Maxwell, Alexander

Published: 06 Dec 2014, Updated: 09 May 2019
Page contributors: Rosann Beauvais, Dr. Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust

59. Alexander Maxwell on George S. Stewart’s Captured at Dunbar list¹
Surname Variations: Maxwell, Maxell, Maxsell

IMPORTANT UPDATE!
According to:
Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018),² on page 251, Alexander is categorized as:

Probable [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity]

Maxwell/Maxsell, Alexander/Elexander. Residences: South Berwick, York ME. Appears: 1654. D.1707. Servant to George Leader at the Great Works. [Exiles; Banks; DR; SPOWS; Ch.7 & 8; App.B]³⁴⁵¹⁶⁷

For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost lives, New Voices.

First Generation in the New World

1. ALEXANDER¹ MAXWELL, was presumably born in Scotland and died in York County, Maine between 27 June 1707 and 8 Oct 1707. His Will was dated 15 May 1707 and probate was 8 Oct 1707. (SEE IMAGE ON PAGE 2)^{8 9}  He married (1) by 6 Sept 1671 to ANNIS/ANNES/ANNIE (FROST),¹⁰  who died between 3 Aug 1704 and 15 May 1707, dau. of  John (son of George) and Rose (______) Frost; and (2) in 1707 to SARAH (PENNEWELL), married by Capt. Preble.  ¹¹ 

Biographical Notes:
Alexander Maxwell first appears as a servant to George Leader at the Great Works in York County, Maine in 1654. “Maxwell was flogged in court in 1654 “for his grosse offence in his exorbitant and abusive carages towards his master, Mr George Leader.”¹²¹³ The order by the County Court of York, dated 29 June 1654, reads “Itt is ordered that Allexander Maxell for his grosse offence in his exorbitant & abusive carages towards his Maister Mr. George Leader & his Mistresse…as by evidence doth appeare shall bee…publiquely brought forth to the Whipping Post whereunto hee…shall bee…fastened till 30 lashes bee…given him upon the bare skine. The sayd Maxell is here by injoyned to give full satisfaction to his aforesd Maister for the expence of tyme & dyett dureing the tyme of his imprisonment with other charges amounting to the valew of seaven pounds, 10s, And in case that Maxell do att any tyme for the future misbehave him selfe towards his Maister George Leader that then his sayd Maister hath full Lyberty to make sayle of the sayd Maxell to Virginia, Barbadoes, or any other of the English Plantations.”¹⁴

Later it is noted, “When Leader left Great Works, in 1655, his Scotch employees or apprentices, received grants of land from the town. The following had grants in 1656, James Warren … John Taylor, and Alexander Maxwell.”¹² He buys land from Thomas Moulton/Molton on 20 Jan 1657. The land is described as “10 acres of meadow on the northwest branch, of Thomas Moulton.” He also owed 70 acres (perhaps the land he was granted in 1656) “up the river of York adjoining to a parcel of Arthur Bragdons…”¹⁵ On 7 Sept 1662, Nathan Lord purchased from John Neale/Neal “twenty-five acres of land and a house, on the northeast side of the Piscataqua river, one-half of the estate bought of Alexander Maxwell of York, by the said Neal and lying near Whites marsh.”¹⁶ His land is also mentioned in Old Kittery and her families, “Alexander Maxell received his grant of land the same day as Warren [SPOW James Warren]. Maxell settled in York and sold this grant to John Neal, who in 1662 sold twenty-five acres of it to Nathan Lord.”¹⁷ Alexander Maxwell “made a deed of gift to his brother in law, John Frost, 2 Nov. 1678, of certain land in York. With wife Annis sold land 24 March, 1680-1.”¹⁸

On 3 Aug 1704, Alexander Maxwell and his wife, Annis, in York, signed a deed of exchange. “In consideration of a certain piece or parcel of Salt Marsh And point of upland Lying on the Southwest branch of York river Secured to said Maxell by Peter Nowell of the Town and County aforesaid by a Deed bearing Date this day… near the head of the North west branch of York river and is well known by the name of Mauls fresh Marsh. And is by Estimation five Acres be it more or less And is bounded by Said Nowells Land and John Linscots land on the Southeast and Southward Sides And by James Grants Marsh on the Southwestward… (note that in this document Alexander Maxwell’s name is also written as Maxell and his wife’s name is given as Annis and Annes.)¹⁹ At the date of deed, 3 Aug 1704, Alexander Maxwell’s wife Annis/Annes was living. 

On 27 June 1707, Alexander Maxwell [spelled Maxell] and his second wife, Sarah (Pennewell) signed a deed of sale transferring land to John Mackentier [McIntire, maybe a son of Micum], farmer, of York. The parcel of land is described as “lying between the high way that goeth from York to Barwick by Estimation three Acres and is bounded by the lands of John Mackentier on the Southwest and on the Southeast by the orchard or garden of said Maxell where the Garrison now stands and as that fence now runs And is bounded Northerly by the high way or woods aboved And on the Norwest by the land known by the name of Clarks Farm this land thus bounded…”¹⁹ This document has been signed by Sarah Maxell who uses a totally different mark than his previous wife, Annis/Annes.

