Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Second Generation

NATHANIEL² MAXFIELD (John¹) was born at Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, on 1 March 1688/9 a son of John Maxfield and his wife Elizabeth Hammond .^[1] He died at South Hampton, New Hampshire, on 10 August 1745.^[2] He married at Salisbury on 7 January 1718/9 SARAH TONGUE.^[3] She was born at Salisbury on 11 February 1693/4, a daughter of Stephen and Mary Tongue.^[4] She died at South Hampton on 5 June 1769.^[5]

Nathaniel was fourteen when his father died. When Nathaniel was nineteen his mother remarried, at which time he received an inheritance from his father. Two years later Nathaniel Maxfield served in the colonial wars against the French. He participated in the successful campaign at Port Royal, having been billeted by Sam Penhallow, 21 July to 8 November, 1710.^[6]

Nathaniel and Sarah Maxfield lived in Salisbury, Massachusetts, where their children were born from 1720 to 1735. When the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was set in 1741, this Maxfield family found themselves in New Hampshire. They didn't move; New Hampshire did. This new section of New Hampshire, formerly part of Salisbury and Amesbury in Massachusetts, was organized as South Hampton in 1742. Nathaniel Maxfield joined with his neighbors in this sparsely populated section on 18 February 1741/2, in petitioning that South Hampton be annexed to Hampton Falls.^[7] He joined in another petition on 7 September 1742, against settling a minister in South Hampton.^[8] (The minister would have been paid by an addition to the property tax).

Nathaniel Maxfield participated in the following property transfers in Salisbury/South Hampton:

• 2 November 1713. Timothy Maxfield surrendered any rights to land in Salisbury through inheritance from their honored father to Nathaniel Maxfield and Joseph Maxfield.^[9]
• 10 Mar 1715/6. John Maxfield, Nathaniel Maxfield and Joseph Maxfield of Salisbury, yeomen, for £ 16, sold to Joseph Dow of Salisbury (alias Hampton in Province of New Hampshire), weaver; a lot in Salisbury (alias Hampton in Province of New Hampshire) on Graveley Ridge Division in the Cow Common, original right of John Cole, lot # 43 of that division, together with a little lot of about ¾ acre of upland meadow.^[10]
• 6 January 1720/1. John Maxfield, Joseph Maxfield, and Nathaniel Maxfield, all of Salisbury, for £ 16, sold to Edward French of Salisbury, a lot of upland in Salisbury, in Good-Ales-Swamp division, in original right of John Cole, lot #55, 1st Division, about 8 acres.^[11]
• 24 January 1720/1. Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury for £ 60 sold to John Shepperd of Salisbury, a parcel in Salisbury in Batts Hill Division, original right of John Cole, 9 acres; acknowledged last Tuesday of September [30 September] 1746 at Salisbury by Rev. Caleb Cushing, a witness, Nathaniel Maxfield since deceased.^[12]
• 24 January 1720/1. John Shepperd of Salisbury for £ 40 sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, two parcels of land in Salisbury in Peek Division, #31 in division formerly laid out to John Griffin, and #33 laid out to Joseph True, lying together on the south side of the way to Kingstown, together 13 acres; acknowledged last Tuesday of March 1746 by witness Rev Mr. Caleb Cushing, John Sheppard being deceased.^[13]
• 25 January 1720/1. David Ring of Salisbury, for £ 10 and 10 s, sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, a parcel in Salisbury, 3 1/2 acres at northerly end of Ring's lot on which he now dwells.^[14]
• 26 January 1721/2. Judah Hacket of Salisbury, weaver, for £ 33, sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of same town, laborer, upland in Salisbury, 9 acres at a place commonly called the peach, 29th lot, originally granted to William Hacket late of Salisbury deceased.^[15]
• 26 January 1721/2. Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, labourer, for an undisclosed sum, sold to William Hacket of Salisbury, yeoman, a parcel of upland in Salisbury, one-quarter part of 25 acre lot in Janes Brook Division, originally granted to John Cole.^[16]
• 26 January 1721/2. Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, laborer, for an undisclosed amount, sold to Joseph Maxfield of Salisbury, laborer; a parcel of upland in Salisbury, 4 acres, being his full share of the homestead on the hill left to them by their honored father John Maxfield, deceased, and come to Nathaniel by purchase from brother Timothy Maxfield.^[17]
• 4 June 1722. Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, for 50 s, sold to Elisha French of Salisbury, a lot in Salisbury in Great Neck division, original right of John Cole, about 2 ½ acres.^[18]
• 26 June 1732. Sanders Carr, William Carr, Robert Carr, Stephen Merrill and Mary his wife, all of Salisbury, sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, a lot in Salisbury in Peek Division, set out to their Father Carr formerly of Salisbury but late of Taunton, shipwright, 6 acres.^[19]
• 12 November 1734. James French, Jr., John French, Henry French Jr. and Rebecah his wife, all of the town of Salisbury, and Samuel Wentworth and his wife of Dover, New Hampshire, for £ 10, sold to Nathaniel Maxfield of Salisbury, land in Salisbury, a seventh part of lot in Peek Division, laid out to their honored Grandfather Mr. William Carr, formerly of Salisbury, 6 acres.^[20]
• 26 May 1744. Nathaniel Maxfield of South Hampton, laborer for £ 55, sold to Benjamin Baker of South Hampton, husbandman one half part of a certain lot of salt-marsh meadow in South Hampton, about 6 acres.^[21]

