Gabriel Maxenius was born about 1710 in Lohja, probably to freeholders in the village of Maksjoki.
[2] He was tutor to the family of the priest Henrik Argillander in Kuopio in 1730.
[3] While there, he wrote the short text De effectibus fascino naturalibus,[4] about traditional magical customs and rituals in the Kuopio region, providing some of the first evidence for these phenomena in Finland.
[5] He developed this material as a doctoral thesis, and was examined on 12 August 1733 by Johan Thorwöste.
[6] He was consecrated as a priest in the Diocese of Porvoo on 25 April 1734, and was assistant to the vicar in Helsinki in the same year.