Descendants of Hezekiah Maxfield
of Maryland
First Generation

Greg Robinson of Spokane, Washington, forwarded to me a family history written by Belle Hanna Rooney (1873-1967) a great-granddaughter of Hezekiah. Below I have placed Belle's Saga on the left, and pertinent information from other sources on the right:

A Saga of the Maxfield Family by Belle Hanna Rooney, 1873-1967 It has been said, "People who forget their heritage soon have none." Therefore I am writing this saga, that we Grandchildren and Great grandchildren may know we had an ancestry of which we may be proud. Our paternal ancestor, _______ Maxfield, I cannot remember his given name, was Irish, from Dublin, Ireland. As a young man, he came to America in the late 1700s. He was an importer of linens.	Son George reported in the 1880 census that his father was born in Ireland.
He met a lovely young lady in Baltimore, Maryland; the daughter of a wealthy family. Mary Downey was a real "Baltimore Belle." She was a twin, having a brother. Her folks opposed their marriage, so they ran away and married. She never saw her folks again.	Hezekiah Maxfield and MARY DOWNING were married at the First Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, on 6 April 1792 (Md M).
They went to Virginia and settled on land, which is now Monongahela County, West Virginia. They had a plantation with Negro slaves--there they raised their family.	The 1810 and 1820 censuses reported Hezekiah Maxfield in Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia). The 1830 census reported Hezekiah Maxfield in Tyler County, Virginia (now West Virginia). None of these census records indicated any slaves in the household.
Hezekiah, the oldest, then Mary and another daughter, I cannot remember her name, she married and went to N. Carolina. Two sons, Kinsey and Thomas (?) who later were merchants in Zanesville, OH, a daughter Elizabeth and George, our Grandfather.	I believe James was the eldest son. I have no information on Mary or another daughter, but the 1810 census did indicate a female between the ages of 10 and 15 in the household. "Kinsey" appears to be a nickname for Hezekiah. The 1850 census reported both Thomas and Kinsey Maxfield , merchants, at Norwich Township, Muskingom County, Ohio. The 1860 census reported them in the same household. Elizabeth would be the female under 10 in the 1820 census, between 15 and 20 in the 1830 census. History of Minnesota Valley reported that George Maxfield was born at Monongalia County, Virginia, 20 October 1810 (His Mn V).
Mother has told me many things about her grandmother and I have forgotten many of them. Travelling wasn't easy in those days but her grandmother came to see them a few times. Mother said she was a tall beautiful looking woman. She always felt a little shy of her.
Elizabeth fell in love with a man, whom her mother objected to--so they ran away and came to their brother George's home in Etna, Ohio expecting to get married there for some reason. Grandfather wasn't much impressed and persuaded her not to marry him. She stayed with them for a time. She finally went to Columbus, OH where she became a milliner. She became connected with a large establishment in Columbus. She used to visit them often bringing Grandmother beautiful bonnets for herself and her girls. They all thought she was wonderful--she never married.	The 1860 census (970:148) reported Elizabeth Maxfield, age 32, dress maker, born at Virginia, resident in Cincinnati.

The 1810 census (69:526) reported Hez Maxfield at Monongalia County, Virginia. This record described the household as a man and a woman, ages 26 to 44, two boys and a girl ages 10 to 15, and five boys under 10. This can be explained as adults Hezekiah and Mary, between 10 and 15 James, Thomas and Mary, and under 10 Hezekiah Junior and George. I cannot account for the other three boys under 10.

The 1820 census (142:75) reported the Hezekiah Maxfield family in the eastern district of Monongalia County, consisting of a man and a woman over the age of 45, two young men and one young woman between the ages of 16 and 25, two boys and two girls between the ages of 10 and 16, and one girl under 10. Hezekiah and Mary are, no doubt, the adult couple. The girl under 10 is probably Elizabeth, and the boys between 10 and 16 Hezekiah Junior and George. Perhaps Thomas and his sister Mary are a young man and woman between 16 and 25. Son James was listed by the census takers at his own residence. This leaves a male 16-25 and two females 10-16 unexplained.

