Thomas Pierson (1653 - 1722)

Born 1653 in Bristol, England

Husband of Rachel (Sharpley) Pierson — married 16 Oct 1686 in New Castle, Delaware

Husband of Rose (Dixon) Pierson — married 1690 in Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 29 Sep 1722 at about age 69 in East Caln, Chester, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Thomas was a Friend (Quaker)

The birth date and place of Thomas Pierson are not yet documented though some place his birth as about 1653 and in Bristol. It would appear enough is known (see below) of his family to perhaps find his birth records through additional research. Thomas Pierson has been removed as father of this Thomas Pierson for reasons of impossible geography and dates.

The work of Quaker researcher Herbert Standing of Haverford College^[1] has shown that his mother's name was Susanna Pierson (no father given). He completed an apprenticeship in Bristol, England in 1675 and sailed to Maryland the following year with William Dixon, brother of his second wife Rose. He returned to England in 1682 it seems to secure property willed to him by his deceased sister's husband but with the witnesses being Quaker and unwilling to take an oath to support the claims he was unsuccessful.

He arrived in Chester (then Upland) in the fall of 1683. He served as a surveyor in New Castle County for many years. He married Rachel Sharpley in 1686 (she died 1687). He then married Rose Dixon in 1690.^[2]

The daughters of Thomas and Rose, Susannah and Rose, married the brothers John and Aaron Mendenhall. Both Thomas and Rose Pierson died in 1722.

Thomas Pierson's Estate

The Mendenhall Family Association has a transcript of the estate record for Thomas, filed by his son-in-law John (m Susannah) Mendenhall.

The record begins:

Inventory of Tho's Piersons Estate

filed ye 27th 9th 1722 [27th of November, 1722]

The Inventorey of Thomas Pierson goods and chatels

of the township of Caln

deseased the twenty ninth of September 1722

Additional Information

A G2G question about what happened in September 1722 yielded the following answer from Tom Bredehoft:

Conflicting information, Family of Henry Dixon, www.Quakersurnames.net/Dixon says:

Rose DIXON (b. 1661, Seagoe, Armagh, Ireland; d. 29 Sep 1772), East Caln Twp., Chester, PA m. Thomas PIERSON (b. 1653, Pownall Fee, Chester, (Cheshire), England; d. 27 May 1734, Marple, Chester, PA. (NOTE: this entry confuses this Thomas Pierson with another Quaker named Thomas Pearson who was born in Pownall Fee, Cheshire in 1653. They are not the same person, not of the same family, and this information must be disregarded as incorrect. T Stanton 28 May 2019.)

On the other hand, a report of his will written 27 September 1722 says he died 29 September 1722, two days after making his will.

Thomas was 69, Rose was 61; could have been sickness took them both.

None of the sources I found (Ancestry.com) mentioned an unusual cause of death.

Sources

1. ↑ Quakers in Delaware in the time of William Penn, by Herbert Standing, p 128 [1]
2. ↑ Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Births and Deaths, 1686-1739; Collection: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Minutes; Call Number: MR-Ph 267 (marriage record with Rose Dixon with clear marriage date 01 1st 1690 (1 Mar 1690). See attached PDF.

• Pierson-242
• Pierson-481 included the following list of sources:

• 1. Hayden Virginia Genealogies p. 354
• 2. Immigration of Irish Quakers to PA 1682-1750 by Albert Cook Myers 1902 p. 119
• 3. PA Mag. Vol XXI p. 506-7
• 4. Main Archive Record

• Harlan, George & Michael, History and Genealogy of the Harlan Family, Lord Baltimore Press, 1914. Page 8. Dixon Family. https://archive.org/stream/historygenealogy00harl#page/8/mode/2up