Mary (Pierce) Herring (abt. 1630 - 1712)

Born about 1630 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Herring — married 15 Apr 1650 in Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 18 Nov 1712 at about age 82 in Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Mary Pierce was born about 1630 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to English immigrants Robert Pierce and Ann Greenaway. She married Thomas Herring on April 15, 1650 in Dedham, Massachusetts.^{[1] [2]}

Their home in Dedham was on Mill Creek.

Thomas died in Dedham 27 August 1684^[3]
[probably in his mid-60s]. According to the will which he had written ten years earlier, his entire estate was to go to his wife, she having full power to dispose of it at her discretion; she was also to serve as executrix.^[4]

Mary, widowed at about age 54, never remarried. She continued to live on the homestead which in 1712 was described as being 40 acres bounded north by "Mill Creek," west by the highway to Boston and on the east by land of William Avery.

Her children married and moved away: James to Roxbury, Sarah and Mary to Medfield, Deborah to Sherborn and Hannah and Martha to Needham. Thomas, the youngest child, apparently continued to live on the homestead.

In 1703 Mary [age c.73] distributed twelve tracts of the family's land to her two sons James [age 47] and Thomas [age 33].^[5] On 23 Oct 1712 she deeded the homestead to son Thomas.^[6] He swapped it two days later with Joshua Fisher for Fisher's 25-acre farm with dwelling house, barn and orchard in The Clapboard Trees [Westwood]. This farm adjoined property son Thomas already owned in the area.^[7]

Mary died 18 Nov 1712^[8] [age c.82].

[Profile originally said "She died on October 26, 1708, in Dedham, Massachusetts." We now know that can't be true. Find-a-Grave says she died in 1704, but gives no source. A correction has been submitted.]

"ROBERT, Dorchester, perhaps 1630, but not very likely, may have been br. of John, the mariner, by w. Ann, d. of John Greenway, had Deborah, b. Feb. 1640, d. in few wks was freem. 18 May 1642, and d. 6 Jan. 1665, leav. only s. Thomas, and Mary, wh. m. Thomas Herring, not (as oft. said) Haven, of Dedham; and his wid. d. 31 Dec. 1695, "the oldest person, prob. that ever liv. in D." says the Hist. 261, aged "about 104 yrs." unless we suppose some exagger. in Blake's Ann, as may be reasona. if not unavoida. Of his will, good abstr. is in Geneal. Reg. XIII. 154. Some of the bread brot, over the ocean by him, tradit. fondly reports to be still in posess. of descend. and so, by more than 165 yrs. older even than her. It may as well keep many centuries more."^[9]

Sources

• American Marriages before 1699, by William Montgomery Clemens, Pompton Lakes, NJ, p. 168, USA: Biblio Co., 1926. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015000657364;view=1up;seq=172
• Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692, Volume #3, Pierce - Pinkham, By James Savage. Vol. 3, p. 428. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/bk3/pierce-pinkham.htm
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
• U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.

1. ↑ American Marriages before 1699, by William Montgomery Clemens, Pompton Lakes, NJ, p. 168, USA: Biblio Co., 1926. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015000657364;view=1up;seq=172
2. ↑ Mass. Town and Vital Records, Ancestry.com
3. ↑ Early Records of the Town of Dedham, Edited by Don Gleason Hill, Vol. 1, p.20: Thomas Heerring, deceased the 27: 6. 1684. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101013827207&view=1up&seq=36&size=125
4. ↑ Suffolk Co. Probate Bk.6, p.476:will.
5. ↑ Suffolk Co. Deed Bk.21, pp 282,284.
6. ↑ Suffolk Co. Deed Bk.27, p.21. (Deed difficult to read, bled threw.)
7. ↑ Suffolk Co. Deed Bk.26, p.270.
8. ↑ Early Records, Vol. 1, p.37: does not say wife of, but no apparent conflict.
9. ↑ Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692, Volume #3, Pierce - Pinkham, By James Savage. Vol. 3, p. 428. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/bk3/pierce-pinkham.htm

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