Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

SAMUEL W.⁵ MAXFIELD (probably Joseph⁴, Joseph^3-2, John¹) was born at New Hampshire about 1813/4 probably a son of Joseph Maxfield and his wife Dorothy Worthen. He died at Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, on 8 March 1876.^[1] He and MARY E. BLANCHARD published at Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 26 February 1837, their intention to marry.^[2] She was born at Vermont about 1813/4 and died at Detroit on 29 April 1898.^[3]

I have not found any birth record for Samuel. Harry Dana French listed him as probably a child of Joseph and Dorothy.^[4] His place of publishing marriage intentions is the main cause for this theory; the only other Maxfield of record at Woburn was Levi, a child of Joseph and Dorothy. Three census records gave his birthplace as New Hampshire, and an age that fitted into the earlier census records of Joseph Maxfield. None of this is clear evidence. So until some information is found that can either prove or disprove this connection, we will say that Samuel was probably a child of Joseph and Dorothy.

If this designation is correct, Samuel grew up at Warner, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, perhaps the last of many children. He published his intentions to marry in the community where his brother lived in Massachusetts. By 1840 he resided at New York, New York County, New York. The household consisted of a man and a woman in their 20s, no children.^[5]

The 1850 census reported the family in a household headed by Jane Robertson, 43, a native of Scotland. The Maxfield family consisted of Samuel, 36, cartman, Mary, 36, Walter, 10, attending school, and Fanny, 5. Samuel was born at New Hampshire, Mary at Vermont, the children at New York.^[6]

The 1860 census reported this family at Napoleon, Jackson County, Michigan:^[7]

All other records place the births of all the children at New York.

Son Walter B. Maxfield fought - and died - in the Civil War. When he enlisted, on 9 August 1862, he was described as 22 years old, from Brooklyn, Jackson County, Michigan. He served in Company E of the 17th Michigan Infantry Regiment. He did not survive the war, and was "mustered out" at Campbell Station, Tennessee, on 16 November 1863.^[8]

In 1870 Samuel and Mary "Maksfield" were reported at Detroit. Samuel was a teamster, Mary was keeping house;^[9] the children were all gone. Walter had died, Fannie had married, and Sarah "Sally" Maxfield was living in a hotel at Detroit and working as a waitress.^[10]

Mary Maxfield's death record stated that she had given birth to six children, two of whom were still living. So Mary probably had three other children, who did not live long enough to be recorded in a census. The eight year interval between the births of Fannie and Sarah could be the period in which some of these other children were born.

Samuel Maxfield died at Detroit on 8 March 1876. He was "found dead" and buried 17 June 1914.^[11]

The 1880 census reported Mary Maxfield at Detroit, living in the household of her daughter Sarah Stapleton. The household included Sarah's husband, William Stapleton, 36, a potter, born at Ireland, and their children, William, 4, and Maud, 1.^[12]

Mary E. Maxfield, age 84 years, died at Detroit on 29 April 1898 from "La Grippe."^[13]

Samuel Maxfield and his wife Mary Blanchard had the following children, and probably others:

1. WALTER B.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York abt. 1839/40; d. at Campbell Station on 16 November 1863 while engaged in the Civil War.^[14]
2. FANNIE T.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York abt. 1844/5; m. at Jackson County, MI, on 21 November 1863 WILLIAM H. SWEEZEY.^[15]
3. SARAH A.⁶ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 19 August 1853; d. at Detroit on 20 December 1910;^[16] m. WILLIAM STAPLETON,^[17] b. at Ireland abt. 1843/4.

¹Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, Woodmere Cemetery Research (woodmerecemeteryresearch.com : accessed 2013).
²Edward F. Johnson, ed., Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages from 1640 to 1873 (Woburn, MA: Cutler & Co., 1890), 10:117
³State of Michigan, Death Records 1897-1920; digital images, State of Michigan Archives, Seeking Michigan (seekingmichigan.org : accessed 2013).
⁴French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass., New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, NH, about 1952.
⁵Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, New York Ward 9, New York Co., NY, 303:56; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁶Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, New York Ward 9 District 3, New York Co., NY, 544:362B, 798; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁷Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Napoleon, Jackson Co., MI, 547:306, 1855; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
⁸Historical Data Systems, comp., "U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
⁹Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Detroit Ward 6, Wayne Co., MI, 713:451B, 692; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
¹⁰Ibid., Detroit Ward 1, Wayne Co., MI, 712:58B, 812.
¹¹Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, Woodmere Cemetery Research.
¹²Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population (roll 610), Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, enumeration district (ED) 269, 32A, 169; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
¹³Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, Woodmere Cemetery Research.
¹⁴Oak Grove Cemetery, Napoleon, Jackson Co., MI, database, Find a Grave (findagrave.com : accessed 2012), .
¹⁵: Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research, comp., "Michigan Marriages, 1851-1875," Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013), .
¹⁶Michigan, Death Records 1897-1920
¹⁷1880 Census (roll 610), Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, ED 269, 532A, 169.

Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. "Michigan Marriages, 1851-1875." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

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

Historical Data Systems, comp. "U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

Johnson, Edward F., ed.. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages from 1640 to 1873. Woburn, MA: Cutler & Co., 1890.

Michigan, State of. Death Records 1897-1920. Digital images. State of Michigan Archives. Seeking Michigan. seekingmichigan.org : 2013.

Oak Grove Cemetery, Napoleon, Jackson Co., MI. Database. Find a Grave. findagrave.com : 2012.

United States Department of the Census. 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.

Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI. Database. Woodmere Cemetery Research. woodmerecemeteryresearch.com : 2013