Parnell (Unknown) Pierce (abt. 1611 - abt. 1637)

Born about 1611 in England

Descendants

Died about 1637 at about age 26 in Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

The origins of Parnell Unknown, first known wife of John Pierce of Dorchester, Massachusetts are unknown at this time. They were married by 1631 and John immigrated by 1630, so they may have married in England or in Massachusetts.^[1]

Her known children with John Pierce were:^[2]

1. Joseph was b. in Dorchester 30 October 1631; not named in father's will.
2. Abigail was b. Dorchester 17 July 1633; m. by 1653 Jeremiah Rogers (eldest child bp. Dorchester 10 May 1653. (Savage gives Mehitabel as the forename of the wife of Jeremiah Rogers, but this was the name of one of the daughters of Jeremiah and Abigail.
3. John was b. Dorchester 3 March 1634[/5]; d. Dorchester 30 March 1634 (sic, probably 1635).
4. Nehemiah was b. Dorchester 12 July 1637; d. Dorchester October 1639

Note that Abigail was named in John's will of 1661 as "wife of Jeremiah Rogers" along with the children he had with second wife Mary, proving that in fact there was only one John Pierce of Dorchester and he was husband of both Parnell and Mary.^[3]

Death & Estate

Parnell's death was listed in the Dorchester Vital records as October 1639, the same as her son Nehemiah.^[4] Anderson opines that this was a mistake since it overlaps with the birth of John's first child with his next wife Mary Unknown on 6 Mar 1638/39 and therefore Parnell died earlier, perhaps in 1637 and maybe related to the birth of her son Nehemiah in that year. In any case no primary record for Parnell's death or burial has yet been found.

Sources

1. ↑ The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Vol. 3 p. 1469 entry for John Pierce $subscription required
2. ↑ Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 for John Pierce Dorchester Births, Marriages Deaths, 1631-1844 $subscription required and free image courtesy of ancestry.com
3. ↑ Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017-2019. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org) Case 276: Will, Book 1
4. ↑ Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 for Parnell Pearce Boston Transcript of County Records, 1643-1660; Vol. 1 Births, Marriages Deaths from 1630-1666 $subscription required and free image courtesy of ancestry.com