PATRICK4 MAXFIELD (Timothy3-2, John1) was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 28 September 1742[1] a son of Timothy Maxfield and his wife Paitence Drinkwater. He died at sea near Hispañola on 20 January 1793.[2] He married at Dartmouth on 23 February 1769 FREELOVE BABCOCK.[3] She was born at Dartmouth on 7 November 1748,[4] a daughter of Benjamin and Vertue Babcock. She married as her second husband at Dartmouth on 31 March 1799 OBED NYE.[5] He was born at Dartmouth on 15 September 1736[6] and died there on 10 November 1815.[7] She died at Dartmouth on 6 November 1815.[8] Her maiden name was at the time most often spelled "Badcock."
Patrick Maxfield and his small family lived at New Bedford, Bristol County, when he was not at sea. The three times he purchased land, the deed called him a mariner. He was also a boat builder, having built the brig Maria, of 7 guns, with a crew of 20 men, in 1781.[9] In the Revolutionary War Patrick received commissions as a privateer, which gave him license to plunder British ships. The record states:[10]
Maxfield, Patrick.
Petition signed by Leonard Jarvis, of Boston, asking that said Maxfield be commissioned as commander of the brig "Maria" (privateer); advised to Council Jan 11, 1781, that a commission be issued;
also, petition signed by Leonard Jarvis, of Boston, asking that said Maxfield be commissioned as commander of the brig "Betsey" (privateer); advised in Council Feb 28, 1783, that a commission be issued.
Patrick purchased land three times. The first purchase, from Ephraim Kempton, was in that portion of Dartmouth that became New Bedford. The other two purchases, from his father, were in the section of North Dartmouth where other Maxfields owned land:
The 1790 census reported the Patrick Maxfield family in New Bedford consisting of two males over 16 and two females.[14] By this time their son, age 18, was the other male. I cannot identify the other female.
Freelove was 44 years old, their son 21, when Patrick was lost at sea. Joseph married the following year; Freelove remarried six years later. Freelove and Obed Nye published their intentions to marry at New Bedford on 13 March 1799.[15] Their marriage on 31 March of that year was recorded at the Church of Christ, Congregational, of Dartmouth[16] (now the Lunds Corner Congregational Church, New Bedford). The records call him "Captain" Obed Nye. He had married at Dartmouth on 7 July 1761 MARY SELLERS,[17] who died at Dartmouth on 28 March 1797.[18]
Obed and Freelove Nye died within four day of each other and are buried at the Acushnet Cemetery.
Patrick Maxfield and his wife Freelove Babcock had the following child:
1Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929,1929,1930), v. 1, p. 158.
2Elisha Leonard, "Leonard Papers," New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts.
3Vital Records of Dartmouth,, v. 2, p. 313.
4Ibid., v. 1, p. 32
5Ibid., v. 2, p. 313.
6Acushnet Cemetery, Acushnet, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Find a Grave, database (findagrave.com : 24 July 2018), Obed Nye; Created by: Carmella Adams.
7Ibid.
8Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 3, p. 51.
9"Notes on Early Ship-Building in Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 26 (1872): 22.
10Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary, ed., Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War (Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902), 10:367-68.
11Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, 55:141, accessed 2013; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).
12Ibid., 66:303
13Ibid., 69:180
14First Census of the United States: 1790, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 441, Patrick Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M637, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C..
15Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), v. 2, p. 365.
16Vital Records of Dartmouth, v. 2, p. 339.
17Ibid., v. 2. p. 339.
18Ibid., v. 3. p. 51.
Acushnet Cemetery, Acushnet, Bristol Co., MA. Database. Find a Grave. findagrave.com : 2012.
Bristol County, Massachusetts. Deeds. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts (familysearch.org).
Leonard, Elisha. "Leonard Papers." . New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, MA.
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Office of the Secretary, ed. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War. Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902.
"Notes on Early Ship-Building in Massachusetts." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 26 (1872): 21-29.
United States, Department of the Census. First Census of the United States: 1790, 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.
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.
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