Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Fifth Generation

WILLIAM5 MAXFIELD (David4, Eliphalet3, Nathaniel2, John1) was born about 1763 at New Hampshire a son of David Maxfield and his wife Judith Clough. He died at Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont, on 25 August 1820.[1] He married ABIGAIL BELCHER. She was perhaps born at Hebron, Windham County [later Tolland County], Connecticut, on 3 March 1765, a daughter of Gilbert Belcher and Eunice Owen. She died at Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on October 1830.[2]

D. A. R. records report that William Maxfield was born in 1763 at Piermont, New Hampshire. I do not know the source for this statement, but it is followed by the Genealogical Society of Vermont and assorted on-line sources.[3] It fits in the census record reports, which in 1800 indicated he was born between 1754 and 1774, and in 1810 reported he was born before 1765.

William Maxfield's wife, Abigail, is identified as Abigail Belcher in family sources.[4] Her grave marker gives her age, which points to a birth about 1765. According to a letter from Julia (Maxfield) Lamb in 1903, Abigail was born in Connecticut.[5] The date and place of birth and parentage given above is from D. A. R. records.

I have found no record of the marriage of William Maxfield and Abigail Belcher. As their first child was born in August of 1784, they perhaps married about 1783.

As a child, and the oldest of eight or nine boys, William moved with his family on the northern frontier. He probably spent his early childhood at Wentworth, New Hampshire. His family may have lived for a time at nearby Piermont, New Hampshire. As a teenager he may have been living in the wilds of central Vermont. According to military records, William and his father David enlisted in the Revolutionary cause in 1778 at Moretown, Vermont. However, although Moretown was chartered in 1763, it was not settled until 1790.

William Maxfield served in Capt. Simeon Steven's Company in the regiment raised for the defense of the frontier on and adjacent to the Connecticut River, beginning 11 April 1778, for 11 months and 20 days.[6]

William Maxfield was among the first settlers of the Town of Fairfax, Vermont, arriving in 1789. The first settler, Joseph Belcher, had come in 1787.[7] William Maxfield took the Freeman's Oath there in 1788-9.[8] William's father and brothers were probably living at Colchester, Chittenden County, Vermont, at the time. By the time of the census in 1791, William and his brother David lived at Fairfax, brothers Isaac and Jacob had moved from Colchester to Georgia, Vermont, and the parents and the rest of the boys were still at Colchester. These communities near Lake Champlain north of Burlington, along with Milton and Westford, would be the home of many of the descendants of these families for generations to come.

Censuses reported this family at Fairfax in 1791, 1800, 1810 and 1820. The information in these censuses giving numbers of persons in various age and sex groupings, corresponds well to what we know of this family from other sources:[9]

1791
male 16+ William, 28
male 16- Gilbert, 6
male 16- William, 4
male 16- John, 0
female Abigail, 26
female Susan, 0
1800
male 26-44 William, 37
female 26-44 Abigail, 35
male 16-25 Gilbert, 15
male 10-15 William, 13
male 0-9 John, 9
female 0-9 Susan, 9
male 0-9 Harvey, 3
female 0-9 Frances, 2
1810
male 45+ William, 47
female 45+ Abigail, 45
male 16-25 Gilbert, 25
male 16-25 William, 23
male 16-25 John, 19
female 16-25 Susan, 19
male 10-15 Harvey, 13
female 10-15 Frances, 12
male 0-9 Harry, 7
female 0-9 Abigail, 3
female 0-9 Eliza, 2
1820
female 45+ Abigail, 55
male 16-25 Harry, 17
female 16-25 Frances, 22
female 10-15 Abigail, 13
or Eliza, 12

Only two problems occur with these designations. First, Gilbert had married three months before the 1810 Census, and was reported with his wife in another community. I listed him here with his parents, as duplications like this sometimes occur in the census. However, this could have been another relative or hired hand. Second, the 1820 census reported only one female between 10 and 16, and the family had two such daughters living and unmarried. Perhaps one of them was working out?

William Maxfield participated in numerous land transfers in Fairfax and vicinity:

William and Abigail Maxfield were members of the Baptist Church of Fairfax. However William was excommunicated on 10 July 1808.[25] Abigail continued a member until she was dismissed on 19 May 1825,[26] probably because she was moving.

