Esther (Peirce) Richardson (abt. 1711 - abt. 1727)

Born about 25 Apr 1711 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Descendants

Died about 10 Nov 1727 at about age 16 in Woburn, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Esther Peirce is supposed to have been the daughter of Stephen Peirce and Esther Flecher (Fletcher?), of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Based on her cited age at death (27, gravestone), she was probably born about 1700,^[1] however Frederick Pierce, in his Pierce Genealogy cites that she was born April 25, 1711.^[2] There is also a corroborating Chelmsford birth record citing April 24, 1711.^[3]

She married Nathan Richardson of Woburn, Massachusetts. Based on the birth date of their first child, Nathan and Esther were probably married about 1724. Their children:^[1][2]

1. Nathan, born April 21, 1725; married Mary Peirce.^[1]
2. Esther, born August 6, 1727; married Joshua Peirce, of Woburn, They were published Oct. 27, 1753.^[1]

Esther (Pierce) Richardson died in Woburn on November 11, (10th gravestone), 1727, "in y^e 27 Year of Her Age. (gravestone)" She was buried at the First Burial Ground in Woburn, where her gravestone, now mostly destroyed, reads:^[1][4][5][6]

Here lyes y^e Body of

ESTHER RICHARDSON Wife to

NATHAN RICHARDSON

Dec^d Nov^br 10, 1727 in y^e

27 Year of Her Age.

Research Notes

1. References ^[1] and ^[2] differ in Esther's date of birth, about 1700 versus 1711. Which one is correct has not been determined. If born in 1711, Esther would have given birth to children at age 14 and 16 and died at age 16. That makes a date of birth of 1700 more likely, but that date clearly does not fit with the date of birth of Esther Peirce, the daughter of Stephen and Esther Peirce, according to Ref. ^[2], as they were not married until 1707.
2. The date of her death shown in Reference^[1], November 10, 1727, fits with Nathan and Esther Richardson having in two children, Nathan Jr. in 1725 and Esther on August 6, 1727 and then her husband remarrying in 1729. That an Esther Richardson died in 1727 is shown in Vital records of Newbury Mass,. but this record also states that she died 'in her 45th Y. G.R. 2," and shows that she died on April 29, 1727, not November 10.^[7] So neither the day, month, age nor place of death fit with Ref. ^[1], making it very clear this was a different Esther Richardson. But that leaves her date of death uncertain. Further research uncovered Reference ^[6], which confirms that the wife of Nathan Richardson of Woburn died on November 11, 1727.
3. Ref. ^[8] shows that an "Easther Pearce" and John Richardson gave notice of marriage in Chelmsford Dec 15, 1733. Obviously this bride could not have been either of the Esther Peirces who died in 1727. Whose daughter is this "Easther Pearce" ?
4. Without additional sources, the most logical conclusion is that Nathan Richardson did indeed marry Esther Peirce, the daughter of Stephen Peirce, and that she was born in 1711. If this is the case, her death record that gives her age as 27 at the time of death is in error.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Vinton: Pages 57-58. Citing: "75. Deacon Nathan Richardson ... married first, Esther Pierce, daughter of Stephen Pierce, of Chelmsford. She died Nov. 10, 1727, aged 27. ... Second, July 3, 1729, Tabitha Kendall, ... he died Oct. 21, 1775, aged 74. [7 children]."
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Pierce: Page 38. Citing: "80. Stephen Pierce, b. 1679; m. Esther Flecher, Jan. 5, 1707, b. 1681. He d. Sept. 9, 1749. Rec. Chelmsford, Mass. Children: ... iii. Esther, b. April 25, 1711; m. Nathan Richardson."
3. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHGV-M4W : 10 February 2018), Esther Peirce, 24 Apr 1711; citing Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, Roll 4966 P5 R11; FHL microfilm 868,434.
4. ↑ Woburn Records: PART II. EPITAPHS, FIRST BURIAL-GROUND. Page 24*. Citing: "(97.) 'Here lyes y^e Body of Esther Richardson Wife of Nathan Richardson Dec'd Nov'br 10, 1727 in y^e 27 Year of Her Age.'
   Esther Richardson, first wife of Deacon Nathan Richardson (epitaph 236)."
5. ↑ Woburn Records: PART II. DEATHS. Page 159. Citing: "RICHARDSON, Esther, wife of Nathan, Nov. 11, 1727; 27 y."
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHXJ-WJ4 : 3 November 2017), Esther Richardson, 11 Nov 1727; citing Death, Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 859,998.
   Transcript of Image: "Richardson, Esther wife [widow] of Nathan Richardson [aged 27 years] y^e. 11th. day of November 1727. [Gravestone] widow error on stone?"
7. ↑ Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, Vol II, the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1911, p 706. [Available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101057499533;view=1up;seq=5]
8. ↑ Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCWL-QB7 : Easther Pearce marred John Richardson, 15 Dec 1733, Chelmsford, Middlesex, Mass.

See also;

• Johnson, Edward. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Marriage Intentions, from 1640 to 1900 (Woburn, Mass., 1890-1919).

• Pierce, Frederick Beech Pierce Genealogy, Being the Record of the Posterity of Thomas Pierce, An Early Inhabitant of Charlestown, And Afterwards Charlestown Village (Woburn), In New England (Pierce, Worcester,Massachussetts, 1882).

• Vinton, John. The Richardson Memorial, Comprising a Full History and Genealogy of the Posterity of the Three Brothers, Ezekiel, Samuel, and Thomas Richardson (Brown Thurston & Co., Portland, Maine, 1876).