Josiah Bearse I (1690 - 1753)

Born 10 Mar 1690 in Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Zerviah (Newcomb) Bearse — married 2 Nov 1716 in Edgartown, Duke, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 31 Aug 1753 at age 63 in New Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut

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Biography

Josiah was born, 10 Mar 1690/1,^[1] in Barnstable, Massachusetts and baptized there 19 Apr 1691.^[2]

He married Zerviah Newcomb, 2 Nov 1716, in Edgartown.^[3] He passed away, 31 Aug 1753.^[4][5]

While he is with Zerviah at his death, and later probate records identify her as mother of at least some of his children, one set of published Barnstable, Massachusetts records identify "Mary" as the name used as the wife of Josiah and mother of his children in the Barnstable church records; another set say "Zerviah." The first set might be why Otis, in his history of Barnstable families, wrote that Josiah married first Zerviah, and second Mary.^[6]

The first four baptized together on 3 October 1725 in Barnstable (suggesting they may have been born elsewhere; Edgartown records do not include them):^[7]

1. Anna, b. 11 Jul 1719^[8]
2. Josiah, b. 5 Feb 1720/1^[8]
3. Eunice, b. 2 Jan 1722/3^[8] (died 6 Apr 1727 per Otis) ^[9][10]
4. Jonathan, b. 22 Nov 1724^[8] (died 2 Dec 1731) ^[11][12]
5. Lois, b. 17 Jul 1726^[8][13] Two early unsourced genealogies claim she married ThomasKnapp.
6. Mary, baptized 29 May 1726.^[14]
7. Thomas, b. 10 Mar 1728/9,^[8] bpt. 4 May 1729 baptism record of son Thomas (mother's name left blank).^[15]
8. Eunice, b. 13 Feb 1731/2,^[8] bpt. 28 May 1732 in Barnstable.^[16]
9. Martha, named and single in 1791 distribution of father's estate.

Josiah Bearse (no other family member named) was dismissed from the church at Barnstable and recommended to the Church of Christ in Greenwich, Connecticut, on 29 Dec 1734.^[17]

Probate

His inventory was completed on 24 November 1753 in New Fairfield and recorded in Danbury. Josiah Bearss and Zurviah Bearss were administrators of his estate.^[18]

Disputed Native American Relations

The Myth

According to charlatan Franklyn Bearce:

Josiah Bearce Ist son of Joseph Bearce , Marthe Taylor, born Barnstable 1690, 3/8Blood Wampanoag Indian; Married first at Edgartown M.V.I. Zerviah Newcomb with whom he only lived a short time be fore they seperated, and by Whom He Had No Children see, (Otis papers in Swifts Old Barnstable Families ) and records at the Cape whitch state that his children were born to Josiah Bearse and his wife Mary, not Zerviah;

This is true as Zerviah herself stated in the codgial she wrote in her old age after the going to sleep of Josiah Bearce 1st at New Fairfield Conn, whitch she chose to tittle A True Chronical of The Bearce Family. This documnet was a supplement of Zerviahs Dairy.

Josiah moved in 1743 to Greenwitch Conn, and then in 1747 to New Fairfield Conn where and Zerviah lie sleeping Second he married under pagan Indian rights at Mashpee Cape Cod the mother of his 11 children, Mary Sissell born at Freetown Mass, full blood dau of, Isaac Sissell, Momenet Sagamore, of praying Indian Town; Isaac Sissell was a full blood son of a M.V.I. Sachem, and Mary Tuspuquion, dau of Benjiman Tuspuquion, and his wife Weecome squaw Sachem; Mary Tuspuquion was a grandaughter of the Black Sachem and Amie dau of Massasoit; Mary Sissell was a full blood and my tradition states very comly and fair to look upon, with finely chisseled features, and endowed with second sight, an Indian clairvoint, a spiritualist medium who could tell the future. She was 5 years younger than Josiah Bearce 1st, and lies sleeping at Mashpee Cape Cod where she passed out in child bed, and but for this Manuscript, unknown and forgotten, this dear Indian anscestor of ours;Note Josiah BeArce Ist had II children with Mary Sissell and none with his legal Wife, Zerviah Newcomb. Zerviah was steral as she stated in her supplement, and accepted her lot as an act of providence and the will of God. In his early life Josiah 1st followed the sea and traded between Barnstable and M.V.I. where he met and married Zerviah in I7I6, who lived most of her life at Edgartown; The church dismissed her to the Cape in 1742, Josiah and Zerviah quarreled, Josiah wanted Zerviah who taught school to reside at the Cape, she refused; Josiah wanted children Zerviah could bear none; Zerviah,s kin and the whites at M.V.I. did not like Josiah 1st on account of his Romany and Indian blood and his religeous beliefs; He was a seperatist, and dissenter; Zerviah was orthodox; Josiah was jelous and in a fit of rage he left Zerviah; They consented to separate and live apart; For some years Zerviah continued to reside at M.V.I. where she taught school; She was a fairly well educated woman of her time; Josiah resided for some years at Mashpee, where Mary Sissell passed out in childbirth and lies sleeping;

