Friday, September 15, 2017

52 Ancestors - Week 192: #271 Abigail (Stearns) Peirce (1715-1796) of Watertown and Waltham, Massachusetts

Abigail (Stearns) Peirce (1715-1796) is #271 on my Ahnentafel List, my 6th great-grandmother, who married #270 Samuel Peirce (1712-1772) in 1739 in Watertown, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their daughter, #135 Abigail Peirce (1750-1776) who married #134 Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785) in 1771.
*  their daughter #67 Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855) married #66 Nathan Gates (1767-1830) in 1790.
*  their daughter #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) who married  #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) in 1817.
*  their son #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1851.
*  their son #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) who married #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) in 1874.
*  their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
*  their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
*  their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
   
*  Name:                     Abigail Stearns[1–3]   
*  Alternate Name:     Abigial Peirce[6-7]

*  Sex:                        Female   

*  Father:                   George Stearns (1690-1760)   
*  Mother:                 Hannah Sanderson (1689-1770)  

2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Birth:                     before 1 January 1715, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]    
*  Bpatism:               1 January 1715 (after age 0), Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]   
*  Distribution:         28 February 1760 (after age 45), George Stearns bequeathed money to daughter Abig Pierce; Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]   
*  Distribution:         26 March 1772 (after age 57), Samuel Peirce bequeathed real and personal property to his widow; Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7]   
*  Death:                   25 July 1796 (after age 81), Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8–9]  

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
   
*  Spouse 1:                      Samuel Peirce (1712-1772)    
*  Marriage 1:                  30 June 1739 (age 26), Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3, 10-11]    

*  Child 2:                        Abigail Peirce (1740-1747)    
*  Child 3:                        Samuel Peirce (1741-1806)    
*  Child 4:                        Elizabeth Peirce (1743-1808)    
*  Child 5:                        Daniel Peirce (1746-1747)    
*  Child 6:                        Nathaniel Peirce (1748-1749)    
*  Child 7:                        Abigail Peirce (1750-1776)    
*  Child 8:                        Judith Peirce (1753-1805)    
*  Child 9:                        Ezra Peirce (1755-1795)    
*  Child 1:                        Beulah Peirce (1764-1816)  
   
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):    

Abigail Stearns was born before 1 January 1715 in Watertown, Massachusetts, the daughter of George and Hannah (Sanderson) Stearns of Watertown.  She was baptized on 1 January 1715 in Watertown[1-2].  The Stearns family moved to Waltham before 1739.

"Mrs. Abigail Stearns" married Samuel Pierce on 30 June 1739 in Waltham, Massachusetts, according to the Waltham vital records book[3].  It is not known why the vital record book refers to her as "Mrs." because there are no town record books for Waltham that include that information.  

Samuel and Abigail (Stearns) Pierce had nine children between 1740 and 1764, all recorded in Waltham.  

Abigail's father, George Stearns (1692-1760) died in June 1760, having written a will on 28 February 1760, which was proved on 14 July 1760[6].  A paragraph in the will says:

"I give to my dutiful Daughtr Abig Peirce her heirs &c the Sum of Eight Pounds six shillings & Eight pence Lawful money to be paid in one year after my Decease."  

This is the only direct evidence I have that Abigail was the daughter of George and Hannah (Sanderson) Stearns besides the Stearns and Peirce family history books.

Samuel Peirce died in late March 1772, and his will included[7]:  "I will and bequeath to my loving wife Abigail all my Personal Estate forever likewise the Improvement of my lands and tenements where I now dwell during her continuing my widow."  

Abigail (Stearns) Peirce died 25 July 1796 in Watertown, Massachusetts[8-9].  There are no burial or probate records for her in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

5)  SOURCES
 
1. Henry Bond, M.D.,  Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts (Boston, Mass. : Little, Brown & Co., 1860), page 557, George Stearns sketch, Abigail Stearns entry.

2. Avis Stearns Van Wegenen, Genealogy and Memoirs of Charles and Nathaniel Stearns , and Their Descendants (Syracuse, N.Y. : Courier Publishing, 1901), page 46, George Stearns sketch, #6085 Abigail Stearns  entry.

3. Vital records of Waltham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New-England Historic Genealogical Society, 1904), Marriages, page 205, Samuel Pierce and Mrs. Abigail Stearns entry.

4. Henry Bond, M.D., Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, page 557, George Stearns sketch, Abigail Stearns baptism record.

5. Avis Stearns Van Wegenen, Genealogy and Memoirs of Charles and Nathaniel Stearns , and Their Descendants, page 46, George Stearns sketch, #6085 Abigail Stearns baptism entry.

6. "Probate Records 1648-1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts),"  886 FHL US/CAN Microfilms, Probate Packet #21,234, George Stearns estate, accessed on FHL Microfilm US/CAN 0,421,526.

7. "Probate Records 1648-1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts)," Probate Packet #17,559, Samuel Peirce, accessed on  FHL Microfilm US/CAN 0,421,491.

8. Henry Bond, M.D., Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, page 397, Samuel Peirce sketch, Abigail (Stearns) Peirce death.

9. Avis Stearns Van Wegenen, Genealogy and Memoirs of Charles and Nathaniel Stearns , and Their Descendants, page 46, George Stearns sketch, #6085 Abigail (Stearns) Peirce death entry.

10. Henry Bond, M.D., Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, page 397, Samuel Peirce family sketch.

11. Avis Stearns Van Wegenen, Genealogy and Memoirs of Charles and Nathaniel Stearns , and Their Descendants, page 46, George Stearns sketch, #6085 Abigail Stearns marriage entry.

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NOTE:  Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I have extended this theme in 2017 to 208 Ancestors in 208 Weeks.


Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

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