CHARLES ALBERT8 MAXFIELD, later called Senior, (Charles7, Warren6-5, Timothy4-3-2, John1) was born at Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts on 25 January 1870,[1] a son of Charles Pope Maxfield and his wife Ellen Thomas. He died at Fairhaven on 27 May 1939.[2] He married at Weymouth, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, on 2 September 1895 BERTHA HARRIET TIRRELL,[3] a daughter of James Bradford Tirrell and his wife Sarah Jane Blanchard. Bertha was born at Weymouth on 8 February 1875[4] and died at Fairhaven on 21 March 1939.[5]
Charles A Maxfield grew up in Fairhaven, the oldest of five children to survive to adulthood; Bertha grew up in South Weymouth, the oldest of five children. Charles graduated from Grammar School at Fairhaven, June, 1884. The Fairhaven Star reported that later that year, he had an accident. The 6 December 1884 issue reported, "On Friday, a toy cannon, with which Charles Maxfield was playing, exploded, and the boy's face was considerably burned with powder."[6] Bertha graduated from South High School, Weymouth, on 26 June 1891.[7] She graduated from Bridgewater Normal School in 1893. From 1894 to 1900 Bertha taught in a one room school on Mill Road in Fairhaven.[8]
Charles Maxfield was a plumber. He bought out his father's business at 26 North Second Street, in New Bedford, and at one time employed 35 men. Son Charlie remembered that the men would go to their jobs on the street cars, carrying toilets and other things with them.[9]
Charles and Bertha announced their engagement in May 1894.[10] Charles A. Maxfield, 25, plumber, and Bertha H. Tirrell, 20, school teacher, were married at South Parish Church, Weymouth, Massachusetts, on 2 September 1895, by Henry C. Alvord, Pastor.[11] Bertha and most of her ancestors had been active in the life of South Parish Church since its founding in 1723.
The Maxfield family lived at Fairhaven, on Bridge Street. The Fairhaven Star reported on 2 May 1908, that C. A. Maxfield had purchased a house and lot from Alexander C. James. On 27 June the paper reported that Maxfield "will move recently" to the James house, immediately east of his then residence.[12]
The 1900 census reported Charles and Bertha Maxfield and one-month-old daughter Doris at 135 Bridge Street, Fairhaven. Charles was a journeyman plumber.[13]
The 1910 census reported the family at 91 Bridge Street. Charles Albert Maxfield was a master plumber with a plumbing and heating shop. Charles and Bertha had been married fourteen years, and Bertha, age 35, had four children, all living. The children were Doris, 10, Gordon Tirrell, 5, Lawrence Blanchard, 2, and Thais Bayley, two months.[14]
The 1920 census reported this family at 91 Bridge Street, with all of the children at home. Family members were: Charles A., 50, master plumber with own business, Bertha H., 44, Doris, 19, Gordon T., 14, Lawrence B., 11, Thais B., 10, Charles A., 7, and Jean H., 3.[15]
In 1930 only four of the six children remained at home. Charles A. Maxfield, age 60, was a master plumber working in building construction; Bertha, his wife, 55, had no occupation; eldest son Gordon T., 25, worked as a tinsmith in roofing; Thais B., 20, Charles A., Jr., 17, and Jean H., 13, were still in school (Thais attending Bridgewater State Teachers' College).[16] Eldest daughter Doris lived at Walpole, Norfolk County, where she taught in public school.[17] Lawrence, employed as a plumber's helper, lived at New Bedford, Bristol County, with his new wife and mother-in-law.[18]
For a school project in 1961, Charles A. Maxfield III collected information on eye and hair color of family members. The following was reported to him by his father and others:[19]
| Name | Eyes | Hair |
| Charles A., Sr. | blue | blonde |
| Bertha | blue | brown |
| Doris | hazel | brown |
| Gordon | hazel | blonde |
| Lawrence | blue | blonde |
| Thais | hazel | brown |
| Charles A., Jr. | blue | blonde |
| Jean | blue | blonde |
In 1923 Charles Maxfield was swindled out of $15,000. Newspaper articles below report the incident.[20]
Daughter Doris wrote of her parents and her family of origin in 1984:[21]
Couple of items:
After my few activities at the house were completed I would start off with my friend Florence. From our house came--"Doris," loud and definite, "Take your brother with you." I tried to skip Gordon so many times but never succeeded. Then in later years I could get him to do things for me. Natural I guess--When Gordon was a baby who had to pick up his playthings every day? Doris. You see Thais and Lawrence were younger.