After Mary Sissell went to sleep at Mashpee, Josiah 1st left with a family of young and half grown children pached up his differences with Zerviah, who consented to live with him again,and be a step-mother to his children; He left the resavation at Mashpee with his family and settled at Barnstable; There was much unfavorable talk at the time by people at the Cape, and in order to escape the scandle and wagging tongues, Josiah and Zerviah desided to migrate. Zerviah orthodox obtained a transfer from the church at the cape, and with their family they removed first to Greenwith Conn, and finally settled at New Fairfield, where under the clever management of Zerviah who was an able woman with a good head for buisness head, the material property holdings of Josiah 1st and Zerviah,s stepchildren increased; Zerviah's Dairy was written on several differant typs of paper some of not very good quality; The codgial supplement was on the same kind of paper and in fairly good condition when Mary Caroline Bearce sister of Iron Face was a girl and lived at Penfield, N.Y. with her brother James Monroe Bearce, at the home of their Grandparents Josiah Bearce 3rd and Freelove Canfield;

The original Dairy and supplement was handed down to James Monroe Bearce after Josiah 3rd his grandfather went to sleep at Penfield N.Y.My great aunt Mary Caroline Bearce Roe married a cousin Elisha Rau, was a dear old squaw when I was a boy, knew the contents of the Dairy and had a fac-simil copy of the supplement A True Chronical of The Bearce Family written in the old shaky hand of Josiah Bearce 3rd at Penfield N.Y. I saw this copy when a boy, and my grandfathers fac-simil copy written by the hand of my grandmother Mary Ellen Tuttle Bearce at Allegan, when I was a young man of 19 years of age and went through and discussed the contents with my grandmother Mary Ellen shortly before she migrated West to Puget Sound country ; Josiah Bearce 2nd and Josiah Bearce 3rd both went to school to Zerviah and received instructions from her at New Fairfield Conn; Zerviah lived to be close to 90 years old. Bearce Newcomb lays great stress on the grave marker at New Fairfield Conn whitch reads July 11, 1719 Ann Bearce dau of Josiah Bearce and his wife Zerviah,; This is true Zerviah was the legal wife of Josiah and the step mother of Ann, but the blood mother of Ann and the rest off Josiah,s children was Mary Sissell; July 11th 1719 was the birth year of Ann Bearce at old Barnstable; Ann Bearce assisted Zerviah in the compiling of Zerviah,s supplement and was of much assistance to her as she herself stated in her Dairy. Bearce is also incorrect on Mary Wilder who with her mother come in the Confidence on the same trip that brought Austine to these Shores , she married an Underwood in I640 the year the first child of Austine and Mary Hyanno was born; See records at the Cape Puritan Church."

The Reality

According to Donald Lines Jacobus:

Finally, we come to the account of Josiah3 Bearse, son of Joseph2 and Martha (Taylor) Bearse.

The Bearce manuscript states that be married first, Nov. 1716, Zerviah Newcomb, "By Whom he had no Children"; and that he married second, 1718 at Mashpee, Mary Sissell, mother of all his eleven children. She is described as a full blood Indian princess (another princess), daughter of Isaac Sissell, a Momenet Sagamore, by his wife Mary Tuspuquin, daughter of Watuspuquin-Black William, Sachem at Nahant, by his wife Amie, full blood Indian princess, daughter of Massasoit.

