Person:Richard Sears (8)

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Richard Sears (about 1595 - 5 September 1676) was an early settler of New England who lived in both the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony.

The Descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, Samuel P May, Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, NY 1890 - p 23, [handnotes from the author's personal copy of the original book which was discovered by Corrine Weis and her sister, Sears girls, in an Albany, NY bookstore and later purchased from her estate by L. Ray Sears, III. The book has since been donated to the manuscript collection of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)], and revised and corrected typescript[also at the NEHGS], 1913, p 4

The parentage, place and date of birth of Richard Sears are alike unknown. [Hand notes] It is possible that he was the Richard Sevier, son of Richard and Eve (Taylort) Serrys who was baptised at Crosscombe co, Somet, Eng'd Mar 30 1605. Crosscombe adjoins Finder, the birthplace of Dorothy Jones wife of Richard Sares.

The name of Richard Seer is first found upon the records of Plymouth Colony, in the tax-list of March 25, 1633, when he was one of fourty-four, in a list of eighty-six persons, who were assessed nine shillings in corn, at six shillings per bushel, upon one poll. [Hand notes] His name is not in tax list of 1634 or in list of freemen 1633.

He soon after crossed over to Marblehead, in Massachusetts Colony, where Richard Seers was taxed as a resident in the Salem rate-list for January 1, 1637-8, and on October 14, 1638, was granted four acres of land "where he had formerly planted." [This would seem to indicate that he had then some family.]

What his reasons were for removing can now only be conjectured. It has been suggested that he sympathized with Roger Williams and followed him in his removal, but this is improbable.

It may be that he wished to be near friends, former townsmen, or perhaps relatives.

Antony Thacher, and his wife who was sister to Richard Sares wife, was then living in Marblehead, and this fact probably influenced his removal to that place [changed to reflect hand notes]

The early settlers of Marblehead were many of them from the channel islands, Guernsey and Jersey, and in these places the family of Sarres has been established for several centuries, and is still represented in Guernsey under the names of Sarres and Serres.

[The next supposition was struck from the original book by May]

Early in the year 1639, a party under the leadership of Antony Thacher crossed the Bay to Cape Cod, and settled upon a tract of land called by the Indians, "Mattakeese," to which they gave the name of Yarmouth.

With them went Richard Sares and family, accompanied probably by his wife and infant sons, Paul and Silas. [handnotes] He took up residence on Quivet Neck between Quivet and Sesuit creeks [in what became East precinct of Yarmouth now Dennis], where in September of the same year their daughter Deborah was born, perhaps the second white child, and the first girl born in Yarmouth; Zachary Rider being supposed to have been the first boy.

In 1643, the name of Richard Seeres is in the list of those between the age of 16 and 60 able to bear arms. (In Williamsburg we learned that the requirements were, male, able bodied and with at least two teeth, one top and one bottom to pull the cap off the powder horn)

Oct 26, 1647, the commissioners on Indian affairs were appointed to meet at the house of Richard Sares at Yarmouth, when he entered a complaint against Nepoytam Sachumus, and Felix, Indians.

Oct 2, 1650, he with sixteen others, complained of William Nickerson for Slander, damage 100 pounds; and at the same term of court, we find his name with seventeen others, against Mr John Crow, William Nickerson and Lt William Palmer for trespass, damage 60 pounds.

Jun 3, 1652, Richard Seeres was propounded to take up Freedom.

Jun 7, 1652, Richard Sares was chosen to serve on the Grand Inquest.

Jun 7, 1653, Richard Sares took the Oath of Fidellyte at Plimouth, and was admitted a Freeman.

Mar 1, 1658, Richard Seares was chose on the committee to levy the church tax.

Jun 6, 1660, Richard Sares was chosen Constable.

Jun 3, 1662, Richard Saeres was chosen Deputy to the General Court at Plymouth.

