JAMES EMERY5 MAXFIELD (perhaps Joshua4, Joshua3, Joseph2, John1) was born at Vermont on December 1825[1] perhaps a son of Joshua Maxfield, Jr., and his second wife Ascenath Young. He died at Los Angeles County, California on 25 December 1900.[2] He married first at Redford, Wayne County, Michigan, on 2 January 1848 MARGARET SWEET. She was born at Vermont about 1825-6.[3] He married second at Detroit, Wayne County, on 11 February 1872 BARBARA ANN ALTAMAN DILLMAN.[4] She was born at Detroit on 27 January 1824 and died at Los Angeles County on 5 April 1894.[5]
I have no evidence for a clear identification of the parents of James Emery Maxfield. He was born in Vermont according to the 1850, 1860 and 1900 censuses, and other records. The birth date on his death record (December 1825) is consistent with his age as given on census and marriage records. A review of Maxfields reported in Vermont in the 1830 census, who had a male child 0-5 years old, not otherwise accounted for, provides two possibilities: child of Joshua Jr., or child of Aminidab. I have no other information on Aminidab besides this one census record. His residence, Andover, is adjacent to Chester, where Joshua and other related persons lived. As there is no other record of his existence, I think that census record coud be in error. This leaves Joshua Maxfield, Jr., as a possible parent. But this is just a BEST GUESS. I welcome any information that could help to identify the parents of this James Emery Maxfield.
James Maxfield married Margette Sweet on 1848 at Redford Township. The family was reported in the 1850 Census at nearby Plymouth Township, Wayne County, consisting of James E., 25, shoemaker, Mariett, 28, James E., 2, and Horacde C., eight months. James and Mariett were both born in Vermont, the younger James in Ohio, and Horace in Michigan.[6]
In 1860 the census reported the family at Plymouth, consisting of James, 34, shoemaker, Mary E., 30, James, 11, and Seth Sweet, 25, shoemaker.[7] I have found no further reference to son Horace.
This appears to be the family reported in the 1871 Canadian Census living at London, Ontario:[8]
| L | Name | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Religion | Origin | Occupation | M.S. | Other |
| 5. | Maxfield, Jas. E. | M | 44 | U.S.A. | Church of England | English | shoemaker | M | |
| 6. | Maxfield, Mary | F | 50 | U.S.A. | Church of England | English | M | ||
| 7. | Maxfield, Jas. E., Jr. | M | 22 | U.S.A. | Church of England | English | painter |
I am assuming that Margette, Mariett and Mary are all ther same person. She disappears from the scene, perhaps deceased. Nine months after that census record, James Emery Maxfield married at Detroit Barbara Ann Altman Dillman. He was 46, she 47. The record does not indicate if either had previous marriages. Perhaps Dillman was the surname of her first husband.
Some time between 1872 and 1888 James and Barbara moved to California. James' name appears in California voter registration records as follows:[9]
| Place | Date | Name | Occupation | Age | Birthplace | Other |
| Pomona | 11 June 1888 | James E. Maxfield | farming | 62 | VT | |
| Pomona | 19 September 1890 | James E. Maxfield | expressman | 64 | VT | |
| Pomona | 30 July 1892 | James Emery Maxfield | expressman | 66 | VT | 5' 11" fair complexion blue eyes light hair |
| Pomona | 7 July 1896 | James Emory Maxfield | drayman | 70 | VT | 5' 10 ½" light complexion gray eyes gray hair |
An expressman or drayman is a person who delivers goods. The Pomona city directory for 1896-7 also described J. E. Maxfield of 239 East San Francisco Avenue as working with "express and baggage."[10]
James' wife, Barbara, would not appear in voting records, but she was there, as she died at Los Angeles County from chronic gastritis on 5 April 1895, age 70 years, 2 months and 9 days, born at Ohio.[11]
The 1900 Census reported James at 239 East San Francisco Avenue, Pomona, as follows:[12]
| Line | Name | Related | Race | Sex | Born | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
| 85. | Maxfield, James E. | head | W | M | Dec 1825 | Wd | VT | NH | Scotland | expressman |
| 86. | Linustruth, Frank | step-grandson-in-law | W | M | May 1878 | M | IA | Germany | Germany | farm laborer |
| 87. | Linustruth, Laura G. | step-granddaughter | W | F | Jul 1879 | M | MI | MI | MI |
The Linustruths had been married for only one year. Perhaps Laura was the granddaughter of James' second wife Barbara.
James died at Los Angeles County on Christman Day, 1900, from mitral regurgitation, his age listed as 70 on one record, 65 on another.[13]
James Emery Maxfield and his first wife Margaret Sweet had the following children:[14]
1Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Pomona, Los Angeles County, California, enumeration district (ED) 128, p. 6B, household 157, James E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 March 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
2"California County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980," Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 October 2023), Death: James Maxfield 1900.
3Genealogical Society of Utah, "Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 6 October 2013), Maxfield-Sweet, 1848.
4"Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995," Maxfield-Dillman, 1872.
5"California County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980," Death: Barbara O. Maxfield 1894.
6Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 368A, household 53, James E. Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 4 October 2012); NARA microfilm record group M432, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
7Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 487, household 213, James Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 November 2012); NARA microfilm record group M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
8Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Census of Canada, 1871, Population schedule, London, Middlesex County, Upper Canada; roll C9906, p. 53, James Maxfield family ; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 February 2011).
9"California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 23 August 2011), James E. Maxfield, 1888; James E. Maxfield, 1890; James Emery Maxfield, 1892; James Emory Maxfield, 1896 California State Library, Sacramento, California.
10"Pomona, California Directory, 1896-97", database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 January 2014), J. E. Maxfield.
11"California County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980," Death: Barbara O. Maxfield 1894.
121900 Census, Pomona, Los Angeles County, California, ED 128, p. 6B, household 157, James E. Maxfield family.
13"California County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980," Death: James Maxfield 1900.
141850 Census, Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan, p. 368A, household 53, James E. Maxfield family.
California Department of Public Health. "California County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2023.
California State Library, Sacramento, California. "California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
Canada, Library and Archives of, Ottawa, Ontario, Census of Canada, 1871. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
Genealogical Society of Utah. "Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.
"Pomona, California Directory, 1896-97." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
United States Department of the Census. 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.
________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.
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