Now it is true that Otis in "Barnstable Families," vol. 1, pp. 55, 59, states that Josiah Bearse married first, 2 Nov. 1716, Zerviah Newcomb of Edgartown, and second, Mary --, and that he had no children by his first wife. Whether or not this was one of the numerous errors of Otis, the Newcomb Genealogy (1874) by John Bearse Newcomb gives a different account which is repeated in the revised edition of this work (1923), p. 21 in both volumes.

According to this account, Zerviah Newcomb. Daughter of Lieut. Andrew and Anna (Bayes) Newcomb, married 2 Nov. 1716, Josiah Bearse. He resided at East Barnstable but was dismissed from the church there 29 Dec. 1734 to the church at Greenwich, Conn., to which place he soon after moved. In 1738 they removed to New Fairfield, Conn., where he died 31 Aug. 1753. The inscription on his wife's gravestone reads: In Memory of Zerviah Bearss died Sept. 5th in the 91st year of her age 1789." The eleven children are then given, born between 1719 and 1741. No mention is made of an alleged second wife, Mary, and the children are all attributed to Zerviah.

It will be noted that Zerviah was married in 1716, survived her husband, who died in 1753, and died herself in 1789. Josiah could not therefore have had a second legal wife. Mr. F. E. Bearce admits this in his reference to Zerviah "after the death of her husband by law." The story therefore is that Josiah Bearse either committed a bigamous marriage, or kept a concubine, and that in spite of this his legal wife accompanied him on his removal to Connecticut. Such a story cannot be accepted, and is seemingly based on an error, either in the book by Otis, or in an original record at Barnstable. Both offenses were serious in the eyes of the law, and although committed occasionally, ,resulted in legal action against the sinner and usually also in divorce. Yet here we find that the church, after the birth of many of Josiah's children, gave him an honorable dismissal to the church in his now home. This proves that he remained in good standing with his church, as had his grandfather before him. If the story were true, he would have been cast out of the church.

The vital and land records of New Fairfield were unfortunately destroyed. However, the Danbury Probate records (vol. 2, pp. 43, 45 and files at the State Library) afford quite conclusive evidence:-

1 Oct. 1753. "Josiah Bearss & Zurviah Bearss are appointed Administrators on the Estate of Josiah Bearss late of Newfairfield in sd District Deceised."

Full text: "Att a Court of Probate held in Danbury for the District of Danbury Actober the first AD 1753 Josiah Bears Zerviah Beras are appointed administators on the Estate of Josiah Bearss late of Newfairfield in said District Deceased and have given bond on file as the Law Directs."

At this same court (previous page), Zerviah is appointed guardian of Josiah's daughter Mary:

Full text: "Att a court of Probate held in Danbury for the District of Danbury October the first AD 1753 Widdow Zerviah Bearss is appointed guardian to Mary Bears Daughter to Josiah Bearss late of of Newfairfield deceased, she being in her Non age for the Choice of a gardian and the sd. Zervia Bearss and Ebenezer Stevens of Newfairfield acknowledged themselves Joyntly & severally bound unto the Treasurer of the County of Fairfield in the Recognizance of one thousands pounds Lawfull money that the said Zerviah Bearss shall faithfully Discharge her Gardianship for the sd money according to Law...."

3 Dec. 1753. ".Joseph Bearss son to Josiah Bearss Late of Newfairfield in sd District Decesd Being of Lawfull, age to Chouse his Gardian and having maid Choise of his mother Zurviah Bearss to be his Gardian the Court Doth allow and approve thereof ."

Distribution of the estate was not made until 1 July 1791, in other words after the death of the widow (Zerviah Newcomb). This distribution of "the Estate of Josiah Barss late of Newfairfield decest"; was made to "the heirs of Josiah Decst who was the eldest son of the Decest"; "Thomas Barss the second son of the Decst"; "Martha"; "Anna late wife of Benjamin Stevens her heirs"; "Mary the wife of Gideon Beardsley"; "Josep the third son of the Decst"; and "Benjamin Bars the fourth son of the Decest."

So! Are we to believe that the legal wife and widow served as co-administrator on Josiah's estate with his eldest son by a concubine? Are we to believe that one of the younger sons by the concubine chose the legal wife for his guardian, calling her "his mother," and that Zerviah and the Court accepted the choice? And are we to believe that distributors, appointed by the Court, distributed Josiah's estate after his lawful widow's death to his illegitimate children? Such preposterous conclusions are forced upon us if we accept the statements made in Mr. Bearse's manuscript, "Who Our Forefathers Really Were."

