Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fourth Generation

ZADOCK⁴ MAXFIELD (Timothy^3-2, John¹) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 27 October 1740^[1] a son of Timothy Maxfield and his wife Patience Drinkwater . He died at New Bedford, Bristol County, on 8 October 1818.^[2] He married at Dartmouth on 29 April 1770 SUSANNA SHERMAN.^[3] She was born at Dartmouth on 31 August 1750,^[4] a daughter of Jonathan and Susannah. She died at New Bedford between 14 March and 6 October 1823 (between will and probate).

The name Zadock is a Bible name, derived from the Hebrew word for righteous. Two Maxfields received this name, this person and his nephew, a son of Edmund. This person was often called Captain Zadock Maxfield, as he was a master mariner.

Two years after their marriage, Zadock Maxfield purchased property. On 5 March 1772, Thomas Kempton of Dartmouth, yeoman, sold to Zadock Maxfield of Dartmouth, cooper, for £ 17, a lot of land in Dartmouth on the west side of the Acushnet River, 60 rods. That same day, Thomas Kempton of Dartmouth, yeoman, sold to Zadock Maxfield of Dartmouth, cooper, for £ 5 6s 8d, a lot in Dartmouth on the west side of the Acushnet River, about 16 rods, on Water Street.^[5] In 1787 the Town of Dartmouth was divided into three parts, and this property fell in the new town of New Bedford, in which this family resided throughout their lives.

Zadock Maxfield fought for the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. Like many "minute-men" he responded promptly to an alarm, and just as promptly went home when it was over. He was a private in Capt. Avery Parker's (1st) company, Col. John Hathaway's (2d Bristol Co.) regiment. He responded to an alarm for Rhode Island, entering service on 3 August 1780. He was discharged six days later, on 8 August 1780.^[6]

A census for tax purposes, on 1 October 1798, reported Zadok Maxfield of New Bedford with one dwelling and 80 acres, valued at $1000.^[7]

The family of Zadock Maxfield was recorded at New Bedford in the censuses of 1790, 1800, and 1810. Widow Susanna Maxfield headed the household in the 1820 census, and the list of heads of households in 1830 included son Humphrey Maxfield. The reports of these censuses, with the numbers given in age and sex categories, and a possible explanation of who they might be, follows:^[8]

These census records agree with what we know of the family from other sources, except for a couple of minor miscalculations of girls' ages.

In later years, some of the children often lived together. In 1840, son Humphrey was probably living with his sister Patience, and her husband Sylvester Cory. The 1850 census reported three siblings living in the same household:^[9]

In 1855 and 1860 Humphrey still lived with Sylvester and Patience.^[10] The 1865 state census reported Humphrey Maxfield, 77, cooper, living with Andrew and Rebecca Hayes.^[11]

Susanna (Sherman) Maxfield wrote her will on 13 March 1823.^[12] It was proved in court on 7 October 1823.^[13] The precise date of her death is not known. In her will Susanna remembered the following:

1. to my daughter Rhoda Hillman
2. to my son Thomas Maxfield; refers to her husband Zadock Maxfield, deceased
3. to my son Humphrey Maxfield
4. to my daughter Patience Maxfield
5. to my daughters Rhoda Hillman, Susannah West, Joanna Kempton, and Patience Maxfield
6. "On a full consideration of the daily assistance I receive and through life shall need from my children who by a kind Providence are placed near me, I do not bequeath any of my property to my Granddaughter Rebecca Burdet, daughter of my son Isaac Maxfield, deceased, nor to my Grandson Charles Patrick Maxfield, son of my son Patrick Maxfield, deceased."
7. my son Humphrey Maxfield of New Bedford, executor

Zadock Maxfield and his wife Susanna Sherman had the following children:

