Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

ABRAHAM RUSSELL⁵ MAXFIELD (Edmund⁴, Timothy^3-2, John¹ ) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 7 July 1778^[1] a son of Edmund Maxfield and his wife Rachel Russell. He died at Dartmouth on February 1837.^[2] He married at Dartmouth on 28 March 1805 SYLVIA TUCKER.^[3] She was born at Dartmouth on 19 June 1780, a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Tucker.^[4] She died at Dartmouth on 6 July 1840.^[5]

Abraham Maxfield and his wife Sylvia Tucker lived and farmed at Dartmouth, where they raised their eight children, all of whom reached adulthood.

Abraham Maxfield participated in a few property transfers at Dartmouth:

• 6 December 1802, William Gifford of Westport, Bristol County, yeoman, sold to Abraham R. Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $ 275, one quarter part of saw mill and lot in Dartmouth, called Smith Mill, about one half acre.^[6]
• At public sale 23 December 1808, Susannah Maxfield, administrator of the estate of Joseph Maxfield, merchant, late of New Bedford, Bristol County, deceased, sold to Abraham Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $ 513, a tract of land in Dartmouth with dwelling and other buildings, south side of the highway leading from head of Acushnet River to Smith Mills, about 10 acres; also another tract in Dartmouth of 8 acres, both lots conveyed from Joseph Maxfield to Abraham Maxfield by deed of mortgage 5 December 1804.^[7] [Joseph Maxfield was a cousin of Abraham Maxfield, the son of his uncle Patrick].
• 1 April 1809, Othniel Tripp of Dartmouth, yeoman, sold to Abraham Russell Maxfield of Dartmouth, yeoman, for $ 800, a parcel in Dartmouth, 19 acres 47 rods.^[8]

Census records from 1810 through 1830 reported the Abraham Maxfield family at Dartmouth with numbers in various age and sex categories which could be explained as follows:^[9]

With the exception of the apparent over-estimation of Sarah's age in 1820, the census categories fit what we otherwise know of this family.

Abraham R. Maxfield died at Dartmouth on February 1837; Sylvia died there on 6 July 1840. They are both buried at Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth.^[10]

After the death of their parents, much of the family continued to stick together. In the 1840 census Jonathan headed his own household with his wife and two children. Collins, Abraham and William were each listed as heads of households of one person. Benjamin T. Maxfield headed a household of a man and a woman in their thirties, and two women in their twenties.^[11] This could be explained as Benjamin and his siblings Sarah, Hannah and Bathsheba.

Through the succeeding decades Benjamin T. Maxfield, a life-ling bachelor farmer, headed a household that included siblings, nieces and nephews, and cousins of varying degrees.

Hannah Smith Maxfield married Joseph T. Russell, a house painter of Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts, in 1848.^[12] They had two daughters, Mary J. Russell, born at Fairhaven on 7 August 1849,^[13] and Ann Eliza Maxfield, born there on 23 August 1851.^[14] Joseph and Hannah both died in 1853 from consumption. The two girls were reported in the household of Benjamin T. Maxfield beginning with the 1855 state census.

The 1855 state census reported Benjamin T. Maxfield, 49, farmer, at Dartmouth. In the household were his sisters Sarah 47 and Bathsheba 36, and his orphaned nieces, Mary J. Russell, 6, and Ann E. Russell, 4. The next houshold listed on the census was that of Collins S. Maxfield, 40, farmer, and included his wife Sophronia, 30, and their son Walter, 1. At the same address, the next household was headed by Abigail Maxfield, 73, a maiden aunt of Benjamin and Collins. Her household included a farmer and his small family. The very next household on the list was headed by David Wing Maxfield, a cousin to Benjamin and Collins, son of Seth Maxfield.^[15]

Collins Smith and his wife Sophronie both died in 1859, leaving two sons, Walter S. T. Maxfield, age 5, and William M. Maxfield, age 2. The 1860 census reported Benjamin T. Maxfield and his sister at Dartmouth raising four orphaned children of their siblings:^[16]

Abigail Maxfield was listed as a separate household at the same address. Abraham and Sarah's sister Bathsheba, who had resided with them, died in 1856. Benjamin had real estate worth $1800 and a personal estate of $200. Aunt Abigail owned real estate worth $500.

The 1865 state census reported Benjamin T. Maxfield, 59, farmer, at Dartmouth. with him were Sarah T. Maxfield, 57, Mary J. Russell, 16, Ann E. Russell, 14, and Walter S. T. Maxfield, 11. This census reported birthplaces by town: The Russell girls were born at Fairhaven, the others at Dartmouth.^[17] Walter's brother William had been taken in by another uncle, William M. Maxfield, and his wife Susan, who had no children of their own.

The 1870 census reported the Benjamin Maxfield household with the same composition. It described Benjamin as a farmer, Sarah, housekeeper, Mary Russell, no occupation, Ann Russell at school, Walter Maxfield works on farm.^[18]

Sarah died in 1876. The children grew up and left home. The 1880 census reported Benjamin's family as follows:^[19]

Maria was the widow of Benjamin's cousin, David Wing Maxfield, who died in 1877.

