Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

SETH⁵ MAXFIELD (Edmund⁴, Timothy^3-2, John¹) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 2 December 1775^[1] a son of Edmund Maxfield and his wife Rachel Russell . He died at Dartmouth on 4 March 1850.^[2] He married at Dartmouth on 8 September 1803 PHEBE WING.^[3] She was born at Westport, Bristol County, on 26 June 1782, a daughter of David and Sarah (Kirby) Wing.^[4] She died at Dartmouth on 21 July 1874.^[5]

Seth Maxfield grew up in Dartmouth, the fourth of five sons and six children of Edmund Maxfield, a cooper and merchant. Seth was 5' 8" tall, and had a dark complexion and brown hair.^[6]

Seth Maxfield participated briefly in the whaling enterprise. He sailed on the ship Gleaner on a whaling expedition to Patagonia, from 12 May 1818 to 1 January 1819.^[7] This may be the cause of his sometimes being called "Captain Seth Maxfield." From the 1820 census onwards all records describe him as a farmer in North Dartmouth.

Seth and Phebe had three children from 1807 to 1815, and the family remained close throughout their lives.

Census records before 1850 list only the head of household and numbers in various age and sex categories. These records for Seth's family, and a possible explanation, follow:^[8]

Except for an over-estimation of Lydia's age in 1830, these figures fit the known facts of this family.

Son David, like his father, went on a whaling cruise as a young man. He sailed on the Hydaspe for Patagonia on 24 June 1830 and returned on 26 March 1831. The crew list described him as 5' 8", light complexion, and brown hair.^[9] David married in 1832, and was recorded in the 1840 census at Dartmouth, engaged in agriculture. The household consisted of a man and a woman in their thirties (David, 33, Maria, 31), and a male between 15 and 20, perhaps a farm hand.^[10]

Seth Maxfield died suddenly on 4 March 1850 at Dartmouth, and is buried at the Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth^[11] (photo from findagrave.com).

The 1850 census reported widow Phebe Maxfield living with her son David at Dartmouth as follows:^[12]

Line	Name	Age	Sex	Occupation	Birthplace	Other
2.	David W. Maxfield	42		farmer	MA
3.	Maria G. Maxfield	41			MA
4.	Phebe Maxfield	67			MA
5.	Rhoda Smith	34			MA
6.	Seth T. Gifford	4			MA	school

Lydia had married in 1840, she had a child, Seth Gifford, born at Dartmouth on 26 June 1845.^[13] She died a few weeks later, on 19 August, 1845.^[14] Her husband remarried the next year. Seth was raised by David and Maria, who had no children of their own. Rhoda had been married less than a year; her husband earned his living from the sea, and so was often absent from home. David's property was valued at $3000.

The 1855 Massachusetts state census reported David, 48, Maria, 46, Phebe, 74, and Seth, 9.^[15] In 1860 the household, reported in the North Dartmouth Post Office section of Dartmouth, had grown again:^[16]

This three-generation household headed by David Maxfield included his wife Maria, his mother, Phebe, his nephew Seth, his sister Rhoda, her husband John, and their son Thomas. David was reported possessing real estate of $2500 and a personal estate of $200. John Smith had real estate of $5000 and a personal estate of $2000. The 1865 state census reported a smaller household of David, Maria, Phebe, and a farm hand, Harvey Ryder.^[17] The 1870 census reported the same composition of the family.^[18] In 1880 Maria G. Maxfield was keeping house for her husband's cousin Benjamin T. Maxfield.

Widow Phebe Maxfield died of old age at Dartmouth on 21 July 1874. She is buried at the Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth.^[19]

Seth Maxfield and his wife Phebe Wing had the following children:

1. DAVID WING⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 3 July 1807;^[20] d. at Dartmouth on 1 May 1877;^[21] m. at Dartmouth on 15 April 1832 MARIA G. RIDER,^[22] b. at Dartmouth on 12 February 1809,^[23] d. at Mattapoisett, Plymouth Co., MA, on 9 May 1890,^[24] child of Edward and Mary Rider.
2. LYDIA T.⁶ MAXFIELD b. prob. at Dartmouth on 12 September 1811; d. at Dartmouth on 19 August 1845;^[25] m. at New Bedford, Bristol Co., on 26 October 1840 PERRY GIFFORD.^[26]
3. RHODA⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on October 1815;^[27] d. at Dartmouth on 7 April 1886;^[28] m. at Providence, Providence Co., RI on 26 November 1849 JOHN C. SMITH,^[29] b. at Dartmouth on 1817.^[30]

¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930), 1:159.
²Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, mortality schedule, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 9:191:23; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013); "Death Records in the New Bedford Mercury, 1845-1874," 564, New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, MA; Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, database, Find a Grave (findagrave.com : accessed 2012).
³Vital Records of Dartmouth, 2:314.
⁴Ibid. 1:158.
⁵Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2012), 265:77:32; Newtown Burial Ground, Find a Grave; "Death Records in the New Bedford Mercury, 1845-1874,"936.
⁶"Whaling Archives," database, New Bedford Free Public Library, City of New Bedford, Massachusetts (https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : accessed 2014)
⁷Ibid.
⁸Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 17:285; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 47:576; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 59:361; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 178:326; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁹"Whaling Archives."
¹⁰1840 Census, 178:326
¹¹Newtown Burial Ground, Find a Grave; 1850 Census, Mortality Schedule, 9:191:23.
¹²Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 309:438B, 552; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
¹³Vital Records of Dartmouth, 1:100.
¹⁴Ibid., 3:33.
¹⁵Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., 94; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2011); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA.
¹⁶Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 492:867-868, 2406; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
¹⁷Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 602; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2014 ).
¹⁸Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 603:114B, 39; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2014).
¹⁹Newtown Burial Ground, Find a Grave.
²⁰from age at death
²¹Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2012), 292:116:201.
²²Vital Records of Dartmouth, 2:312.
²³from age at death
²⁴Newtown Burial Ground, Find a Grave; Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Division of Vital Statistics, State House, Boston, MA, 410: 433:11.
²⁵Vital Records of Dartmouth, 3:33.
²⁶Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), 2:366.
²⁷Vital Records of Dartmouth, 1:251.
²⁸"Massachusetts Vital Records: Dartmouth," Deaths, 2:53, 22; Holbrook, Jay Mack, ed., Oxford, MA: Holbrook Research Institute, 1992.
²⁹James N. Arnold, ed., Vital Records of Rhode Island, 1636-1850, vol. 21 (Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1892), 2:1:121.
³⁰Vital Records of Dartmouth 1:248.

Arnold, James N., ed.. Vital Records of Rhode Island, 1636-1850. 21. Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1892.

"Death Records in the New Bedford Mercury, 1845-1874, New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, MA.

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

Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2012.

Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Division of Vital Statistics, State House, Boston, MA. Vital Records of Massachusetts. New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, MA. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2011.

________, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2014.

"Massachusetts Vital Records: Dartmouth." Holbrook, Jay Mack, ed., Oxford, MA: Holbrook Research Institute, 1992.

Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA. Database. Find a Grave. findagrave.com : 2012.

United States Department of the Census. 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.

________. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, mortality schedule. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.

Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930.

Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. 3 volumes. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941.

"Whaling Archives." Database. New Bedford Free Public Library. City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : 2014.

Wing, Conway P. A Historical Register of John Wing, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, and His Descendants, 1662-1881. Carlisle, PA: by author, 1881.

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.