Abraham Pierce [1580] ³

  Research Notes:

ABRAHAM PIERCE ORIGIN: Unknown MIGRATION: 1623 on the Anne FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth REMOVES: Duxbury after 1643 FREEMAN: In the "1633" list of Plymouth freemen, between those admitted on 1 January 1632/3 and those admitted 1 January 1633/4 [PCR 1:4]. In Plymouth Colony list of 7 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:53]. In the Plymouth section of the 1639 list of Plymouth Colony freemen, then deleted and added to Duxbury section [PCR 8:174-75]. In the Duxbury section of the 1658 and 29 May 1670 Plymouth Colony lists of freemen [PCR 5:275, 8:178]. OFFICES: Coroner's jury, February 1635/6 [PCR 1:39]. In Plymouth section of 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms; his name was lined through and then added to the Duxbury section [PCR 8:187, 190]. ESTATE: Abraham Pierce was one of the two servants of Mr. [John] Pierce in the 1623 Plymouth division of land who received an acre of land apiece as passengers on the Anne [PCR 12:6; TAG 54:164-66]. In the 1627 Plymouth division of cattle "Abraham Peirce" was the twelfth person in the third company [PCR 12:10]. He was the thirty-first person on the list of Purchasers [PCR 2:177]. On 20 January 1627 Abraham Pierce sold to Capt. Miles Standish two shares in a red cow for two ewe lambs [PCR 12:15]. On 28 September 1629 Abraham Peirce sold to "Thomas Clarck one acre of land lying on the south side of the town abutting on Hobs-hole" (the land he received in the 1623 land division) [PCR 12:7]. In the 25 March 1633 and 27 March 1634 Plymouth tax lists assessed 9s. [PCR 1:10, 28]. On 5 December 1637 Abraham Pierce sold to Josuah Pratt a house and garden place in Plymouth [PCR 12:24]. On 8 June 1643 Abraham Pierce sold to Thomas King forty acres of upland and meadow on the south side of the North River [PCR 12:95]. Prior to 31 July 1646 "Abraham Pearse" exchanged a lot of land with Joseph Rogers at Stony Brook and also leased two acres of meadow to William Merick for two years and an agreement was reached as to the further term of the lease and the division of wheat grown on the land [PCR 12:136]. On 13 June 1660 three acres of meadow were granted to Abraham Pierce Senior, lying on the north side of the brook at Namassakesett [PCR 3:194]. On 4 June 1661 the court confirmed that Abraham Pierce and several other men had liberty to purchase land at Saconeesett [PCR 3:216]. On 4 June 1668 "Abraham Pearse Senior of Duxburrow" sold to Thomas Hatch "one whole share of land or purchase which was granted unto me ... lying and being at Saconessett" [PCLR 3:113]. At court on 3 June 1673 "Abraham Peirse, Junior," made over to "his brother Isacke Peirse" twenty acres of upland and two acres of meadow, part of the land and meadow of "his father Abraham Peirse deceased, he dying intestate," the land falling to Abraham Peirse Junior as his proper right. Abraham Peirse Junior also gave 20s. apiece to "his three sisters, viz: Rebeckah Wills, Mary Baker, and Allice Baker," the court giving him administration on the estate [PCR 5:116-17]. BIRTH: By about 1605 (if he was eighteen when he arrived in 1623). DEATH: By 3 June 1673 [PCR 5:116-17]. MARRIAGE: By 1638 Rebecca _____. She does not appear to have survived him since her son made no acknowledgment of or provision for her dower. "Alice, daughter of Abraham Peirce of Plimoth, being brought hither by Goody Scudder, his wife's sister and here baptized July 21, 1650" [NEHGR 9:284]. Goody Scudder was evidently the wife of John Scudder of Barnstable. Her first name may have been Hannah. That her sister took her youngest child implies that either Rebecca was ill, unable to nurse, or deceased following the birth. CHILDREN: i ABRAHAM, b. [blank] January 1638[/9?] [PVR 2 (entered at his death in 1718)]; m. (1) by about 1665 Hannah Baker (in his will, dated 4 March 1692/3, Francis Baker made a bequest to "my daughter Hannah Pearse" [MD 31:107; CCL 106:7, citing BarnPR 2:30]); m. (2) Scituate 29 October 1695 Hannah _____ (said to be