STEPHEN CLOUGH5 MAXFIELD (Amos4, probably Joseph3, Joseph2, John1) was born at Fishersfield, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on 7 May 1809 a son of Amos Maxfield and his wife Eleanor Clough. He died at Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 10 August 1862.[1] He married at Chichester, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, on 21 December 1831 CLARISSA STAPLES.[2] She was born at Chichester on 4 November 1811, and died at Lowell on 19 September 1898.[3]
When Stephen was six years old his father died; the following year his mother remarried. Stephen left home as a young adult to join the Industiral Revolution. He worked in textile mills at Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Newmarket, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, and Lowell, Massachusetts, rising to the position of overseer. His wife, Clarissa, ran boarding houses once their youngest children had become teenagers, and after her husband's death.
At the time of their marriage at Chichester in 1831, Stephen was described as from Bradford, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Clarissa from Chuchester. Note that the name of the town of Stephen's birth, Fishersfield, was later changed to Newbury, and it bordered Bradford.
Stephen Clough Maxfield worked for seventeen years for the Nashua Manufacturing Company.[4] Stephen and Clarissa's first five children were born at Nashua, from 1832 to 1842, and the 1840 census reported them at Nashua. That census stated that Stephem Clough was the head of a family of seven and was engaged in manufacturing. It listed persons in certain age and sex categories, which could be explained as follows:[5]
| male 30-39 | Stephen, 31 |
| female, 30-39 | Clarissa, 28 |
| female 30-39 | unidentified |
| female 10-14 | Susanna, 8 |
| male 5-9 | Rufus, 5 |
| male 0-4 | James, 1 |
| male 0-4 | Jared, 0 |
This designation assumes some miscalculations of ages.
Stephen and Clarissa had a child born at Nashua in 1842, a child born at Lowell in 1846, and a child born in New Hampshire about 1848/9. The family appeared in Newmarket, a small manufacturing center, in the 1850 census, as follows:[6]
| Line | Name | Age | Sex | Occupation | Birthplace | Other |
| 11 | Maxfield, Stephen | 40 | M | manufacturer | NH | |
| 12 | Maxfield, Clarisa | 38 | F | NH | ||
| 13 | Maxfield, Susan T. | 18 | F | NH | ||
| 14 | Maxfield, Rufus | 15 | M | NH | school | |
| 15 | Maxfield, James | 12 | M | NH | school | |
| 16 | Maxfield, Jared | 10 | M | NH | school | |
| 17 | Maxfield, Stephen | 8 | M | NH | school | |
| 18 | Maxfield, Hellen | 4 | F | NH | school | |
| 19 | Maxfield, Emma | 1 | F | NH |
The household also included five other persons, all young women between 17 and 24, perhaps operatives in the mill boarding in their home. I have no further information on Emma.
Five years later the Massachusetts 1855 state census reported the family at Lowell. Susanna had married two months before the census, and nothing more is know of Emma, but all the other family members were present. Stephen was called a laborer.[7]
The 1860 census reported the family at Lowell. Rufus, who had married in 1856, was no longer present. The census was supposed to report information as of 1 June, 1860, but the census taker did not arrive at the Maxfield household until 27 July. It reported son James, who was married on 14 June, and his wife Elizabeth, in the household. The report follows:[8]
| Line | Name | Age | Sex | Occupation | Birthplace | Other |
| 7 | Stephen C. Maxfield | 50 | M | overseer in mill | VT | personal estate $300 |
| 8 | Clarissa Maxfield | 49 | F | wife | NH | |
| 9 | James G. Maxfield | 22 | m | surgeon student | NH | |
| 10 | Elizabeth Maxfield | 21 | F | wife | NH | |
| 11 | Jared P. Maxfield | 20 | M | mill hand | NH | |
| 12 | Stephen W. Maxfield | 18 | M | machinist apprentice | NH | |
| 13 | Hellen A. Maxfield | 13 | F | MA |
The household also included fourteen other persons, all mill hands. Stephen had an important position in mill society; the three sons still at home were moving into their different careers, and Clarisa was very busy operating a boarding house. Harder times came on the family when Stephen died of consumption on 10 August 1862. He was a Methodist[9] and a member of Mechanic's Lodge I. O. O. F.[10]
The 1865 state census reported Clarissa Maxfield operating a boarding house at Lowell. Also in the boarding house were S. Webster Maxfield, machinist, daughter-in-law Sarah E. Maxfield and Daughter Nellie, both operatives, and son James, with the U. S. Army.[11] Jared had married in 1861 and lived elsewhere in Lowell, working as a belt maker.
