Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fourth Generation

RICHARD⁴ MAXFIELD (Joseph^3-2. John¹) was born at Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, on 12 August 1769^[1] a son of Joseph and Love Maxfield. He died sometime after the 1850 census. He married at Warner, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 10 November 1796 SALLY YOUNG.^[2] She was born at Newport, Sullivan County, New Hampshire on 15 March 1773.^[3] She died probably between 1840 and 1850.

Richard spent his childhood at Salisbury, where he was baptized at the Second Church (Congregational) on 10 September 1769.^[4] Sometime between the ages of eleven and fifteen he moved with his family to Weare, Hillsborough County. Their 1796 marriage record reported that he was from Weare, she from Fishersfield, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. The 1800 census reported the family at Weare. However a property transfer in 1801 described him as being of Concord, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The 1810 Census,^[5] and all records after that date, locate them at Bradford, Hillsborough County [later Merrimack County], New Hampshire. He was a farmer.

On 9 May 1801 Richard Ayer of Concord, Gentleman, sold to Richard Maxfield of Concord, yeoman, for $100, a tract of land in Concord of 92 acres. On 5 March 1811, Richard Maxfield of New Bradford, yeoman, sold to Abner Farnum, Jr. of Concord, tanner, for $112, 36 2/3 acres of that land. He sold more of it, perhaps all the rest, on 24 August 1811 to Henry Martin, Jr., of Concord, for $400.^[6]

The census records before 1850 only listed the names of heads of households, and the numbers of persons in the household in various age and sex categories. The records for the Richard Maxfield family, with a possible explanation, follow:^[7]

The above assignments of persons to age groups assumes that the census takers made some minor errors in estimating ages from time to time. Perhaps in 1840 Richard and Sally had a younger couple helping them out on the farm. As most of the unidentified don't follow through from census to census, it is less likely that they were children of this couple.

The 1850 census^[8] reported Richard Maxfield, age 80, one of four paupers living at the residence of Albert and Sarah Bartlett at Bradford. There is no mention of Sally. We conclude that Sally probably died between 1840 and 1850, and Richard died some time in the decade after the 1850 census.

Richard Maxfield and his wife Sally Young had the following children:

1. CHLOE⁵ MAXFIELD b. prob. bef. 1800; m. on 24 March 1824 JOHN PEASLEE,^[9] b. at Sutton, Hillsborough Co., abt. 1799/1800 , d. on March 1884.^[10] For a biographical article on John Peaslee see below.
2. JESSE ABBOTT⁵ MAXFIELD b. on 8 December 1801.
3. GEORGE MASHINGTON⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Bradford abt. 1806/7.
4. LYDIA YOUNG⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Bradford abt. 27 June 1814 ; m. CURRIER MAXFIELD
5. MARY MAXFIELD b. at Bradford on 1816; d. abt. 1851;^[11] m. at Bradford on 29 November 1838 ELBRIDGE GERRY BAILEY,^[12] b. at Warner on 1815, d. at Greenfield, Hillsborough Co., on 12 December 1891, child of Daniel and Sarah (Boswell) Bailey. He was a merchant at Warner, later moved to Greenfield. After the death of his first wife he m. (2) MARIA ________^[13]

John Peaslee settled on the homestead farm now owned by his son, J. Albert , soon after attaining his majority, purchasing at first but ten acres. As time went on he bought other land, made valuable improvements; and at his death, which occurred in March, 1884 , at the venerable age of fourscore and four years, he had one of the most valuable and attractive estates in the vicinity. He was twice married. His first wife was Chloe Maxfield , daughter of Richard Maxfield , who once owned the village of Bradford , then called Fishersfield . She died leaving two sons--Oliver , now of Bradford ; and William , of Amherst, N.H. --and four daughters, namely: Margaret , wife of Stillman Parkhurst , of Bedford, N.H. ; Minda , wife of B. B. Whiting , of Amherst ; Hannah , wife of Timothy Morse , of Newbury , this county; and Sally , who died unmarried. He subsequently married Mrs. Betsey Presby Marshall , daughter of James Presby and granddaughter of Captain William Presby , the first settler in Bradford . Her first husband, Silas Marshall , left her a widow with several children, as follows: William P. , of Boston ; Ezekiel H. , also of Boston ; Kendall W. , a former resident of Bradford , who died in 1892 ; Clara M. (deceased), who married B. W. Fairbanks , of Manchester ; and Elizabeth M. (deceased), who was the wife of the late David Shattuck , of Cambridgeport, Mass. Of John Peaslee 's second union there was but one child, J. Albert , the special subject of this sketch. Mrs. Betsey P. M. Peaslee survived her husband but a short time, dying on the home farm in June, 1885 , aged eighty-three years.

¹Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915), 152.
²State of New Hampshire. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH, Index to Marriages Up to 1900; Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.
³French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, NH, about 1952.
⁴David W. Hoyt, The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982), 450.
⁵The 1810 Census records a Richard Maxfield at both Bradford and Warner. The Warner record reads: 1 male 45+, 1 female 26-44, 2 females 16-25, 1 male and 1 female 10-15, 2 males 0-9. Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Warner, Hillsboro Co., NH, 24:680; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁶Deeds, 159:442; 194:200; 208:152; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds (nhdeeds/rockingham : accessed 2012).
⁷Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, Weare, Hillsboro Co., NH, 20:642; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); 1810 Census, 24:522; Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Bradford, Hillsboro Co., NH, 61:603; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Bradford, Merrimack Co., NH, 76:238; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Bradford, Merrimack Co., NH, 240:102; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁸Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Bradford, Merrimack Co., NH, 436:82B, 489; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
¹⁰Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review, vol. 22 of Atlantic States series of biographical reviews (Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897); digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013.
¹¹French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
¹²State of New Hampshire. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH, Vital Records: Bride's Index, 1640-1900; Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.
¹³French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.

French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass. New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, NH, about 1952.

Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982.

Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review. Vol. 22 of Atlantic States series of biographical reviews. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. "Land Records." Digital images. Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. nhdeeds/rockingham : 2012

State of New Hampshire. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH. Vital Records: Bride's Index, 1640-1900. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.

________. Index to Marriages Up to 1900. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.

United States Department of the Census. Second Census of the United States: 1800, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Third Census of the United States: 1810, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. 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.

Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915.

Wright, Elizabeth. "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants." The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 6:52-56; 7:20-24, 42-47, 61-71, 87-96; 8:15-22.