Hannah Glass). ii ISAAC, b. say 1641; living 1673 [PCR 5:116-17]; no further record. iii REBECCA; b. say 1643; m. by 1673 Samuel Wills [PCR 5:116-17]. iv MARY, b. say 1645; m. by about 1670 Nathaniel Baker ("Samuel Baker the son of Nathanell Baker was 4 years old the 29th of October 1674" [YarVR 1:126; MD 2:207]). v ALICE, bp. Barnstable 21 July 1650 [NEHGR 9:281]; m. by 1672 John Baker (eldest child b. 31 May 1672 [YarVR 1:126; MD 2:207]). ASSOCIATIONS: Abraham Pierce may be related in some way to Mr. John Pierce of London [TAG 54:164-66]. On 13 November 1730 "Caleb Pearce" of Yarmouth, planter, appointed "my uncle Isaac Pearce of Easthem," planter, his attorney to recover any right he might have in land "descending to me from my greatgrandfather Abraham Pearce" of Duxbury, deceased, especially his right in "a plantation or other estate in the government of the Island of Barbadoes formerly belonging to & in the possession of Thomas Pearce late of said Barbadoes, deceased, & by him given to my greatgrandfather Abraham Pearce ... & from him descending to my grandfather Abraham Pearce of said Duxborough late of Pembroke ... and from him descending to my father John Pearce of the town of Pembroke abovesaid deceased & so to myself" [MD 9:162-63, citing a document in private hands]. The great-grandfather of Caleb Pierce was Abraham Pierce the immigrant, and so this power of attorney provides a powerful clue which should assist in finding the English origin of Abraham. COMMENTS: On 7 September 1642 the court ordered that "the difference betwixt Mr. Will[ia]m Hanbury and Abraham Perse about the lugging and killing Mr. Hanburie's swine" was to be settled by Mr. William Paddy and John Howland, for William Hanbury, and Stephen Tracy and John Cooke the younger, for Pierce [PCR 2:44]. The settlement was unsuccessful for on 7 November 1643 William Hanbury sued Abraham Pierce for trespass, and Pierce countersued for trespass and charged Mr. William Hanbury with assault and battery. The court ordered that Hanbury pay 3s. 4d. and court charges for this latter offense [PCR 7:35]. In the 1643 list of men able to bear arms, Abraham Pierce happened to be listed immediately before "the blackamore," clearly a separate entry for another man in the original, but unfortunately run together by Pulsifer or Shurtleff to read "Abraham Pearse, the blackamore" [PCR 8:187]. Those not referring to the original could easily be misled into believing that "Abraham Pearse" had an African origin, but in 1983 Richard L. Ehrlich and James W. Baker demonstrated conclusively that this could not be [MQ 49:57-67; see also Stratton 337]. On 2 March 1651/2 Abraham Pierce was presented for "slothful and negligent spending the Sabbath and not frequenting the public assembly." He was warned to amend and excused [PCR 3:5]. On 15 June 1660 a "James Peirse" was killed by lightning in Plymouth Harbor [PCR 3:195-96]. Stratton states that this was a son of Abraham Pierce [Stratton 337], but James is clearly called "of Boston," and he and his companions were not acquainted with Plymouth Harbor, so there would not seem to be any relationship between Abraham and James. The Great Migration Begins
Sketches
PRESERVED PURITAN

  Noted events in his life were:

• He immigrated on the Anne in 1623 to Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.

• He had a residence 1623 to 1643 in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.

• Abraham Pierce [1580] was a freeman admitted in 1633 in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts

• He served in the military under Captain Miles Standish in 1643 in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts. ⁵

• He had a residence after 1643 in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Abraham married Rebecca Lothrop [1581] [MRIN: 681] in 1658 in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.^{1 2} (Rebecca Lothrop [1581] was born about 1628 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts ⁶ and died in 1675 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.)