A 1742 Census of estates reported Nathaniel Maxfield at South Hampton with one dwelling house, 4 acres planted, 6 acres of meadow, 8 acres of pasture, 1 horse, 2 cows, 3 three-year olds (horses), and 3 acres of salt meadow, no oxen or swine.^[22]

Nathaniel Maxfield's estate was brought before the Probate Court of the Province of New Hampshire, 28 August 1745. On that day his widow Sarah was appointed administratrix, and inventory was taken. The estate was valued at £ 225.0.0. On 28 October, 1747, guardianship of his minor daughter Ruth was granted to Ephraim Brown, and guardianship of Elizabeth was granted to Samuel French. Probate records also mentioned sons Eliphalet and Obadiah.^[23]

Sarah Maxfield lived as a widow for almost twenty-four years after her husband's death. In that time, daughter Marjory married in 1746; son Eliphalet, who had married and had several children, died before 1752; son Obadiah, unmarried, fought in the French and Indian War. According to an order, 16 September 1745, he was employed in clearing hospital wells and burying the dead French at Louisbourg;^[24] from 24 November 1746 to 18 January 1747, he served as a Private in Capt. Jonathan Bean's company; from 19 January 1748 to 1 December 1748, he was a Private in Capt. George Berry's company;^[25] from 25 October to 22 December 1755 he served in Thomas Sanders' company;^[26] he died on 9 September 1758; killed by Indians on a military expedition to Canada, ar Fort Edward in New York.^[27] Daughter Elizabeth married in 1766.

Nathaniel Maxfield and his wife Sarah Tongue had the following children:

1. ELIPHALET³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 20 April 1720.
2. MARY³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 25 February 1721/2;^[28] d. at South Hampton on 8 March 1796;^[29] baptized and owned covenant at Second [Congregational] Church, Salisbury, on February 1742; admitted into membership of that church on 7 March 1742.^[30]
3. MARJORY³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 5 July 1725;^[31] m. at South Hampton on 4 December 1746 PAUL MORGAN .^[32] Marjory baptized and owned covenant at Second [Congregational] Church, Salisbury, on February 1742.^[33]
4. OBADIAH³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 16 March 1726/7;^[34] d. at Fort Edward, New York, on 9 September 1758.^[35] Obadiah Maxfield of South Hampton, yeoman, for £ 30 sold to Ephraim Brown of South Hampton, husbandman, his right to his mother's third right of dower to the estate of his Honoured Father Nathaniel Maxfield Late of South Hampton, 18 July 1749.^[36]
5. RUTH³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 15 March 1728/9;^[37] d. bef. birth of another child given same name in 1732.
6. RUTH³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 3 July 1732;^[38] m. at South Hampton on 3 June 1772 MOSES BROWN.^[39] Ruth received believer's baptism at South Hampton Congregational Church on 4 March 1759.^[40]
7. ELIZABETH³ MAXFIELD b. at Salisbury on 17 August 1735;^[41] m. at Hampton Falls, NH, on 9 April 1766 DANIEL PAVIER.^[42]