In his Will, dated 15 May 1707, he bequeaths all his land and belongings to his wife named as Sarah until her death. One can assume that the death date for Annis/Anne was between 3 Aug 1704 and 15 May 1707. Alexander Maxwell’s date of death would fall between the date of this deed being signed on 27 June 1707 and the date of his Will probate on 8 Oct 1707. He bequeathed the land and marshes after the death of his wife Sarah, for a Mr. Moody to have 1/2 and the church the use of the other 1/2. He and his first wife, Annis/Annes may have had  surviving children even though they were not mentioned in his Will and there has been other no source documentation.²⁰²¹ 

Children of ALEXANDER¹ and ANNIS/ANNES (FROST) MAXWELL:
Sources unknown to this author.

1. Stewart, George Sawin. The Bartlett Collection. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. /george-sawin-stewart-documents/ [↩] [↩]
2. Gerrard, Christopher M.., et al. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books, 2018, p. 251. [↩]
3. Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn. Scotch Exiles in New England. 1922. Coll. 733 & 831, Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Portland ME. [↩]
4. Banks, C.E. 1927. ‘Scotch Prisoners deported to New England by Cromwell 1651-2’. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 61, 4-30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25080212 [↩]
5. Rapaport, Diane. Working List of Early New England Scots. 2015. [↩]
6. “Dunbar Prisoners of War Profiles.” The Scottish Prisoners of War Society, Teresa Rust, 18 Feb. 2019, scottishprisonersofwar.com/battle_of_dunbar_pows_america/. [↩]
7. Gerrard, Christopher M.., et al. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books, 2018. Ch. 7, 8, Appendix B, p. 257-284. [↩]
8. Sargent, William M. Maine Wills : 1640-1760 / Comp. and Ed. with Notes by William … Sargent, William M., 1848-1891. Portland [Me.] : Brown, Thurston & Company, 1887, Hathi Trust Digital Library, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t6h13m781;view=1up;seq=6. [↩]
9. Pope, Charles Henry. The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, 1623 to 1660; a Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns, Churches, Courts and Other Contemporary Sources. Boston, Mass. : C.H. Pope, 1908, pg 137, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/cu31924028808743/page/n6. [↩]
10. New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21175/1017/426896010 [↩]
11. Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn. Old Kittery and Her Families. Lewiston, Me. : Press of Lewiston Journal Company, 1903, pg. 424-425, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/oldkitteryherfam00staciala/ [↩]
12. “The First Permanent Settlement in Maine, c. 1926 – Everett S. Stackpole.” Old Berwick Historical Society, The Old Berwick Historical Society, May, 1968, www.oldberwick.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=375%3Athe-first-permanent-settlement-in-maine-c-1926-everett-s-stackpole&Itemid=126. [↩] [↩]
13. Noyes, Sibyl, et al. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012, 421. [↩]
14. Charles Thornton Libby, Robert E. Moody, and Neal W. Allen Jr., eds., Province and Court Records of Maine, 6 vols. (Portland: Maine Historical Society, 1928-75), 2:28. [↩]
15. Pope, Charles Henry. The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, 1623 to 1660; a Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns, Churches, Courts and Other Contemporary Sources. Boston, Mass. : C.H. Pope, 1908, pg 137, 145, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/cu31924028808743/page/n6. [↩]
16. Lord, Charles Chase. A History of the Descendants of Nathan Lord of Ancient Kittery, Me. Concord, N.H., Rumford Press, 1912., pg.2,  Internet Archives, https://archive.org/details/historyofdescend00lord/page/n10 [↩]
17. Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn. Old Kittery and Her Families. Lewiston, Me. : Press of Lewiston Journal Company, 1903, pg. 126, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/oldkitteryherfam00staciala/ [↩]
18. Pope, Charles Henry. The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, 1623 to 1660; a Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns, Churches, Courts and Other Contemporary Sources. Boston, Mass. : C.H. Pope, 1908, pg 137, 145, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/cu31924028808743/page/n6. [↩]
19. York County (Me.). Register of Deeds. York Deeds, Book VII, 1703-1713. Portland : Brown Thurston Company, 1892, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/yorkdeeds17031713main/page/n6. [↩] [↩]
20. Sargent, William M. Maine Wills : 1640-1760 / Comp. and Ed. with Notes by William … Sargent, William M., 1848-1891. Portland [Me.] : Brown, Thurston & Company, 1887, Hathi Trust Digital Library, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t6h13m781;view=1up;seq=6. [↩]
21. Pope, Charles Henry. The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, 1623 to 1660; a Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns, Churches, Courts and Other Contemporary Sources. Boston, Mass. : C.H. Pope, 1908, pg 137, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/cu31924028808743/page/n6. [↩]