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Richard Pearce (abt. 1615 - abt. 1678)

Richard Pearce aka Pearse, Pierce
Born about in Englandmap [uncertain]
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 6 May 1642 in Waltham, Essex, Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , and
Died about at about age 63 in Portsmouth, Colony of Rhode Island and Plymouth Plantationsmap [uncertain]
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Sep 2010
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Contents

Disputed

Parents: This profile was previously connected to "parents" Richard Pearce and Martha Jacobs. There are no scholarly sources to prove the relationship. Various Pearce/Pers/Pierce genealogies are fraught with error and were not used in updating this profile. F.C Pierce's Pearce Genealogy is a work of fiction. For further information, please see: Frederick Clifton Pierce Fraud in WikiTree and the online article Captain Michael Pierce and the Fake Genealogy of Frederick Clifton Pierce by Michael D Pierce.

Children: Austin, although not always correct, does not list the connected profiles of Isaac Pearse or Samuel Pearse and those names were not mentioned in his will.

This man and his wife Susannah have been linked in some sources to a son named John Pearce who is said to have been born in New Netherland in 1682. That linkage possibly might be related to confusion with another (much later) Richard Pearce who was married to a woman named Susanah and who died in Queens County, New York, in 1744. See his will at Pelletreau, William S., Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate’s Office, City of New York, published as Collections of the New York Historical Society, Vol 28, 1744-1753, page 20 (will of Richard Pearce)

Please do not attach parents or children to this profile without PRIMARY sources like a christening record, will, etc.

Biography

The parents, birth location, and birth date for Richard Pearce of the Portsmouth Colony are unknown. It's likely he lived near Waltham Abbey in Essex County, England where he and Susanna Wright were married on May 5, 1642.[1][2]

The couple's arrival in New England occurred between the marriage date and September 14, 1647. On that date "Richard Pearce of Prudence Island in the Narragansett Bay" acknowledged the receipt of 20£ from the estate of his wife's grandfather, Ralph Dell of Bow, Middlesex, England. [3]

Family

A completely reliable list of Richard Pearce and Susanna Wright's children has not been located. According to the few sources available, they were:[4]

  1. Martha Pearce, born September 13, 1645; married Mahershallahasbaz Dyer
  2. John Pearce, born September 8, 1647; married Mary Tallman
  3. Richard Pearse, born October 23, 1649; married Experience LNU
  4. Giles Pearse, born September 22, 1651; married Elizabeth Hall
  5. Susanna Pearse, born November 20, 1652; married George Brownell
  6. Mary Pearce, born May 6, 1654; married Thomas Brownell
  7. Jeremiah Pearse, born November 17, 1656
  8. James, born December 6, 1658
  9. Daughter, born July 7, 1661
  10. George Pearce, born July 10, 1662
  11. William, born December 22, 1664

By 1651 the family had evidently moved to Portsmouth, where Richard's name begins appearing in Town records.

Portsmouth

  • 1651 Jun 16: The Portsmouth Town meeting records indicate; "Richard Peirs his bill accepted" [5]
  • 1654 Feb 12: witness to a deed of 12 acres of land and a house purchased of William James by Henry Piercy.[4]
  • 1657 Jun 8: He was chosen surveyor of marks of all "Cattell that goe" from this town [6]
  • 1658 May 18: At a meeting of the Colony Court of Commissioners, Richard was made a freeman of the Town of Portsmouth.[7]
  • 1665 May 8: Richard received the bond he had posted to guarantee the appearance of Thomas Durfee at a Court proceeding. [8]
  • 1666 Nov 16: purchased 2 acres 7 rods of land of Jacob Cole [4]
  • 1669: purchased of Joseph Parker 14 acres of land in Portsmouth [4]

Death and Estate

Richard wrote a will in 1677 and it was proved October 28, 1678. He left his home to son Richard. Other children mentioned were sons John, Giles, James, William, George and Jeremiah and "four daughters."[4]

Sources

  1. ↑ "England, Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKCW-PZF : 12 February 2018), Richard Peince and Susan Wright, 05 May 1642; citing Marriage, Waltham-Abbey, Essex, England, Essex Record Office, England.
  2. ↑ Wilbour, Benjamin Franklin. "Parentage of Susanna Wright, Wife of Richard Pearce of Portsmouth, R.I." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 84. Boston, MA: 1930.  (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) Subscription Link $. Pages 427-433
  3. ↑ Early History of Boston Containing the Aspinwall Notorial Records from 1644 to 1651. Boston, MA: Boston Municipal Printing Office, 1903. Pages 85-86.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Austin, John Osborne. The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island Comprising Three Generations of Settlers Who Came before 1690. Albany, NY: 1887. Page 146.
  5. ↑ Early Records of the Town of Portsmouth. Providence, RI: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1901. Page 52.
  6. ↑ ERP, 1901. Page 76.
  7. ↑ Bartlett, John R. Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, Vol 1. Providence, RI: Self-Published, 1856. Page 387.
  8. ↑ Rhode Island Court Records...of the Colony of Providence Plantation 1647-1662, Vol 2. Providence, RI: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1920. Page 38.