1. ISAAC⁵ MAXFIELD b. perh. 1772.
2. RHODA⁵ MAXFIELD b. on 5 February 1774; d. on 7 August 1854;^[14] m. at New Bedford on 6 October 1811 ZECHARIAH HILLMAN,^[15] b. on 12 June 1858,^[16] d. at New Bedford on 11 August 1824.^[17] Zechariah had previously m. MARY NORTON, b. abt. 1759-60, d. at New Bedford on 22 April 1810.^[18]
3. PATRICK⁵ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 13 March 1776.
4. THOMAS⁵ MAXFIELD b. say abt. 1780;^[19] d. at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., on 27 November 1858;^[20] m. at New Bedford on 16 August 1800 HANNAH HITCH,^[21] b. prob. bet. 1776 and 1784^[22] d. bet. 1830 and 1858.^[23] The 1810 census reported the Thomas Maxfield family of New Bedford consisting of a male and a female between 26 and 44, and two girls under ten.^[24] Thomas engaged in whaling. He served aboard the Gleaner out of New Bedford, to Patagonia, 12 May 1818 to 10 January 1819. The crew list described Thomas as age 38, 5' 10" light complexion, brown hair.^[25] He probably went on other whaling expeditions, as the 1820 census listed his employment area as commerce, and the 1850 census called him a mariner. The 1820 census indicated household members as follows: 26-44 - 1 male and 1 female, 16-25 - 1 female, 10-15 - 1 female, under 10 - 1 male.^[26] The 1830 census listed the family under Hannah Maxfield, consisting of one female in her 40s, a female in her 20s, and a male bet. 15 and 19.^[27] I find no mention of the family in the 1840 census, and no further mention of Hannah. The 1850 census reported Thomas at the alms house in Fairhaven, age 67, mariner, suffering from mental derangement. ^[28] The 1855 state census reported him, age 73, a pauper, still at the poor farm in Fairhaven.^[29] If the children reported in the census records in their home were their children, they had a daughter born bet. 1800-1805, another daughter 1805-10, and a son 1810-15. However, there is no further record of any such children.
5. SUSANNA⁵ MAXFIELD b. at New Bedford on 5 August 1872;^[30] living at the time of her mother's will in 1823; m. at New Bedford on 15 January 1804 LEMUEL WEST,^[31] b. on 13 October 1781, d. at New Bedford on 3 May 1820,^[32] child of William and Joanna West.
6. JOANNA⁵ MAXFIELD b. abt. 1785; d. at New Bedford on 26 August 1826;^[33] m. at New Bedford on 22 December 1805 DAVID KEMPTON, 2d,^[34] b. abt. 1776 d. at New Bedford on 30 August 1830.^[35] Both are buried at Griffin Street Cemetery, New Bedford.
7. HUMPHREY⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Massachusetts abt. 1787;^[36] d. at New Bedford on 9 November 1867.^[37]
8. PATIENCE⁵ MAXFIELD b. at Massachusetts abt. 1788-9;^[38] living in 1860 census; m (int. at New Bedford on 28 June 1833). at New Bedford on July 1833 SYLVESTER R. COREY,^[39] b. at Rhode Island abt. 1798-9,^[40] living in 1860 census.

¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929,1929,1930), v. 1, p. 159.
²Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), v. 3, p. 115.
³Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 2, p. 314.
⁴Ibid., v. 1, p. 231.
⁵Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, 55:140-41, accessed 2013; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).
⁶Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary, ed., Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War (Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902), v. 10, p. 368.
⁷"Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax Census of 1798," digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 2014), 12:107
⁸First Census of the United States: 1790, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 441, Zadock Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M637, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 19, p. 817, Zadock Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed ); NARA microfilm publication M32; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Third Census of the United States: 1810, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 17, p. 299, Zadock Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 March 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 47, p. 500, Susannah Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 59, p. 294, Humphry Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M19, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁹Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 309, p. 324B, household 1819, Sylvester R. Cory family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹⁰Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 6, p. 108, household 216, Sylvester R. Cory family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 14 August 2022); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts; Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 490, p. 469, household 135, Humphrey Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
¹¹Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 6, p. 96, household 449, Ansel Hayes family; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 16 August 2013); Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA.
¹²Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Records, 61:7: Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts.
¹³Ibid., 61:7, 19
¹⁴Elisha Leonard, "Leonard Papers," New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts. Birth date derived from age at death.
¹⁵Vital Records of New Bedford, v. 2, p. :366.
¹⁶"Historical Records of Dukes County, Mass.," database, U. S. Genweb Archives (history.vineyard.net : accessed 15 January 2013), Hillman Family; extracted from Charles Edward Banks, The History of Martha's Vineyard: Dukes County, Massachusetts (Boston: George H. Dean, 1925), 3:194-208.
¹⁷Ibid.
¹⁸Ibid.
¹⁹about 1782-3 from age in 1850 census, 1781-2 from age in 1855 census, 1779-80 from age on crew list of whaling vessel. This places him some time in the interval between the births of Patrick (1776) and Susanna (1782)
²⁰Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 11 September 2017), vol. 120, p. 67, e. 37, Fairhaven Deaths, 1858, Thomas Maxfield.
²¹Vital Records of New Bedford, 2:272.
²²based on age rannge in censuses, 1810 census between 1766-84, 1820 census between 1776-94.
²³last reference to her is in 1830 census; Thomas was a widower at the time of his death in 1858.
²⁴1810 Census, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 17, p. 299, Tho Maxfield.
²⁵"Whaling Archives," database, New Bedford Free Public Library, City of New Bedford, Massachusetts (https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : accessed 2014).
²⁶1820 Census, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 47, p. 501, Thomas Maxfield.
²⁷1830 Census, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 59, p. 303, Hannah Maxfield.
²⁸1850 Census, Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 308, p. 197B, household 608, alms house.
²⁹1855 Massachusetts State Census, Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts, v. 5, p. 222, household 242, Poor Farm.
³⁰Vital Records of New Bedford, v. 1, p. 324.
³¹Ibid., v. 2, p. 366
³²Ibid., v. 3, p. 180; birth date derived from age at death.
³³Griffin Street Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 25 July 2018), Joanna Maxfield Kempton; Created by: MJ_MW.
³⁴Vital Records of New Bedford, v. 2, p. 319.
³⁵Griffin Street Cemetery, New Bedford, Find a Grave, Joanna David Kempton; Created by: MJ_MW.
³⁶about 1786-7 based on age in 1850, 1860 censuses; 1787-8 based on 1855, 1865 Massachusetts state censuses.
³⁷"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 202, p. 96, e. 7, New Bedford Deaths, 1867, Humphrey Maxfield.
³⁸based on age in 1850, 1860 censuses, and 1855 Massachusetts state census.
³⁹Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, v. 2, p. 366.
⁴⁰1798-9 in 1850 and 1860 censuses, 1800-1 in 1855 Massachusetts state census; Rhode Island in 1850 Census and 1855 state census, Massachusetts in 1860 Census.

Bristol County, Massachusetts. Deeds. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).

________. Probate Records. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts.

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

Griffin Street Cemetery, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2018.

"Historical Records of Dukes County, Mass." Database. U. S. Genweb Archives. history.vineyard.net : 2013. Extracted from Charles Edward Banks, The History of Martha's Vineyard: Dukes County, Massachusetts. Boston:: George H. Dean, 1925.

Leonard, Elisha. "Leonard Papers." . New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, MA.

"Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax Census of 1798." Digital images. New England Historic Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2014.

Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1855 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2011.

________, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

________. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War. Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902.

United States, Department of the Census. First Census of the United States: 1790, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Second Census of the United States: 1800, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Third Census of the United States: 1810, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2012.

________. 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.

Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930.

Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. 3 volumes. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941.

"Whaling Archives." Database. New Bedford Free Public Library. City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/Whaling/Whaling.html : 2014.

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.