Benton Harbor (Michigan) News-Palladium. 10 April 1910; p. 5.

Benton Harbor (Michigan) News-Palladium. 29 June 1928, p. 1.

Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935. Digital images. Family Search : 2013.

Michigan. Death Certificates, 1921-1952. Index. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

Nebraska Supreme Court. Report of Cases in the Supreme Court of Nebraska. Lincoln, NE: Grant Publishing Co., 1899. Digital images. Google Books: 2012.

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 : 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 : 2013.

________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918." Digital images. United States, Selective Service System. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Records exist for a WILLIAM FRANKLIN MAXFIELD born at Wisconsin about 1858. I have no records for this W. F. before 1900, and no leads as to his parentage. I have no information on the W. F. on this page after 1900. In spite of the four year difference in age, it is tempting to identify the two as the same person. However family members do not do so; as a result I have treated them as two different persons. This other W. F. Maxfield married SARAH BELL McKENNA and they had two children:

1. LEROY VELORES MAXFIELD b. at Amarillo, Texas, on 10 October 1917; d. at Hutchinson, Kansas, on 9 June 2000; m. at Hutchinson on 18 May 1940 DOROTHY FERN RENNER
2. LEO FRANKLIN MAXFIELD b. at Tangier, Woodward County, Oklahoma on 24 September 1922; d. at Enid, Oklahoma, on 6 August 1906; m. at Waynoma, Woods County, Oklahoma, on 12 April 1944 RUBY MARIA COULSON

William Franklin Maxfield and Sarah divorced, and she married RAYMOND L. STRAWN at Kingman, Kansas, on 28 September 1927. The 1930 census reported Sarah, her new husband, and her two sons, at Hutchinson, Kansas; W. F. was at Ochiltree County, Texas. He died at Perryton, Ochiltree County, on 3 January 1944.