See also:

  • Pierce, Harvey Cushman. Seven Pierce Families. Strasburg, Virginia: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., 1936.
  • Richardson, Ruth Ellsworth. History and genealogy of the Richardson and Ellsworth families of Massachusetts. Private Publisher, 1974
  • Gorton, Adelos. The life and times of Samuel Gorton : the founders and the founding of the Republic : a section of early United States history and a history of the colony of Providence and Rhode Island plantations in the Narragansett Indian country now the state of Rhode Island, 1592-1636-1677-1687 : with a genealogy of Samuel Gorton's descendants to the present time. Philadelphia: unknown, 1907.




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Comments: 15

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Robert Pierce
Richard Pearce son, William Pearce bought land in Mamaroneck, New York from John Nelson on April 2, 1694. The Census of Mamaroneck 1698 shows 77 people living there. His wife Hannah. His sons: John, Richard and William. He later moved to Hempstead Long Island in 1698.
posted by Robert Pierce
Gloria Beymer
Richard died in Portsmouth, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (not Plymouth Plantations)
posted by Gloria Beymer
Bromley-244 Clare Bromley III
The full will of Richard Pearce-37 born 1615 who was married to Susannah Wright-259 is found on page seven and eight in the following book reference. In his will, proven 1678 in Portsmouth and executed by his son Richard, this Richard Pearce-37 names his male children, but does not name his 4 daughters (except to mention that there are four daughters.) This book is also by Frederick Pierce and has a similar name but it is different from the source listed above. Note the warning in the sources above about fraud. In this book reference, Frederick Pierce provides a different and expanded list of children of Richard Pierce-37 on the page following the will. Most likely, the sons named in the will are certain, but the others are not. https://archive.org/stream/piercegenealogyb00hurl#page/6/mode/2up
posted by Clare Bromley III
edited by Clare Bromley III
Smith-32867 Jillaine Smith
I think we have a conflation of multiple men by the name Richard Pearce (of whatever spelling). The Richard Pierce who married Susannah Wright (and that was his only wife) was son of Richard Pearce-1013.

The Richard Pearce married to a Martha must be some other man entirely.

posted by Jillaine Smith
Downs-977 Debra (Downs) Allison
Since the merge has been rejected twice on Martha (BOTH/EITHER NEED SOURCING), both Marthas need to be un-connected as well until sources can put her with the correct Richard.
posted by Debra (Downs) Allison
Downs-977 Debra (Downs) Allison
John Pears Pearce needs to be un-connected as he was born several years after the death of his father, Hannah is also suspect as being in her late 60s having a child.
posted by Debra (Downs) Allison
Lee-5956 Robin Lee
This profile is a mixture of several men with the same name....
posted by Robin Lee
Lee-5956 Robin Lee
Many children on this profile need sources and better estimates on birth. Profile needs cleaning, if you are not interested in maintaining this profile, there is no issue, just remove yourself as the profile manager.
posted by Robin Lee
Patricia (Charles) Stockley
Profile Managers - please check db error report and clean up these profiles. The children and one mother all have the same birth date. Your cooperation would be appreciated.
posted by Patricia (Charles) Stockley
Wilbur-403 Eunice (Wilbur) Pender
I am doubtful the Pearse immigrants to the colonies were related to the Percy family, who were "to the manor born". There would have been no reason to emigrate due to the family's good standing with the monarchy, and their apparent comfortable financial and social situation.
posted by Eunice (Wilbur) Pender
Hill-11959 S (Hill) Willson
I suspect all three of these Martha's are really the same person. The Pearce Genealogy only lists one wife as Martha __________, with no marriage date. I doubt that he married her when she was 12 years old, so I'd lean to the date being "before 1615" rather than 1605. Is there any documentation to support her last name being Jacobs? I also doubt her LNAB was Pearce, so I'd suggest all three be merged to Martha Unknown, with a marriage date of before 1615.

Thoughts?

posted by S (Hill) Willson
[Living Lenart]
Pierce-6826 and Pearce-1009 appear to represent the same person because: I am proposing a merger to Pearce-1009 so I can create an Unmerged match.

Duane Lenart as Pierce-6829

posted by [Living Lenart]
Aldrich-908 Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
Marguerite Coney would have been 8 years old - if this marriage is correct. Doubts...

She is not listed in the book I added as a source...•William Richard Cutter. "New England Families Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1915. Series 3, Volume I, page 38

I believe she should be detached.

posted by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl

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