¹Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915), 151.
²Vital Records of South Hampton, New Hampshire, 1743-1886 (N.p.: The Historical Committee of the South Hampton Friends of the Library, 1970), 96.
³Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 416.
⁴Ibid., 232.
⁵New Hampshire, State of, Division of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, index card 6192, Death, Sarah Maxfield, 1769; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 25 January 2017).
⁶Bouton Nathaniel, et al, editors, Documents and Records Relating to New Hampshire, 1623-1800, 40 (Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Bristol, New Hampshire: n.p., 1867), 14:2. [New Hampshire Papers]
⁷Elizabeth Wright, "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants," The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 6:53.
⁸"Remonstrance Against Settling a Minister at South Hampton, New Hampshire," New England Historical Genealogical Register, 60 (1906): 56.
⁹Essex County, Massachusetts, Land Records, 32:170, accessed 2013; Essex County Courthouse, Salem, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).
¹⁰Ibid., 58:163-64
¹¹Ibid., 58:91-92
¹²Ibid., 89:184
¹³Deeds, 35:323-25; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds (nhdeeds/rockingham : accessed 2012).
¹⁴Ibid., 35:326-28
¹⁵Ibid., 35:328-30
¹⁶Essex County, Massachusetts, Land Records, 100:12.
¹⁷Ibid., 91:254-55
¹⁸Ibid., 47:79-80
¹⁹Deeds, 35:325-26, digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds.
²⁰Ibid., 35:321-23
²¹Ibid., 32:115-16
²²Pauline Johnson Oesterlin ed., New Hampshire 1742 Estate List (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1994), 346-47,361.
²³New Hampshire Papers, 33:287-88.
²⁴"Rolls of Artificers and Laborers at Louisburg," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 55 (1901): 66.
²⁵MacKaey Robert E., editor, Massachusetts Soldiers in the French and Indian War, 1744-1755 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1978), 298.
²⁶"Massachusetts Soldiers in Colonial Wars," database, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002, American Ancestors (americanancestors.com : accessed 2012); citing Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers in the French and Indian Wars, 1755-1756.
²⁷Holt Joseph, "Journal of Joseph Holt," New England Historical Genealogical Register, 10 (1856): 309.
²⁸Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 152.
²⁹Vital Records of South Hampton, New Hampshire, 104.
³⁰The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts, 423, 437.
³¹Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 152.
³²Vital Records of South Hampton, New Hampshire, 50; "South Hampton Church Records," New England Historical Genealogical Register, 52-53 (1898–99): 52:428.
³³The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts, 437.
³⁴Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 152.
³⁵"Journal of Joseph Holt," 309.
³⁶Deeds, 40:100; digital images, Rockingham County Registry of Deeds.
³⁷Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 152.
³⁸Ibid.
³⁹"Marriages by Samuel Perley While Minister at Hampton, N. H. and Other Places, 1767-1782," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 51 (1897): 463.
⁴⁰"South Hampton Church Records," 53:278.
⁴¹Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 152.
⁴²"Marriages by Samuel Perley While Minister at Hampton, N. H. and Other Places, 1767-1782," 460.

Bouton Nathaniel, et al, editors. Documents and Records Relating to New Hampshire, 1623-1800. 40. Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Bristol, New Hampshire: n.p., 1867 [New Hampshire Papers].

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

Holt Joseph. "Journal of Joseph Holt." New England Historical Genealogical Register 10 (1856): 307-11.

Hoyt David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982.

MacKaey Robert E., ed. Massachusetts Soldiers in the French and Indian War, 1744-1755. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1978.

"Marriages by Samuel Perley While Minister at Hampton, N. H. and Other Places, 1767-1782." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 51 (1897): 460-66.

Massachusetts. Essex County. Land Records. Essex County Courthouse, Salem, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).

"Massachusetts Soldiers in Colonial Wars." Database. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. American Ancestors. americanancestors.com : 2012.

New Hampshire. Concord. Division of Vital Records. State of. New Hampshire. New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages. Digital images. New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

Oesterlin, Pauline Johnson ed. New Hampshire 1742 Estate List. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1994.

"Remonstrance Against Settling a Minister at South Hampton, New Hampshire." New England Historical Genealogical Register 60 (1906): 56.

Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. "Land Records." Digital images. Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. nhdeeds/rockingham : 2012.

"Rolls of Artificers and Laborers at Louisburg." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 55 (1901): 65-70.

"South Hampton Church Records." New England Historical Genealogical Register 52-53 (1898–99): 52:427-35; 53:162-68, 275-83.

Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915.

Vital Records of South Hampton, New Hampshire, 1743-1886. N.p.: The Historical Committee of the South Hampton Friends of the Library, 1970.

Wright, Elizabeth. "John Maxfield of Salisbury, Massachusetts, 1652, and Some of His Descendants." The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record (1928–1930): 6:52-56; 7:20-24, 42-47, 61-71, 87-96; 8:15-22.