Nov 23, 1664, Richard Sares, husbandman, purchased of Allis Bradford widow of Gov William Bradford, (who signed the deed with her mark,) a tract of land at Sesuit, for 20 pounds.

10(3)1667, Richard Sares made his Will, to which Feb 3, 1676, he added a codicil. Both documents are signed with his mark, (RS) and in witnessing carious deeds at previous dates, he always made his mark, a by no means unusual thing to do in those days.

Mr H G Somerby in his manuscript collection in the library of the Mass Hist So, Boston, mentions a tradition that he held a commission in the militia, and lost his right arm by a gun-shot wound in a fight with Indians in 1650, but neither fact is recorded, nor is any such tradition known to the Cape antiquarians.

Jun 30, 1667, the name of Richard Sares is signed with fourteen others to a complaint against Nicholas Nickerson for slander of Rev Thomas Thornton. His signature is well and plainly written, on the origianl document in the possession of Hon H C Thacher of Boston, (of which a copy much reduced may be seen in Swift's "Hist of Old Yarmouth," 1884) but it is not certain that it is his autograph, (and no other is known,) as it and several others may have been written by the same person, and probably the one who procured the signatures to it.

I have followed the spelling of Richard Sears name as found on the records, which is probably the clerk's phonetic rendering; I have been told by aged members of the family, that when they were children, early in the 19th century, the name was written Sears, but pronounced by old people, Sares [ed. this is born out by the fact that in our recent visit to the Bahamas, our surname was noticed and the comment was "Where did you get a good old Bahama name like Say'-ers?" two syllables, accent on the first]

His first house was built upon the southerly side of the bluff near the sea-shore, where the cellar, a mere hole for vegetables some ten feet square, ws pointed out to my informant early in the 19th century.

At a later date he built again a short distance north-west from the ancient house built by Capt. John Sears, circa 1704, and the site of this later residence is still recognizable.

His first house was perhaps what Mr Amos Otis calls "a palisade house; such houses were built by placing sills directly upon the ground, inthese two parallel rows of holes were bored, some six inches apart, for the insertion of poles, the space between being filled in with stones and clay, openings being left for a door and windows."

"The roof was thatched with the long sedge-grass found in the meadows and as a substitute for glass in the windows, oiled paper was used.

"The chimney was built of sticks, laid up cob-house fashion, and well daubed with clay, or mortar made from shells. A southerly slope was preferred for the house, and the back of the chimney was hollowed out of the hill-side, thus saving some labor in the building. The fire-place was of stone, some eight feet wide and four feet in depth, and the mantel laid so high that a tall person could walk under it by stooping a little.

"The oven was built upon the outside of the house with the mouth opening in one corner, on the backside of the fire-place. The fire was built in the centre, and on a cold winter evening a seat in the chimney corner was a luxury unknown in modern times. Straw or sedge-grass served for a floor and carpet. Some of the palisade houses built by the early settlers were the most comfortable and durable houses built.

"That of Mr John Crow stood for nearly two centuries, seldom needing repairs, and in fact the last owners did not know the peculiarities of its construction until it was taken down. The walls of the house were plastered inside and outside with shell-mortar, and at some later period it had been clap-boarded, thus concealing the original construction."

"Tea was unknown, and china and porcelain are not found in inventories before 1660."

An idea of household furniture may be obtained from the inventories given further on.

"The early settlers were principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, stock-raising and fishing. Many whales were cast upon the coast, and the shore was divided in sections, under the charge of whaling squads chosen by the town people. Capt Paul Sears and Lt Silas Sears belonged to one of these squads, and Capt John Sears was also engaged in whaling.

"Oil, fish and tar were exchanged with the traders visiting the coast for goods which were needed, and which they did not themselves produce.

"They traded in their own vessels with the West Indies, bringing home molasses and spirits, and built vessels which they themselves manned.

"The Cape seamen have always been famed for their skill and daring.

