Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Eighth Generation

RUFUS ATWOOD8 MAXFIELD (Arthur7, Jared6, Stephen5, Amos4, perhaps Joseph3, Joseph2, John1) was born at Lowell, Massachusetts, on 17 July 1891 (WWI Draft), or 7 July (WWII Draft), a child of Arthur A. Maxfield and his wife Grace Short.

LOUISE BERTHA DUPUIS married Rufus Maxfield at Marlborough, Massachusetts, on 10 July 1914 (Flaherty). Louise was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, on 6 November 1893 (SSDI; Flaherty).

For fifty years, from 1911 to 1961, Rufus Maxfield was a locomotive fireman and engineer for the Boston and Maine Railroad. He walked to and from his job on Thorndike Street, Lowell, each day (Flaherty).

When Rufus signed up for the draft, at Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 1 June 1917 (WWI Draft), he reported the following:

Rufus A, Maxfield, 25
94 Gates St., Lowell, MA
b. Jul 17, 1891 Lowell, MA
locomotive fireman, Boston and Maine Railroad, Northampton
wife + 2 children, married, caucasian
seargent in infantry, 6 years, Mass.
exemption req: wife + children dependent
tall, medium build, blue eyes, brown hair
registered at Northampton, MA, sent to Lowell, MA
In 1917 Rufus Maxfield enlisted in the Massachusetts State Guard, Lowell. He served at Camp Colt, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as a Sergeant. He trained troops on the machine-gun, serving under Capt. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Flaherty).

The 1930 census reported Rufus and Louise's large family at 152 Dartmouth Street, Lowell:

Name Related Sex Race Age MS B FB MB Occupation
Maxfield, Rufus A. head M W 38 M MA MA MA fireman
railroad
Maxfield, Louise B. wife F W 36 M MA Canada
(French) 		Canada
(French) 		none
Maxfield, Arthur A. son M W 13 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Norma G. daughter F W 12 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Barbara L. daughter F W 8 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Rufus A., Jr. son M W 6 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Harold son [M] W 3 6/12 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Jewell M. [son] [M] W 3 6/12 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Gloria B. daughter F W 2 3/12 S MA MA MA none
Maxfield, Roger R. son M W 11/12 S MA MA MA none
Short, Harry W. uncle M W 57 NJ MA MA none

About 1935/6 Rufus Maxfield was a commander in the Civilian Conservation Corps, working on the Mohawk Trail Project (Flaherty).

Rufus Maxfield reported at Middlesex County for the "old man's" draft registration of 27 April 1942 (WWII Draft) and reported the following:

Rufus Atwood Maxfield, 59 Temple St., Lowell, Middlesex co., MA; 50
b. Lowell, MA Jul 7, 1891; cont: Mrs. Louise Maxfield, 152 Dartmouth St., Lowell
emp: Boston & Maine Railroad, Causeway St., Boston, MA
Rufus Maxfield served in World War II, a Captain in the Transportation Corps, Railway Operations Superintendent, in the Pacific Theater. After the war ended, he continued in military service, assisting in rebuilding the railway system of Japan. He then served in the Korean War in the transportation corps (railroad engineer). He was discharged due to an injury. He fell 40' through a skylight window hurting his back. After the Korean War, he and his children saved coffee cans and filled them with candy, soap, nuts and other items, which they sent to the people he had known in Korea (Flaherty).

In 1960 Rufus and Louise Maxfield were still living at 152 Dartmouth Street. He belonged to the Church of Christ, Scientist (Flaherty).

Louise (Dupuis) Maxfield died at Lowell on 18 July 1964 (SSDI; Flaherty). Rufus A. Maxfield died there on 17 October 1966. He was buried at Westlawn Cemetery, Lowell, on 20 October (Flaherty).

Rufus A. Maxfield and his wife Louise Dupuis had the following children:

  1. possibly ERMA9 MAXFIELD (Tiffany Maxfield)
    • b. 1913
    • d. 1917
  2. ARTHUR AARON9 MAXFIELD b. at Massachusetts on 15 October 1916
  3. NORMA GRACE9 MAXFIELD (Tiffany Maxfield)
    • b. at Massachusetts on 26 Sep 1919
    • m. ________ LOWERY
  4. BARBARA LOUISE9 MAXFIELD (Tiffany Maxfield)
    • b. at Massachusetts on 14 June 1921
    • m. ________ CHRISTENSON
  5. RUFUS ATWOOD9 MAXFIELD Jr. b. at Massachusetts on 2 June 1923
  6. HAROLD EARL9 MAXFIELD (Tiffany Maxfield)
    • b. at Massachusetts on 8 October 1926
    • mil. at Massachusetts on 12 March 1945 (WWII Enl)
        Harold E. Maxfield b. 1926 W MA of Middlesex Co., MA
        enl. 12 Mar 1945 Fort Devans, MA, air corps
        2 yr HS
  7. JEWELL MAY9 MAXFIELD (Flaherty) b. at Massachusetts on 8 October 1926
  8. GLORIA BERTHA9 MAXFIELD
    • b. at Massachusetts on 17 January 1928 (Tiffany Maxfield)
    • m. ________ RUDNIKOFF
  9. ROGER NEIMYER9 MAXFIELD b. at Lowell, Massachusetts on 20 May 1929
  10. CARLTON9 MAXFIELD (Tiffany Maxfield)
    • b. 1932
    • d. 1932
Thanks to Tom and Pamela Flaherty for sharing this information with us.

REFERENCES

Information on this family is found in:

Other sources abbreviated above include:
SSDI
Social Security Death Index. http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com.
Tiffany Maxfield
Maxfield, Tiffany, to Charles A. Maxfield. E-mail. 12 March 2008.
WWI Draft
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Ancestry.com.
WWII Draft
World War II Draft Registration Cards; 4th Registration, 1942, for persons ages 45 to 64. Ancestry.com.
WWII Enl
U. S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 1938-1946. Ancestry.com. Accessed 1 Jun 2007.
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