The children of Josiah and Zerviah (Newcomb) Bearse honored their mother by names which were bestowed on the next generation; "Zerush Bearse" and "Newcomb Bearss" both, married at Danbury in 1778 [Danbury Vital Records, 1-442, 406). It is not our province to inquire why a later descendant prefers to disown Zerviah Newcomb in favor of an alleged Indian concubine, and to besmirch the character of Josiah Bearse by making bastards of all his children. Not an atom of evidence has been adduced to show that Josiah ever had an Indian concubine or secondary wife; and the records quoted above prove conclusively that Zerviah Newcomb was his only wife and the mother of his children.

When in three successive generations, such claims of Indian marriage are made, in several details at variance with primary record sources, and involving an entire sequence of improbabilities, we are justified in concluding that this account, whatever its source, traditional or otherwise, cannot be accepted as authentic."

Additional Comments

Remember too, that we are not just meant to believe that the Puritan community, at large, ignored all of Josiah's wrongdoings, we are also supposed to believe that Zerviah's prominent Puritan family, which included 14 siblings who married into other prominent Puritan families, that supposedly didn't like Josiah, decided to just sit idly by for a decade, instead of taking him to court. Go ahead and insult our daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, family, and Puritan way of life...for a decade...while we do absolutely nothing about it. Nonsense.

Jacobus mentions the actual discharge date, of 1734. That the family actually received their discharge to Connecticut, in 1734, is extremely important. Some might be inclined to give Franklyn the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he just accidentally inverted the last two numbers? No. Franklyn's entire Mary Sissell story hinges on the date being 1743, instead of 1734. He did this on purpose.

This date is so important, because the actual date of 1734 creates an impossibility, for Franklyn. It is absolutely impossible for Mary to have died giving birth to Josiah's last child, in Massachusetts, after which Josiah and sterile Zerviah repaired their relationship and moved to Connecticut ... where the last 4 children are born. Yes, the last 4 children were born in Connecticut.

Franklyn also lies about the records. According to records, Josiah married Zerviah. According to records, Zerviah is listed as the mother of all 7 children,^[19] born before the move. According to records, she is recorded as mother, in court documents. According to records, she is still Josiah's wife, when he dies. Period, end of story.

Franklyn's story goes against our understanding of Puritan law. It goes against the fact that Zerviah had a huge Puritan family. It goes against records. And, it contains an element of impossibility. Mary Sissell is just another of Bearce's fabricated connections, and Zerviah Newcomb is the true mother of all Josiah's children.

Burial

New Fairfield Cemetery, New Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut

Sources

1. ↑ Otis, p. 55
2. ↑ Barnstable Church Records (Online Database, Americanancestors.org), p. 96: [19 April 1691 (from previous page)] "Josiah of Joseph Bearse."
3. ↑ Edgartown Marriages, [http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Dukes/Edgartown/Images/Edgartown_M095.shtml p. 95: "Bearse, Josiah and Zerviah Newcomb, Nov. 2, 1716. (Intentions not recorded.)"
4. ↑ A contribution to the genealogy of the Bearse or Bearss family in America, 1618-1871, by John Bearss Newcomb [1]
5. ↑ Genealogical memoir of the Newcomb family, containing records of nearly every person of the name in America from 1635-1874, by John Bearss Newcomb [2]
6. ↑ Amos Otis, The Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Volume 1, pages 52- 59; see p. 55
7. ↑ Barnstable, MA: Church Records 1639-1892 (Online database, AmericanAncestors.org), p 261, citing p. 31 of original records. See also, Otis, p. 59 for specific birth dates of children.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6} Town records, 1640-ca.1855 [Barnstable, Massachusetts] [3]
9. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", database with images, FamilySearch ([4] : accessed 7 May 2016), Unis Barse, 1727.
10. ↑ "Plymouth Colony Records" in Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, (database online; AmericanAncestors.org), Barnstable, volume 1, p. 718: "Bearse, Unis dau. of Josiah & Zerviah b. Jan 2, 1722/23 d. Apr 6, 1727."
11. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", database with images, FamilySearch ([5] : accessed 7 May 2016), Josiah Barse in entry for Jonathan Barse, 1731.
12. ↑ "Plymouth Colony Records" in Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, (database online; AmericanAncestors.org), Barnstable, volume 1, p. 718: "Bearse, Jonathan s. of Josiah & Zerviah b. Nov 22, 1724 d. Dec 2, 1731."
13. ↑ Barnstable Church Records, op cit., p. 261: 1726: "May 29... Lois daughter of Josiah and Mary Bearse." BUT original says 4 Sept not 29 May.
14. ↑ Barnstable Church Records, op cit., p. 261, citing p. 31: NOTE: It was LOIS on this page of originals, not Mary, and the date is 4 Sep not 29 May.
15. ↑ Barnstable Church Records, op cit., p. 263, citing p. 32 of originals
16. ↑ Barnstable Church Records, op cit., p. 265, citing p. 34
17. ↑ Barnstable Church Records, op cit., p. 335, citing p. 41; see also Plymouth Colony Records, Barnstable, vol. 1, p. 707
18. ↑ “Probate records v. 1-3 1744-1782”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-892K-TNHC : 14 February 2023), FHL microfilm 007627321, image 58-59, Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut, Vol 1, 1739-1767, Pages 99-100.
19. ↑ Actually, not true; "Mary" is identified as mother of at least four in Barnstable vital records; see note above. Not, not true: Vital Records of the Towns of Barnstable and Sandwich, p 154 [6]