"At a later date John Sears invented the method of making salt fromsea-water by solar evaporation, and was the pioneer in an industry that added much to the wealth of the Cape, until superseded by the salt-springs of Syracuse, etc; and Elkanah Sears of Dennis was the first to set out and cultivate cranberries at Flax Pond in 1819.

"The Cape farms produced good crops of Indian corn, rye, barley and some wheat and all sorts of vegetables; berries were plenty, and cranberries were indigenous. Game was plenty, and with fish abundantly supplied the table; cows and goats were kept for milk, and bees for honey. [ed. At the Dennis Manse we learned that the bushes were full of small birds and with a net, one cold capture them and roast them on a "lark-spit" in front of the fireplace]

"Beer was considered a necessity, and each family brewed at regular intervals. Spirits were consumed in considerable quantities, and the names of many of the best citizens are upon record as "licensed to draw wine." The mothers of the town were expert in the use of the loom, and made most of the cloth used in their families. In the summer they wore home-spun linen, and in the winter flannel. The sails of a vessel built at Hockanum at the close of the Revolutionary war were made of cloth woven by them. Clocks were at first unknown, a sun-dial cut upon the sill of a southern window gave them the time of day, and it was long customary to face the house die south. In 1745, but one clock and one watch were taxed in the town of Harwich.

"The observance of the Lord's day was rigidly enforced, and no one was allowed to labor, engage in any game or recreation, or travel upon that day, under penalties proportioned to the offense. The tithing-men appointed by the town had with other duties, that of keeping order among the boys in church, and were armed with long rods, tipped at one end with a squirrel's tail or rabbit's foot, for the purpose of awakening sleeping women, and at the other with brass or a deer's hoof, which they brought down with emphasis on the heads of male offenders.

"The journey to and from meeting was, to many, long and tedious.

"Those who had horses were wont to "ride and tie," i.e. one would ride a specified distance, and then alight and fasten the animal, and proceed on foot, leaving the coming pedestrian to mount and ride for the next stage. The women and small children rode on the pillions behind their lords and masters, but the young people of either sex were expected to make the journey on foot, an no doubt with congenial company they found the miles short enough. In winter the only mode of keeping themselves warm in meeting was by the use of foot-stoves, or a hot brick or stone.

"In the intervals between morning and afternoon services, the men and boys assembled outside to discuss town affairs, the prospects of crops, or fishing; while the women over their luncheon inthe meeting-house, or at some convenient neighbors, had their gossip. In early colonial times a large family was considered a great blessing in a pecuniary point of view. The boys assisted the father on the farm, and at seventeen were able to do the work of a man. The girls were also brought up to more than earn their own living. They assisted their mother, spun and wove the flax and the wool, and made their own and their brothers garments and in hay-time and harvest assisted with their brothers in the fields.

"A man with a large and healthy family of children was then the most independant of men. From his farm and his household he obtained an abundance of the prime necessities of life. The surplus which he sold was more than sufficient to pay the bills of the mechanic, and to buy the few articles of foreign merchandise then required. Taxes were paid in agricultural products, at a rate fixed by law, and if land or other property was sold, unless it was expressly stipulated in the contract that payment should be made in silver money, it was a barter trade, payable in produce at "the prices current to the merchants."

"Aged people were wont to remark that their ancestors estimated that every son born to them added 100 pounds to their wealth, and every daughter 50 pounds. However heterodox this theory may now appear to parents or to political economists, it was undoubtedly true in early days."

The Searses married early in life with but few exceptions, had large families, lived comfortably, and were respected and honored members of society.

10(3)1667, Richard Sares made his will, to which he added Feb 3, 1676(sic), a codicil, which with the inventory are recorded in Plymouth Rec Book 3, Part 2, pp 53-55. Therein he names "wife Dorothy, elder" and "eldest son paule Sares, youngest son Sylas Sares," and "daughter Deborah, son-in-law Zachery Padduck," and "Ichabod Padduck," and requests "brother Thacher with his sons as friends in trust," etc.