The 1830 census (200:176) reported the Hezekiah Maxfield family at Tyler County, Virginia, consisting of a man and a woman between the ages of 50 and 60, and young women, one between 20 and 30, and one between 15 and 20. This could be Hezekiah and Mary and daughter Elizabeth, with the woman in her twenties unexplained.

If the census takers estimated their ages correctly, Hezekiah and Mary Maxfield were both born between 1770 and 1775.

Monongalia County Court records indicate that James Steel, Jr, complained that Thomas Maxfield owed him £ 20, and had moved from Monongalia Co. James Maxfield and Hezekiah Maxfield and George Hickman were summoned to testify on behalf of Thomas Maxfield, 28 Jun 1820. The jury found for defendant (Monon Crt 2:111). This would indicate that Thomas had left the area by 1820, but James and Hezekiah were still there. It also suggests a connection of James to the Hezekiah family.

I find no record of Hezekiah Maxfield, Senior, beyond the 1830 census. The 1840 census (418:416) reported Mary Maxfield, in her 60s, a household of one, at Norwich Township, Muskingum County, Ohio, listed next to Hezekiah Maxfield, Junior.

The sons of Hezekiah and Mary can be traced through census records as follows: James Maxfield had his own residence in Monongalia County, Virginia, in 1820, was at Cambridge Township, Guernsey County, Ohio in 1830 and 1840, at Sangamon County, Illinois in 1850, 1860 and 1870. Thomas Maxfield was in Muskingum County, Ohio, variously reported at Union, Norwich and Washington Townships, in the census records for 1830, 1850 and 1860. Hezekiah "Kinzey" Maxfield was at Norwich Township, Muskingum County, Ohio in 1840, reported at both Buffalo Township, Guernsey County and Union County, Muskingum County, in 1850, still in Union Township in 1860, at Tolono, Champaign County, Illinois, in 1870, and Sheridan Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa in 1880. George was at Etna Township, Licking County, Ohio in 1840 and 1850, at Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, in 1860 and 1880.

Hezekiah Maxfield and his wife Mary Downing had the following children:

1. JAMES² MAXFIELD b at Maryland on 31 January 1793
2. THOMAS² MAXFIELD b at Maryland about 1795/6
3. possibly DARIUS² MAXFIELD
   • I have placed Darius here as possibly a child of Hezekiah. I consider the following information: (1) according to an 1840 city directory he was born at Maryland; (2) in the 1830 census he was living at Brownsville, PA, a short distance downstream from Monongalia County; (3) the 1810 Census reported two males between 10 and 15 in the household of Hezekiah; one was Thomas; the other could have been Darius (James was older, and could have been out of the household by then); (4) Darius named a son Hezekiah. None of this is proof; but it does point to this family as a possibility.
4. MARY² MAXFIELD
   • b. bet 1795 and 1800
5. HEZEKIAH² MAXFIELD Jr b. at Virginia on 1807
6. GEORGE² MAXFIELD b. at Monongalia County, VA, on 20 October 1810
7. ELIZABETH² MAXFIELD
   • b. at Virginia about 1827/8 (1860 census)

Information on this family is found in:

• Rooney, Belle Hanna (1873-1967). A Saga of the Maxfield Family. Attachment to electronic mail, Greg Robinson to Charles A. Maxfield. 30 August 2005.
• Census records

His Mn V

History of the Minnesota Valley, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota (1882), 563. Ancestry.com.

Md M

Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850. Ancestry.com. Accessed Nov 2004. Also found at Baltimore County (Maryland) Marriage Licenses, 1777-1846. Baltimore County (Maryland) Clerk of Circuit Court. International Genealogical Index. www.familysearch.org.

Monon Crt

Zinn, Melba Pendler, ed. Monongalia County [West] Virginia, Records of the District, Superior Courts, 2:111. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2000. googlebooks.com.