OLIVER5 MAXFIELD (Joshua4-3, Joseph2, John1) was born at Vermont, on December 1821[1] a son of Joshua Maxfield, Jr., and his second wife Asenath Young. He died after 1900 (reported in census). He married before 1848 (birth of first known child) MARY M. PARRISH. She was born at Washington County, New York, about 1822[2] and died sometime between 1892 (reported on census) and 1900 (husband reported on census as widower). Mary's maiden name is derived from the marriage record of their son Clarence.[3]
There is no record directly linking Oliver to Joshua and Asenath. Oliver appeared in Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, where the only other Maxfields were Joshua and his sons. Oliver's birth year and state fit in well with the reported family of Joshua Maxfield in 1830.
If we have correctly identified the parents of Oliver, he was probably born at Chester, Windsor County, Vermont. Sometime before he was nine years old his family had moved to Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont. By the time he had reached the age of fourteen, his family had moved to Fort Ann. There Oliver lived most of his life and raised a family. Oliver was reported in censuses as a shoemaker in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1892, but as a boatman in 1855, 1875 and 1880. As a boatman he would have probably worked on the Champlain Canal, which favorably impacted the economy of Fort Ann.
The Oliver Maxfield family was reported at Fort Ann in federal and state census records from 1850 through 1892. Family members and their ages were as follows (All censuses reported information as of 1 June of the census year, except the 1892 census, based on 16 February):[4]
| name | 1850 | 1855 | 1860 | 1865 | 1870 | 1875 | 1880 | 1892 |
| Oliver | 29 | 34 | 38 | 43 | 55 | 53 | 58 | 70 |
| Mary | 28 | 32 | 37 | 42 | 48 | 52 | 57 | 69 |
| Julian | 9 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 21 | |||
| Cynthia | 7/12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 25 | 30 | |
| Melvin | 1/4 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 20 | |||
| Clarence | 3 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 22 |
In 1870 son Julian was working as a boatman. By 1875 Julian was married and no longer in the home; Cynthia was a seamstress, Melvin a boatman, and Clarence a farm hand. By 1880 Cynthia and Melvin were married, but Cynthia was in the parental household with her husband, Walter B. Stuart. Walter was a boatman, Cynthia a dressmaker; Clarence, age 22, was a student. In 1892 all of the children were gone, but Oliver and Mary had a grandchild in their household, Grace, daughter of Julian, age 16.
The 1900 census reported Oliver Maxfield, widower, born December 1821, living with his son Clarence at Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan,[5] where Clarence served as pastor of the First Baptist Church.
I have no further record of Mary beyond the 1892 census or of Oliver beyond the 1900 census.
Oliver and Mary Maxfield had the following children:
1Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population (roll 702), Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., MI, enumeration district (ED) 55, 13B-14A, 283; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
2New York, State Census, 1855, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, enumeration district (ED) 1-2, 30, 132; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
3"Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
4Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, 610:91A, 358; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); New York, State Census, 1855, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, ED 1-2, 30, 132; Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, 875:754, 34; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2012); New York, State Census, 1865, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, enumeration district (ED) 2, 2, 14; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2014); Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, 1110:130B, 185; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013); New York, State Census, 1875, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, 24, 201; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2012); Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population (roll 942), Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, enumeration district (ED) 134, 98A, 47; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013); New York, State Census, 1892, population, Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, enumeration district (ED) 2; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 2013).
51900 Census (roll 702), Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., MI, ED 55, 13B-14A, 283.
61880 Census (roll 942), Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY, ED 134, 98A, 47.
"Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013
New York, State Census, 1855, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
________, 1865, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2014.
________, 1875, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2012.
________, 1892, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
United States Department of the Census. 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.
________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
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