We all had chores to do around the house.
Chuck, ask your father to tell you the episode of bringing wood up from the kitchen range and practically counting the pieces.
Dad always left his shoes in the kitchen when he went up to bed so the boys did the same. Dad's would disappear in the A.M. but not the boys'. I got so sick of sweeping around them. I said, "next pair of shoes I find in the kitchen go down cellar." Two pairs went down next day, I think the owners could have put me down there too.
The problem of washing dishes every night at 91 Bridge St.: My helper was always missing--but we made out.
Our kitchen had a good size blackboard where those out in the P.M. left their initials--this was so no one would get locked out--but they did. I have always been a light sleeper. In a loud whisper under my bed room window--"Doris I am locked out--please let me in."
Mother always used the blackboard to help us in geometry, algebra, etc. She also knew if we did our homework. Mother was a teacher for 7 years in Fairhaven, then tutored after that.
I remember one of her pupils. I used to sit under the table they were working on and would tie her shoe strings to the table legs.
When I first taught in Walpole I went home many weekends. I whipped up cream puffs or fancy pies--doughnuts, etc.
Aunt Helen always gave Mother any dress she wouldn't wear any more and if it were appropriate material I would get a new dress. Thais would have nothing to do with the idea.
"I know my mother Bertha was a member of the Cong. Church S. Weymouth. If she changed when she went to Fairhaven I don't know, but she was an ardent worker in the church until her 5th and 6th children came and then she really only supported it financially. She sang in the choir until Gordon came along and then he was too noisy to take to the choir loft. I used to love to watch the man pump the organ."
Son Charlie shared his memories about the same time:[22]
After about 1913 they spent about 6 months of the year in Marion, Ma. Their first car was a 1910 Buick; they got electricity in 1918.Her niece Ruth remembered Bertha as, "very strict, but very thoughtful." She would always stop and ask her neice Ruth if she wanted to go with her.[23]
Everyone had assigned chores. Mother started the fire for breakfast at 6:00 A.M. Each day had its tasks. Monday was wash day. Thursday was for kneading bread dough. Saturday was a great baking day. Sunday was, of course, the Sabbath. The Sabbath was observed strictly, with no work or play.
Thursday, if she was going to make bread, she whipped this dough up in a big thing on top of the dresser. I remember it was quite a treat to get up there and sit on the dresser and turn that crank around and make that dough. And then she'd put that dough over in back of the stove where there was a hot water boiler, for a day or so, and let it rise, and cover it with a rag.
Saturday was a great day for baking. There was always baked beans, so the oven was going, and she'd bake pies. All day long she'd bake stuff. She'd bake 'em to last all week--ten or twelve pies. She put them in the pantry on a long pantry shelf, and then we'd eat them.
We always had beans Saturday night, and it was good. She'd make brown bread. Sunday morning we'd have beans again--and what was left over Monday night for supper. But Sunday night we had a specialty--bread with cream on it--heavy cream--and it was good.
We never cooked on Sunday. We were supposed to go to Sunday School--and we did--and we got sick of it.
On Sundays we had to sit around and didn't know what to do. We couldn't play games. It wasn't in their religion.
When my father bought the place in Marion, he'd say, "We'll go down there and we'll do some work." But we loved that because we didn't have to go to Sunday School.
When we got to Marion, my father would say, "Let's go up to the field and I'll hit some flies," and so he would. It didn't set too good with my mother, but she got used to it.
[NOTE: a dresser is a piece of furniture in the kitchen; sometimes called a "counter."]
The Maxfield daughters remained single and worked for several years before marriage. Doris worked in the Walpole school system as a teacher and director of their meal program. See the transcription of a clipping on her retirement below.[24] She married Charles Eugene Hartshorn when she was 46; he was 58 and had two grown children. Thais was 31, Charles Henry Novak 25, when they married. They met at a psychiatric hospital in Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, where they were both employed. Jean was 43 when she married Harry Perkins, 44, who had two children in school.
