The following is from Genealogical and personal memoirs of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Vol 4; by Richard Cutter; Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1908.

Page: 1844

LITTLEFIELD
     In the early history of the colony and subsequent province of Maine there was perhaps no single family whose representatives were more closely identified with public events or occupies a more exalted position in its civil, military and industrial life than the Littlefields.  The house of one of them was the seat of colonial government for a time and the sessions of the general court were held there, and in all that was done in respect to settlement, the defense of the colonists against the ravages of hostile Indians, the conflicts in regard to sovereignty and jurisdiction and in promoting the growth of towns, the name Littlefield is associated with almost every important event throughout a period of more than a century.
    (I)  The founder of the Maine branch of the family on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, Edmund Littlefield, was born in England, 1591.  He was knighted for bravery on the battlefield, and given a coat-of-arms.  He first appears in Boston, Massachusetts, 1635.  He was a churchman and royalist, and on account of his political and  religious opinions was refused permission to settle in any of the plantations of the Massachusetts colony, hence went to Maine and located in the colony at Wells, in that then sparsely settled region, where he, with John Wheelright, Edward Rishworth, Henry Boade and others, "entered on the land and began to make it subservient to the uses of man."  His relations with Wheelright lead to the inference of a close friendship, and one authority says he was one of Wheelright's church in Exeter, and one of the combination to each of whom twenty-one acres of land was assigned under the Gorges proprietary.  This church was founded by those whose theology was denounced by the dominant church in the Massachusetts colony, and as Littlefield's name does not appear in the list of those who were driven from the plantation at Boston, it is assumed that he left there before the actual expulsion took place.  He built a saw and grist mill on the Webhamet river in 1641.  He was one of the committee to settle boundary between Wells and Cape Porpoise, and a commission to try small causes, elected by the people for the years 1654-55-60-61.  A family tradition is that he came over is a ship of his own building, bringing machinery for his mills.  "The programme of  the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the town of Wells reads:  Sir Edmund Littlefield, with Rev. John Wheelright, shares the honor of founding the early settlement in Wells."  The baptismal name of his wife was Annis, but her family name is not known.  She died in 1678, having survived her husband seventeen years, he having died in 1661.  The children:  Francis, Anthony, Elizabeth, John, Thomas, Mary, Hannah, Francis.  Seventy-six of his descendants were in the revolution.
   (II)  Francis Littlefield, eldest son of Edmund and Annis Littlefield, was born in England, 1619, acquired a university education, and has a peculiar history.  It will be seen, says Bourne, that there are two children of this name, and the first Francis for some cause disappeared from his father's home in England during early childhood, probably when he was not more than six or seven years old, and that he was given up by his parents as not being alive is shown in the fact that about twelve years later another son (the last born) was given the same name.  It is not known just when the elder Francis first met his parents in this country and joined the family.  In 1639 he was in Exeter, New Hampshire, and then was twenty years old, but he was so far acknowledged a member of the Wheelright combination and a lot of land was assigned him.  From Exeter, Francis Littlefield went to Woburn, Massachusetts, and married Jane, daughter of Ralph Hill, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, who died December 20, 1646, leaving a daughter Mary, then four days old, and who died soon afterward. (Note: Most other sources said daughter Mary did not died in infancy, but married twice & had 10 children by her two husbands.) Soon after the death of his wife and child he went to Dover, New Hampshire, and represented that town in the assembly in 1648.  He does not again appear in the history of Wells until 1650, when he maintained a prominent position and evidently had an extended acquaintance.  He kept a tavern and "because of his good moral character" was licensed to sell strong liquors.  That he was a man of considerable influence is shown in the fact that he was elected representative of York in 1668, of Wells in 1675-76.  He was a strong supporter of the claims of Massachusetts, and Savage speaks of him as a leader in that contest.  The sessions of the general court were held in his house.  He was recognized by the inhabitants of Wells as a sound man, and he lived to  the good old age of ninety-three years.  He may have divided his property among, children previous to his death, else he died in very moderate circumstances.  His personal property inventoried at twenty pounds, and he had no real estate at that time.  He married second, 1648, Rebecca _______, by whom he had several children.

 (III) Dependence Littlefield, son of Francis, and Rebecca Littlefield, appears to have taken an active part in public affairs in Wells, and was one of those who at a town meeting held March 20, 1716, voted  that "the right and property of all the common and undivided lands within the said township doth belong to and forever hereafter shall be and remain unto the persons hereafter mentioned and their heirs forever," etc.  There were five Littlefields in the list of those among whom the lands referred to were proposed to be divided, and he himself was one of them.  He also was one of the committee charged with the erection of a new meeting house in 1727, and was directed to see that the same "be done workmanlike to the turning of the Kee;" and when seats were assigned he and Samuel Emery were given "the liberty of cutting out a window against each of their Pues of the same bigness as the other windows."