Descendants of John Maxfield
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
Sixth Generation

MELVIN⁶ MAXFIELD (Oliver⁵, Joshua^4-3, Joseph², John¹) was born at Washington County, New York on April 1855,^[1] a child of Oliver and Mary Maxfield. He died at Granville, Washington County, on 4 November 1926.^[2] He married first before 1800 (census) AUGUSTA SHAW, who was born at New York about 1855-6^[3] and died before 1900 (census). Melvin married second at Fort Ann, Washington County, on 1 August 1900, MARIA A. WHEELER,^[4] who was born at New York about 1855.^[5]

Melvin grew up at Fort Ann, the third of four children. The 1875 New York state census reported him at Fort Ann, 20, boatman, living with his parents.^[6]

Melvin and Augusta married some time before the 1880 Census, which reported them living with her parents at Granville. According to this census Melvin Maxfield, 25, and his father-in-law Alonzo Shaw, 45, both worked on a farm.^[7]

Granville was known as the "colored slate capital of the world," as its quarries produced slate in a wide variety of colors. The first quarry ws opened in 1853. By 1880 Granville had a population of 4,149. The 1892 New York state census reported Melvin Maxfield, 26, quarryman, at Granville, with his wife Augusta, 34, and sons Oliver, 6, and James, 2.^[8]

Augusta died some time before 1900, when the census reported the remainder of the family dispersed. Melvin Maxfield, born April 1855, widower, and quarryman of slate, boarded in the home of Lorenzo and Sarah Gilman at Granville.^[9] Oliver Maxfield, 15, born July 1884, lived in the home of Frank and Carrie Shaw, at the Town of Hampton, Washington County, where he worked as a farm laborer.^[10] James Maxfield, 9, born January 1891, lived with his grandparents, Alonzo and Samantha Shaw, at Granville.^[11]

Melvin Maxfield married Maria A. Wheeler later in the census year of 1900. This was the second marriage for both of them. Wheeler was probably Maria's maiden name, as the 1910 Census calls Melvin's mother-in-law Sarah Wheeler.

The 1910 census reported Melvin, Maria, and his son James at Granville:^[12]

This record noted that Maria had no children. The 1910 Census also reported Oliver Maxfield and his wife Rose at Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont. Oliver, 24, was a slate maker at a quarry. The information on wife Rose is confusing. According to this record, this was the first marriage for both; Rose, born in Germany, had three children, two of whom were living, and she came to America in 1899.^[13] However we know from other sources that Oliver and Rose married at Vermont in 1898, and there is no record of any children.

James Maxfield registered for the draft at Granville on 5 June 1917. He described himself as a slatemaker. He was tall and slender with gray eyes and dark brown hair. He was deaf.^[14] Oliver Maxfield had moved to Buffalo, Erie County, New York, where he registered for the draft on 12 September 1918. His occupation is difficult to read on the registration card. He was 5' 8" tall with gray eyes and black hair.^[15]

The 1920 Census reported Melvin and Maria Maxfield and their son James at 3 East Main Street, Granville:^[16]

That same census reported Oliver and Rose Maxfield at Buffalo. Oliver, 35, worked as a foreman at a sheet metal works; Rose, 36, had come to America in 1887 and was naturalized.^[17]

Melvin Maxfield died in 1926. His widow Maria was reported in 1930 at Granville, in the home of her [step-]son James Maxfield at Granville, where he worked as a slate maker in a slate quarry.^[18] Oliver and Rose lived at Cheektowaga, Erie County, where Oliver worked a a night watchman for a storage facility.^[19]

I have no further information on widow Maria. The 1940 Census reported James Maxfield at the same address, 3 Court Street, Granville. He was single, 50, had completed 8th grade, had been unemployed for 40 weeks, but normally worked as a laborer on road construction.^[20] Oliver and Rose continued to live at Cheektowaga. Oliver, 47, had completed eighth grade, and worked as janitor for a wire works. Rose, 48, had also completed eighth grade, and worked as a cook for a children's orphans home.^[21] Rose died in 1943, Oliver in 1960, James in 1944.