Bertha Tirrell Maxfield died at New Bedford on 21 March 1939, age 64 years, 1 month, and 13 days. For her obituary see below.[25] Charles Maxfield died at Fairhaven on 27 May 1939. For his obituary, see below.[26] Charles and Bertha, and most of the rest of the family, were buried at Riverside Cemetery, Fairhaven.
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| Doris Maxfield | Jean Maxfield |
Charles A Maxfield, Sr., and his wife Bertha H. Tirrell had the following children:

[Apparently from a Boston paper, other datelines are Dec. 12, year not given]
Charles A. Maxfield, 69, master plumber, died Saturday at his home following a long illness. His wife, Mrs. Bertha H. (Tirrell) Maxfield died March 20.
Mr. Maxfield was the first plumbing inspector of the town of Fairhaven and was a charter member of the New Bedford Master Plumbing Association.
Born in Fairhaven, he was a former member of George H. Taber Lodge, A.F. + A.M.; Sconticut Tribe of Red Men; Gifford Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; and the Old City Guards, New Bedford.
Mr. Maxfield is survived by three daughters, the Misses Doris, Thais Bayley, and Jean Hollis Maxfield; three sons, Gordon Tirrell, Lawrence Blanchard, and Charles Albert, Jr., and two grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Monday afternoon in New Bedford.
WALPOLE--Funeral services were held yesterday for Doris (Maxfield) Hartshorn, 84, of Walpole, formerly of Fairhaven, who died Saturday after a brief illness.
She died at Norwood Hospital.
Born in Fairhaven, she was a 1918 graduate of Fairhaven High School and later graduated from Framingham Teachers College. She worked for 40 years for the Walpole School Department, retiring in 1967 as the head of the home economics department.
She started the school lunch program in the Walpole school system in 1954.
Mrs. Hartshorn was a member and former deaconess of the United Church of Walpole, a member of the Camp Fire Girls, a charter member of the Theta Chapter of D.K.G. and served two terms as president of the Walpole Women's Club.
She was a fifth district director of the State Federation of Women's Clubs, a charter member of the Walpole Historical Society, and was a 50-year member of Gifford Chapter 105, Order of the Eastern Star. She was a director for 40 years of the Walpole Visiting Nurses Association and a past president. She was one of 13 charter members of the Walpole Footlighters.
She is survived by a brother, Charles A. Maxfield of Fairhaven; a stepson, Charles E. Hartshorn, Jr. of West Falmouth; and eight nieces and nephews.
Arrangements were by the John L. Keeling and Son Funeral Home, Walpole.
1Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Division of Vital Statistics, State House, Boston, MA, 223: 95:3.
2Fairhaven Star, Fairhaven, MA. 1 June 1939.
3Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2012), 452:547:88; marriage certificate of Charles A. Maxfield and Bertha Harriet Tirrell, 2 September 1895, privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, PA, 2014.
4Massachusetts, Division of Vital Statistics, 223: 95:3.
5Fairhaven Star, 1 June 1939.
6Fairhaven Star, 6 December 1884.
7South High School, Weymouth, Ma., Graduation Exercises, 1891; privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
8Charles A. Maxfield Jr., and Pauline Krumbholz Maxfield, Fairhaven, MA, interview by Charles A. Maxfield III, 1984; audio tape, privately held by Charles A. Maxfield III.
9Ibid.
10Fairhaven Star, 5 May 1894.
11"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors, 452:547:88.
12Fairhaven Star, 2 May 1908; 27 June 1908.
13Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Fairhaven, Bristol Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 103, 634:1A, 4; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
14Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Fairhaven, Bristol Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 111, 574:18B, 447; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2013).
15Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Fairhaven, Bristol Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 26, 682:21A, 476; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2011).
16Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Fairhaven, Bristol Co., MA, enumeration district (ED) 187, 886:29B, 71; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2015).
17Ibid., Walpole, Norfolk Co., MA, ED 127, 937:19B, 384.