William Maxfield died at Fairfax on 25 August 1820.[27] By this time, of their ten known children, one died in infancy, five had married, leaving at home Frances, 18, Harry, 17, Abigail, 13, and Eliza, 12. Frances and Harry married in Vermont in 1824 and 1825 respectively. Abigail (Belcher) Maxfield moved to Ohio, probably about the time of her dismission from the church, to live with her eldest son, Gilbert. She died at Mount Vernon Ohio, on October 1830.[28]

William Maxfield died without a will, leaving his widow to administer the estate, which appeared insolvent. The land records give the names of all the children, and the husbands of the daughters, relinquishing their claim to land in Fairfax.[29]

William Maxfield and his wife Abigail Belcher had the following children:

  1. (son)6 MAXFIELD b. and d. at New Hampshire on 20 August 1784 (stillborn).[30]
  2. Dr. GILBERT BELCHER6 MAXFIELD b. prob. at New Hampshire on 17 July 1785.
  3. WILLIAM6 MAXFIELD b. at New Hampshire on 10 March 1787.
  4. JOHN6 MAXFIELD b. at Fairfax on 11 June 1789.
  5. SUSANNAH6 MAXFIELD b. at Vermont on 4 September 1794, d. at Knox County on 15 February 1865;[31] m(1). at Fairfax on 2 February 1817 JOSEPH RYASON.[32]; m(2). at Farifax on 11 June 1820 THOMAS WINTERS;[33] m(3). JOSEPH LOUD.[34]
  6. HARVEY6 MAXFIELD b. at Fairfax on 29 January 1797.
  7. FRANCES6 MAXFIELD b. at Fairfax on 8 July 1802;[35] d. at Canada on 8 February 1886;[36] m(1). at Essex, Chittenden County, on 29 February 1824 LYMAN BROOKS,[37] d. on 5 April 1855;[38] m(2) PLINNEY PASSETT.[39]
  8. HARRY6 MAXFIELD b. at Fairfax about 1803.
  9. ABIGAIL6 MAXFIELD b. on September 1806; d. on 23 November 1866;[40] m. on 1830 ENOS BECKWITH, b. on 1800, d. on 1835.[41]
  10. ELIZA6 MAXFIELD b. at Fairfax on 22 September 1807; d. at Mount Vernon, on 28 December 1892;[42] m. at Knox County on 2 November 1827 TRUMAN WARD,[43] b. at Rutland, Rutland County, Vermont, on 19 July 1805, d. at Mount Vernon on 9 February 1886,[44] child of Rufus Ward, Sr., and Mary Freeman. The History of Knox County reported:

    Ward, Truman, was born July 19, 1805, in Rutland County, Vermont, came with his parents to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1813, and lived there until 1815, when they came to Miller township, Knox county, and lived there until November 1, 1827, when he came to Mount Vernon. He was married on the same day to Eliza Maxfield, a native of Vermont. They have had a family of nine children, six of whom are living. After his marriage he spent a number of years in the cooper business. He commenced reading medicine in 1847, and graduated at the Willoughby Medical College in 1849, after which he practiced a short time in Mt. Vernon; also in Sunbury, Delaware County, after which he engaged in the drug business, in which he was successfully engaged until November 7, 1878, when in consequence of bad health he sold out and retired from business[45]