Melvin Maxfield and his first wife Augusta Shaw had the following children:

1. OLIVER⁷ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 2 July 1884,^[22] d. at Amherst, Erie County, on 20 July 1960;^[23] m. at Granville on 26 September 1908 ROSE E. RADTKE^[24] b. at Berlin, Germany, on 1885, d. at Buffalo on 30 March 1943.^[25]
2. JAMES WILLISON⁷ MAXFIELD b. at New York on 10 January 1891,^[26] d. at Granville on 18 September 1944.^[27]

¹Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 127, p. 27B, household 501, Lorenzo Gilman family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 7 October 2013); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. County is from state census records.
²New York Department of Health, Albany, New York, "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 September 2018), Melvin Maxfield, no. 72279.
³Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 139, p. 201B, household 435, Alonzo Shaw family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 March 2013); NARA microfilm publication T9, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁴New York State Department of Health; Albany, New York, "New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 2 March 2018), Maxfield-Wheeler, 1900, p. 578, # 13883.
⁵Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 213, p. 6A, household 144, Melvin Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 October 2013); NARA microfilm record group T625, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
⁶New York, State Census, 1875, population, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, p. 24, household 201, Oliver Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 6 January 2012); New York State Library, Albany.
⁷1880 Census, Granville, Washington County, New York, ED 139, p. 201B, household 435, Alonzo Shaw family.
⁸New York, State Census, 1892, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, p. 16, Melvin Maxfield family; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 16 September 2013).
⁹1900 Census, Granville, Washington County, New York, ED 127, p. 27B, household 501, Lorenzo Gilman family.
¹⁰1900 Census, Hampton, Washington County, New York, ED 131, p. 1A, household 1, Frank Shaw family.
¹¹1900 Census, Granville, Washington County, New York, ED 125, p. 11B, household 279, Alonzo Shaw family.
¹²Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 95, p. 6A, household 112, Melvin Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 October 2013); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
¹³1910 Census, Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont, ED 189, roll 1616, p. 19A, household 380, Oliver A. Maxfield family.
¹⁴"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, United States, Selective Service System, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 May 2014), James Willison Maxfield, Granville, New York, 5 June 1917; citing , no. 81.
¹⁵"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," Oliver Maxfield, Buffalo, New York.
¹⁶1920 Census, Granville, Washington County, New York, ED 213, p. 6A, household 144, Melvin Maxfield family.
¹⁷1920 Census, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, ED 64, p. 2A, household 31, Oliver Maxfield family.
¹⁸Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 19, p. 11A, household 268, James Maxfield family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 6 November 2013); NARA record Group T626.
¹⁹1930 Census, Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York, ED 380, p. 64A, household 51, Oliver Maxfield family.
²⁰Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, Granville, Washington County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 58-21, p. 7B, household 160, James Maxfield; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 November 2013); microfilm record group T627.
²¹1940 Census, Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York, ED 15-48, p. 6B, household 105, Oliver Maxfield family.
²²"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," Oliver Maxfield, Buffalo, New York, no. 4234.
²³New York Department of Health, Albany, New York "New York State Death Index, 1957-68," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 September 2018), Oliver Maxfield, no. 49181.
²⁴New York, County Marriages, 1908-1935, Washington County, p. 54, no. 270; Maxfield-Radke, 1908; digital images, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 19 September 2011).
²⁵Buffalo Cemetery, Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 15 December 2016), Rose Maxfield; Created and photo by: carol fasc. Also: "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956," Rose Maxfield, no. 1828.
²⁶"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," James Willison Maxfield, Granville, New York, 5 June 1917, no. 81.
²⁷"New York, Death Index, 1852-1956," James W. Maxfield, no. 54478.

Buffalo Cemetery, Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2016.

New York, County Marriages, 1908-1935. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2011.

New York County Offices. New York, State Census, 1892, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2013.

New York Department of Health, Albany, New York. "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.

________. "New York State Death Index, 1957-68." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.

_______. "New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.

New York Secretary of State. New York, State Census, 1875, population. Digital images. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2012.

United States Department of the Census. Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

__________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2013.

United States, Selective Service System. "World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.