18Ibid., New Bedford, Bristol Co., MA, ED 101, 891:10A, 217.
19Maxfield, Charles A., III, Family Tree Hair and Eyes, 1961, privately held by Charles A. Maxfield. Family Tree indicating hair and eye color, prepared for a High School Biology Class.
20". . . Brokers who . . . Maxfield's $15,000," undated clipping, October 1923, from unidentified newspaper; Genealogy Papers of Charles A. Maxfield; privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446; "Swindler Suspect Returned to Boston," undated clipping, October 1923, from unidentified newspaper; Genealogy Papers of Charles A. Maxfield; privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
21Doris Maxfield Hartshorn, to Charles A. Maxfield, Letter, 9 February 1984.
22Charles A. Maxfield Jr., and Pauline Krumbholz Maxfield, interview, 1984.
23Ruth Howe , Judy Robinson, Charles and Pauline Maxfield, interview by Charles A. Maxfield III, 7 June 1988; notes, privately held by Charles A. Maxfield III.
24"Mrs. Hartshorn Resigns Position As Cafeteria Head," undated clipping, 1967, from unidentified newspaper; Genealogy Papers of Charles A. Maxfield; privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
25"Mrs. Charles A. Maxfield," undated clipping, 1939, from unidentified newspaper; Genealogy Papers of Charles A. Maxfield; privately held 2015 by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
26Fairhaven Star, 1 June 1939.
27"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors, 496:169:20.
28"Doris Hartshorn," obituary, Standard Times, 14 November 1984.
29Doris Maxfield Hartshorn, "Genealogy of Charles Pope Maxfield Family," (mimeographed document , 1968).
30Ibid.
31Ruth Howe , Judy Robinson, Charles and Pauline Maxfield, interview, 7 June 1988.
32Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911-1915, 620:127; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2014).
33"Doris Hartshorn," Standard Times.
34Ibid.
35"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors, 590:167:15.
36Hartshorn, "Genealogy of Charles Pope Maxfield Family."
37Ibid.
38Ruth Howe , Judy Robinson, Charles and Pauline Maxfield, interview, 7 June 1988.
39Ibid.
40Ibid.
41Hartshorn, "Genealogy of Charles Pope Maxfield Family."
42Charles A. Maxfield Jr., and Pauline Krumbholz Maxfield, interview, 1984.
43Hartshorn, "Genealogy of Charles Pope Maxfield Family."
44Ibid.
45Ibid.
46Ruth Howe , Judy Robinson, Charles and Pauline Maxfield, interview, 7 June 1988.
". . . Brokers who . . . Maxfield's $15,000." Undated clipping, October 1923, from unidentified newspaper. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
Fairhaven Star, Fairhaven, MA.
Hartshorn, Doris Maxfield. "Genealogy of Charles Pope Maxfield Family." Mimeographed document, 1968.
________, to Charles A. Maxfield. Letter. 9 February 1984.
Howe, Ruth , Judy Robinson, Charles and Pauline Maxfield. Interview by Charles A. Maxfield III, 7 June 1988. notes. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield III.
Marriage certificate of Charles A. Maxfield and Bertha Harriet Tirrell. 2 September 1895. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale, PA. 2014.
Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2012
________. Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911-1915. Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2014.
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.
Maxfield, Charles A. Jr., and Pauline Krumbholz Maxfield. Fairhaven, MA. Interview by Charles A. Maxfield III, 1984. audio tape. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield III.
Maxfield, Charles A. Family Tree Hair and Eyes. 1961. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
"Mrs. Charles A. Maxfield." Undated clipping, 1939, from unidentified newspaper. Privately held 2015 by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
"Mrs. Hartshorn Resigns Position As Cafeteria Head." Undated clipping, 1967, from unidentified newspaper. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
Standard Times, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
"Swindler Suspect Returned to Boston," undated clipping, October 1923, from unidentified newspaper; Genealogy Papers of Charles A. Maxfield; privately held by Charles A. Maxfield, Lansdale PA 19446.
United States Department of the Census. 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.
________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.
Weymouth, Massachusetts, South High School, Graduation Exercises, 1891.
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