By 1870 son James and his wife had moved to Michigan, where he practiced medicine, and son Stephen Webster Maxfield had married and moved to Boston, Suffolk County, Massachuestts, where he worked as a machnist. Clarissa Maxfield and her daughter Nellie were keeping house for a boarding house in Lowell, composed of young female operatives.[12]
The 1880 census reported Clarissa Maxfield and daughter Nellie in Lowell, continuing to operate a boarding house. Also in the household was Clarissa's grandson, James P. Maxfield, 14, son of James and Sarah Elizabeth.[13]
Clarissa Maxfield died of old age at Lowell on 19 September 1898.[14] She had outlived three of her sons: James died in 1889, Jared in 1891, Rufus in 1896. Helen "Nellie" Maxfield then lived with her sister-in-law, Sarah Maxfield, widow of James, with whom she was reported in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.[15]
Rufus Amos Maxfield had a career in the textile business. The 1865 Massachusetts census reported him at Lowell, working as an overseer.[16] In 1870 he was in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, superintendent of a cotton mill.[17] In 1880 he was at Nashua, agent for a cotton mill. His household at that time, besides his wife Mary, included his brother-in-law Parker P. Spaulding, 40, "loosing reason," and his wife's cousin Almira Spaulding, 27.[18] Mary Maxfield, wife of Rufus, died at Lowell on 3 July 1890 from organic disease of the heart.[19] When Rufus Maxfield applied for a passport in 1891 he was described as a resident of Lowell, manufacturer, age 56 years, 5' 7" tall, high forehead, blue eyes, straight nose, medium mouth, round-double chin, grey hair, rather dark complexion, round face.[20] Rufus Maxfield, retired manufacturer, died at Lowell on 21 November 1896 from hematemesis (the vomiting of blood).[21]
Stephen Webster Maxfield was twice married, but, to the best of my knowledge, childless. He married Rose J. Ingalls at Nashua on 4 April 1866.[22] The 1870 census reported Webster Maxfield, 28, machinist, and Rose Maxfield, 23, at Boston.[23] In 1880 he was reported at Nashua working in a railroad shop; there was no mention of a wife.[24] In 1881 he married Elizabeth (Warner) Simmonds.[25] The 1900 census reported Stephen W. Maxfield, born May 1842, machinist, and Ellen E. Maxfield, born June 1838, lodged in Concord, Middlesex County.[26] Elizabeth Maxfield died at Concord on 19 October 1904, from acute uremia also pernicious anemia.[27] I have no further information on Stephen Webster Maxfield
Stephen Clough Maxfield and his wife Clarissa Staples had the following children:
1Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Division of Vital Statistics, State House, Boston, MA, Vital Records of Massachusetts, 157: 171.
2State of New Hampshire. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH, Index to Marriages Up to 1900;Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.
3Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2012), 482:269:1330.
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, Nashua, Hillsborough Co., NH, 238:30; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2014).
6Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Newmarket, Rockingham Co., NH, 438:156B, 718; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012).
7Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, Lowell, Middlesex Co.; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA.
8Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Lowell ward 5, Middlesex Co., MA, 507:740, 2740; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2014).
9French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
10"Odd Fellows Funeral," Lowell Daily Citizen and News, 11 August 1862; 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark : accessed 2013).
11Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, Lowell ward 5, Middlesex Co., MA, 54; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
12Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Lowell Ward 5, Middlesex Co., MA, 628:206A, 112; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
13Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population (roll 544), Lowell, Middlesex Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 448, 55B, 279; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2014).
14"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 482:269:1330.
15Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population (roll 661), Lowell Ward 8, Middlesex Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 818, 12B, 258; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013); Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population (roll 599), Lowell ward 3, Middlesex Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 849, 5A, 127; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
161865 Massachusetts Census, Lowell ward 5, Middlesex Co., MA, 1.
171870 Census, Troy Ward 5, Rensselaer Co., NY, 1084:198A, 303.
181880 Census (roll 764), Nashua, Hillsborough Co., NH, enumeration district (ED) 149, 501C, 26.
19Massachusetts Vital Records, 410: 163:963.
20"U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925," digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
21"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 464:264:1738.
22New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947; Index and images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
231870 Census, Boston Ward 9, Suffolk Co., MA, 645:256A, 1627.
241880 Census (roll 764), Nashua, Hillsborough Co., NH, enumeration district (ED) 144, 426C, 230.
25New Hampshire Index to Marriages Up to 1900.
261900 Census (roll 735), Concord, Middlesex Co., MA, ED 658:2B, 37.
27"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 34:313:42.
281850 Census, Newmarket, Rockingham Co., NH, 438:156B, 718; also marriage record.
29New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, "New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949," Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2011).
30Vital Records of Massachusetts, 88: 92:179.
31French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
32French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
33"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 464:264:1738; Boston Daily Advertiser, 23 November 1896, p. 8, col. D; 19th Century U.S. Newspapers (infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark : accessed 2013).
34Vital Records of Massachusetts, 100: 200:3.
35Ibid., 410: 163:963.
36French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass.
37New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947.
38New Hampshire, Index to Marriages Up to 1900.
39"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," American Ancestors, 34:313:42.
40Vital Records of Massachusetts, 23: 60.
411850 Census, Newmarket, Rockingham Co., NH, 438:156B, 718.
Boston Daily Advertiser, Boston, MA. 23 November 1896, p. 8, col. D.
French, Harry Dana. Descendants of John Maxfield of Salisbury, Mass. New Hampshire Historical Society Library, Concord, NH, about 1952.
Lowell Daily Citizen and News, Lowell, MA. 11 August 1862.
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 : 2013.
________, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH. "New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
________. Index to Marriages Up to 1900. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.
________. Marriage Records, 1637-1947. Index and images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
Towle, Glenn C. New Hampshire Genealogical Digest. Bowie, MD: Heritage, 1986.
"U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925." Database and images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
United States Department of the Census. Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
________. 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 : 2014.
________. 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 : 2014.
________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
________. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
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