    NOTES

    1Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4411, Death, William Maxfield, 1820; digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 29 June 2013).
    2Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 10 April 2019), Abigail Maxfield; Created and photo by: Todd James Dean.
    3Daughters of the American Revolution, "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search," database, Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org, accessed 22 July 2011), No. A075799; "Apple Orchard," Branches and Twigs: Bulletin of the Genealogical Society of Vermont: 24:4.
    4Letter from Julia Maxfield Lamb, to William Cullen Maxfield, 7 May 1903; held in by Jack Bilow, Plattsburg, New York 12901. copy included with correspondence to Charles A. Maxfield, 31 October 2012; Frederick Gilmore Maxfield, The Family Tree; supplied by Clysta Maxfield Jones, Brookfield, Missouri 64628, 28 June 2004; mimeographed. prepared after 1905.
    5Letter, Julia Maxfield Lamb to William Cullen Maxfield, 7 May 1903.
    6Nathaniel Bouton et al, editors, Documents and Records Relating to New Hampshire, 1623-1800, 40 (Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Bristol, New Hampshire: n.p., 1867), 15:587.
    7"Township Information: Fairfax," database, Rootsweb (rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vermont/FranklinFairfax.html : accessed ); extracted from John A. Ufford, History of the Town of Fairfax (N.p.:n.p.n.d.).
    8Ibid.
    9First Census of the United States: 1790, population, Fairfax, Chittenden County, Vermont, p. 160, William 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, Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont, p. 424, William 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, Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont, p. 619, Wm Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M25, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Fourth Census of the United States: 1820, population, Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont, p. 82, Abigail Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 19 September 2012); NARA microfilm publication M33, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
    10Fairfax Town, Franklin County, Vermont, Deeds, 1:120-22; Fairfax Town Clerk, Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont.
    11Ibid., 1:124.
    12Ibid., 2:49.
    13Ibid., 1:240-41.
    14Ibid., 2:122-23.
    15Ibid., 2:8.
    16Ibid., 2:244-45.
    17Ibid., 2:243.
    18Ibid., 4:135-36,219.
    19Ibid., 4:137-38.
    20Ibid., 6:101.
    21Ibid., 6:403.
    22Ibid., 6:350.
    23Ibid., 6:402.
    24Ibid., 7:71.
    25"Membership Records of the Baptist Church, Fairfax, Vermont," Vermont Genealogy, 4: 32.
    26Ibid.
    27Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4411, Death, William Maxfield, 1820.
    28Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Abigail Maxfield; Created and photo by: Todd James Dean.
    29Franklin County, Vermont, Probate Records, M:55-61; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org: accessed 23 August 2013).
    30Lydia Baldwin and contributed by James R. Pierce, "Vermont and New Hampshire Births," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 104 (1950): 120.
    31Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 10 April 2019), Susannah Loud; Created and photo by: Todd James Dean.
    32Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4308, Marriage, Ryason-Maxfield, 1817.
    33Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 16386, Marriage, Winters-Maxfield, 1820. Although the marriage record calls her Sarah Maxfield, she is called Susanna Winters in the disposal of property of William to his heirs.
    34Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Susannah Loud; Created and photo by: Todd James Dean.
    35Iola Wylie, "Queries: Maxfield," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 126 (1972): 233.
    36Waterloo Cemetery, Waterloo, Monteregie Region, Quebec, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 16 October 2017), Fanny Maxfield Fssett Brooks; Created by: Shirley Maynes, Photo added by Graceti.
    37Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008, index card 4283, Marriage, Brooks-Maxfield, 1824.
    38Bishop Stewart Memorial Church Cemetery, Frelighsburg, Monteregie Region, Quebec, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 16 October 2017), Lyman Brooks; Created by: Bryna O'Sullivan, photo by Graceti.
    40Carolyn Strohecker, "[transcription of DAR lineages]," e-mail message to Charles A. Maxfield, 27 July 2011.
    41Ibid.
    42Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Truman-Eliza Ward; Created and photo by: Todd James Dean.
    43Cynthia Herrin, "Konx County, Ohio, Vital Records, 1800-1882," Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 24 August 2013), Ward-Maxfield, 1827.
    44Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Truman-Eliza Ward; Created and photo by: Todd James Dean.
    45N. H. Hill, History of Knox County, Ohio: its past and present, containing a condensed, comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Knox County, its townships, cities, towns, villages, schools, churches, societies, industries, statistics, etc., a record of its soldiers in the late war, portraits of its early settlers and prominent men, views of its finest buildings, miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of pioneer families, etc. (Mount Vernon, Ohio: A. A. Graham & Co., 1881), 829; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 24 August 2013.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    "Apple Orchard." Branches and Twigs: Bulletin of the Genealogical Society of Vermont.

    Baldwin, Lydia and contributed by James R. Pierce. "Vermont and New Hampshire Births." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 104 (1950): 21-26, 114-22.

    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.

    Bishop Stewart Memorial Church Cemetery, Frelighsburg, Monteregie Region, Quebec. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

    Daughters of the American Revolution, . "DAR Genealogical Reserch System: Descendant Database Search." Database. Daughters of the American Revolution. dar.org, 2011.

    Fairfax Town, Franklin County, Vermont. Deeds. Fairfax Town Clerk, Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont.

    Franklin County, Vermont. Probate Records. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org: 2013.

    Cynthia Herrin. "Konx County, Ohio, Vital Records, 1800-1882." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

    Hill, N. H.. History of Knox County, Ohio: its past and present, containing a condensed, comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Knox County, its townships, cities, towns, villages, schools, churches, societies, industries, statistics, etc., a record of its soldiers in the late war, portraits of its early settlers and prominent men, views of its finest buildings, miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of pioneer families, etc. Mount Vernon, Ohio: A. A. Graham & Co., 1881. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

    Lamb, Julia Maxfield. Letter. 7 May 1903, to William Cullen Maxfield. Privately held by Jack Bilow, Plattsburg, NY 12901.

    Maxfield, Frederick Gilmore. The Family Tree [mimeographed]. Privately held by Clysta Maxfield Jones, Brookfield, Missouri 64628. 28 June 2004.

    "Membership Records of the Baptist Church, Fairfax, Vermont." Vermont Genealogy 4: 32-37, 83, 127.

    Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2019.

    Strohecker, Carolyn. "[transcription of DAR lineages]." E-mail message to Charles A. Maxfield. 27 July 2011.

    "Township Information: Fairfax." Database. Rootsweb. rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vermont/FranklinFairfax.html. Extracted from John A. Ufford, History of the Town of Fairfax. N.p.: n.p.n.d..

    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.

    Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. Digital images. New England Historical and Genealogical Society. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2013.

    Waterloo Cemetery, Waterloo, Monteregie Region, Quebec. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2017.

    Wylie, Iola. "Queries: Maxfield." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 126 (1972): 233-34.

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