William Munroe Maxfield, the fifth child of Abraham and Sylvia Maxfield, was a master mariner. He served as first mate on the Columbus, which departed from Fairhaven to the Indian Ocean on 16 August, 1841,^[20] one month after William had married Phebe Rider. She died while William was at sea. He returned on 4 Spetmeber 1843. On 1 October he married Susan Rider, perhaps a sister of his first wife. In another month he set sail again, on 8 November 1843, as first mate of the Lagoda, bound for the Indian Ocean. He returned on 26 May 1846.^[21] On 16 October 1849 he set sail as Captain of the Arabella.^[22] The 1850 census listed him, age 34, sailor, in the household of his in-laws, Henry Rider, 69, and Mary Rider, 70. His wife, Susan B. Maxfield, 29, was in the household, along with Ellen A. Rider, 8. The 1855 state census described William M. Maxfield as a farmer, of Dartmouth, age 41, head of household. Also in the household were Susan B. Maxfield, 34, Henry and Mary Rider, both 76, and Elen Rider, 13.^[23]

The 1860 census listed William M. Maxfield, 46, master mariner, and Susan B. Maxfield, 38, in the household of William's brother, Jonathan Maxfield, of Dartmouth.^[24]

The 1865 state census reported the household of William M. Maxfield, 53, mariner, at Dartmouth. The household inlcuded Susan B. Maxfield, and William M. Maxfield, 2d, age 8.^[25] This younger William was a nephew of the elder William, son of his late brother Collins. Further censuses indicate this younger William was raised like a son in the household of this otherwise childless couple. The 1870 census reported the family composition unchanged. The first William was a mariner, the second William worked on a farm and went to school.^[26]

The 1880 census reported William Maxfield, 65, now called a farmer, at Dartmouth, with his wife Susan, 56, his "son" William 24, and "daughter" Laura, 18.^[27] The younger William was, as we know, the older William's nephew, and Laura was the younger William's new wife.

The older William Maxfield died the month after the census, on 8 July, from heart failure, and is buried in the Ryder Cemetery at Dartmouth.^[28] In his will of 18 March 1880 he left everything to his wife Susan and his nephew William.^[29]

Abraham Russell Maxfield and his wife Sylvia Tucker had the following children:

1. BENJAMIN TUCKER⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 20 March 1806;^[30] d. at Dartmouth on 10 September 1886.^[31]
2. SARAH TUCKER⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 19 April 1808;^[32] d. at Dartmouth on 11 December 1876.^[33]
3. JONATHAN⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 5 January 1810.
4. ABRAHAM SISSON TUCKER⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 19 December 1812.
5. WILLIAM MUNROE⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 1 September 1814;^[34] d. at Dartmouth on 8 July 1881;^[35] m.(1) at New Bedford on 13 July 1841 PHEBE CHANDLER RIDER,^[36] b. abt 1814/5 d. at Dartmouth on 10 March 1842;^[37] m. (2) at Dartmouth on 1 October 1843 SUSAN B. RIDER,^[38] b. at Dartmouth on 27 November 1820,^[39] d. at Dartmouth on 4 October 1884,^[40] child of Henry and Mary Rider.
6. COLLINS SMITH⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 26 May 1815.
7. HANNAH SMITH⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 24 April 1817;^[41] d. at Fairhaven on 18 December 1853;^[42] m. at Fairhaven on 23 May 1848 JOSEPH T. RUSSELL,^[43] b. at Fairhaven abt. 1806/7,^[44] d. at Fairhaven on 3 April 1853,^[45] child of Wing and Judith Russell.
8. BATHSHEBA W. B.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at Dartmouth on 24 May 1819; d. at Dartmouth on 12 August 1856.^[46]

¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930), 1:157. From the records of Religious Society of Friends, Dartmouth Monthly Meeting
²Ibid., 3:48
³Ibid., 2:312
⁴Ibid., 1:289.
⁵Ibid., 3:48.
⁶Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, 83:139, accessed 8 July 2013; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, MA (familysearch.org).
⁷Ibid., 90:442-43
⁸Ibid., 90:74-75.
⁹Third 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, 59:357; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
¹⁰Newtown Burial Ground, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, database, Find a Grave (findagrave.com : accessed 2012), .
¹¹Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 178:327; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
¹²Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2012), 37:77:4.
¹³Ibid., 34:118:37
¹⁴Ibid., 51:76:51.
¹⁵Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., 91-94; 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, 492:868, 2412; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
¹⁷Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 608; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
¹⁸Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 603:117A, 88; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
¹⁹Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, (roll 523) population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 80:417D, 492; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
²⁰"Whaling Archives," database, New Bedford Free Public Library, City of New Bedford, Massachusetts (https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : accessed 2014)
²¹Ibid.
²²Ibid.
²³Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 309:441B, 613; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); Massachusetts State Census, 1855, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., 183.
²⁴1860 Census, 492:868, 2407.
²⁵Massachusetts State Census, 1865, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 610.
²⁶1870 Census, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, 603:119B, 131.
²⁷1880 Census (roll 523) Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, ED 79:393D, 169.
²⁸"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 319:82:25; Ryder Family Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 2012).
²⁹Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Records 229:350-51; Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts.
³⁰Vital Records of Dartmouth, 1:157.
³¹"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 373: 85:49.
³²Vital Records of Dartmouth, 1:159.
³³"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 283:78:60.
³⁴Vital Records of Dartmouth, 1:159.
³⁵"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 319:82:25.
³⁶Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), 2:366.
³⁷Vital Records of Dartmouth, 3:48.
³⁸Ibid., 2:314
³⁹Ibid., 1:159.
⁴⁰"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 355: 84:45.
⁴¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, 1:158.
⁴²"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 75:62:58.
⁴³Ibid., 37:77:4
⁴⁴from marriage and death records
⁴⁵"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 75:61:20
⁴⁶Ibid., 102:61:6.

Bristol County, Massachusetts. Deeds. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, MA (familysearch.org).

________. Probate Records. Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts.

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 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 : 2013.

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

Ryder Family Cemetery, Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA. Find a Grave. Digital images. 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.

________. 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 : 2013.

________. Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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.

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