• Bears, C Austin, Bears Genealogy, Bears Books, Canada, 1989 (Vol 2).
• Find A Grave: Memorial #138514340

Research Notes

Complicating the issue of Josiah's wife and mother of his children is the fact that there are multiple versions of published Barnstable records. This section seeks to distinguish and explain the sources of each of these publications.

1. NEHGS on its AmericanAncestors.org web site, includes an online database of Massachusetts Vital Records. Searching that for Josiah Bearse results in several entries found in a subsection of this database called "Barnstable Church Records." These records (see citations above) identify the mother of all of Josiah's children as "Mary" (with one exception where the mother's name was left blank). On the first page of this section, it says this about the origins of its contents:
   

[East Church, p. 112]:

"Mr. G.A. Hinckly copied all of the church records into numerous volumes, each segmented into more than one section, with each section provided with its own index. The volume from which the following records were transcribed is entitled on the spine: 'EAST AND WEST PARISH - BARNSTABLE.' It is in the manuscript collection of the NEHGS, call #Mss/Cb/58."

Then on page 87 of these published records we find (after the church minutes end and before the births/baptisms, etc begin):

"The following is a copy of the heading of baptisms from the Church Records commenced by the Rev. John Lothrop on his arrival at barnstable October 11, 1639. A few words are illegible in the ancient record taken to West Barnstable by Rev. Jonathan Russell on his withdrawal from the East Parish and choice of settlement in the West Parish, preaching first sermon there 'Thansgiving Day Nov. 1719, when the Old Meeting House was deserted.' ... [details about the buildings]... G.A. Hinckley."

1. The Mayflower Descendant also published Barnstable records. The page we're concerned with came from vol. XXXII (1934), p 154, citing p. 314 of the original records. See image attached to this profile, which identifies the mother of Josiah's children as "Zerviah his wife". These were published initially in a set of quarterly journals, then compiled into one volume by Leonard H. Smith, Norma Helen Smith, called Vital Records of the Towns of Barnstable and Sandwich, (1976, 1982) the preface of which states:
   

"In 1900 the Society of Mayflower Descendants in Massachusetts began printing in its quarterly, The Mayflower Descendant, the vital records of Barnstable, Mass., as they had been literally transcribed from the original records by Goerge Robert Bowman..."

Confusing the matter further:

"In his introduction to his transcription, (Mayflower Descendant, 2:212), Bowman notes: “Volume I of the Barnstable town records is not the original, but a copy made in 1736, in accordance with the vote recorded on the first page. The vital records in the copy were arranged at the back of the book.” It appears that both Bowman and Hinckley made use of this 1736 copy and not the original. This note appears in the Barnstable record book Volume I: “The pages of this volume are not consecutively numbered. As will be seen below, vital statistics are found on entire page 432 and the next page in the volume, also containing vital records, is numbered 377. Further, the page following number 389 is page numbered 194 and following page 198 is page 209.” [as found on this WeRelate.org Source page.