His inventory in the original record foots up L 169 06 06, a manifest error, the real estate alone being valued at 220 pounds, and the last item is not carried out. Nor would the corrected sum represent his worldly condition fairly, as he had no doubt previously given to his children such portions of his property as he could well spare.

In the proper places I give copies of the wills and inventories of Richard Sares and his sons, by a careful examination of which , the location of the original estates may be traced in part, and some idea be formed of the relative wealth and personal belongings of each.

It is to be regretted that no plan in now known to be in existence showing the bounds of the original estates in Yarmouth and Harwich, and recent attempts to construct such have not met with much success.

No grave-stones remain to mark the burial places of Richard Sares and his wife, and they probably never had any inscribed stones; - upright grave-stones did not come in use in England until the time of Queen Elizabeth, and the early graves in Plymouth Colony were generally marked with a boulder. [ed. just such a boulder exists in the Ancient Sears Burial ground in W Brewster, and I maintain this is probably Richard's stone] Some years since a granite monument was erected in the old cemetery in Yarmouth, by the late Hon David Sears of Boston, which is popularly supposed to mark the spot of their burial, but I was told by aged members of the family that it was really placed over the grave of Paul Sears, his grave-stone being removed for that purpose, although it is possible that Paul may have been buried by the side of his parents.

There is no such stone to the memory of Deborah Sears, wife of Paul, nor to his brother Silas, whose burial place is unknown.

The stone to Paul Sears, records his death in 1707-8, and it is the oldest inscribed memorial in the cemetery, although Swift in his "Hist of Old yarmouth," accords that credit to the grave-stone of Col John Thacher, who died in 1713.

There are no reliable traditions extant of Richard Sares and his family, and our only sources of information relative to them are the public records from which I have quoted on a previous page.

In Plymouth Colony, the governor, deputy governor, magistrates and assistants, the ministers of the gospel,and elders of the church, school masters, commissioned officers of the militia, men of wealth, or connected with failies of the nobility or gentry, were alone entitled to the prefix, Mr. pronounced Master, and their wives Mrs. or Mistress.

This rule was rigidly enforced in early COlonial times, and in lists of names it was almost the invariable custom to commence with those highest in rank, and follow that order to the end. Our forefathers claimed, and were cheerfully accorded the title due to their birth and position, and it is unwise to claim for them any title which they did not themselves assume. I do not find that Richard Sares was ever given the prefix of Mr., and in the town records it was recorded that his wife, "Goody Sares was buried Mar 19, 1678-9" 22 fen 1659 Inventory Estate of John Darby of Yarmouth, indebted to "goodman Seares" L6 for 10 acres of meadow land bought by him"

He was a farmer, hard working and industrious, and affectionate husband and kind parent, a God fearing man, and respected by his neighbors.

His descendants showed good breeding, and many of them were prominent in town and church affairs, and in the militia.

Their names may be found in the records of the Indian and French wars, the Revolutionary war, and that of 1812. Many served during the war of the Rebellion, and shed their blood freely for their country.

The family has always been very religious in its tendency, some of its members have been foremost in the temperance and anti-slavery movements, but it has never given rise to any prominent politicians, and while holding many local offices, not aspiring above the State Legislature.

"WORTH IS BETTER THAN WEALTH GOODNESS GREATER THAN NOBILITY EXCELLENCE BRIGHTER THAN DISTINCTION" (Sears Monument)

1664. Prence, Gov: A deed appointed to be recorded. Witnesseth these presents, that I, Allis Bradford the widow of William Bradford, late of Plymouth in America, Esqre, deceased, have the day and year aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of twenty pounds to me the said Allis Bradford in hand payed before the ensealing and delivery of these prsents, by Richard Sares of the town of Yarmouth, in the colony of New Plymouth, aforesaid, husbandman, whereof and of every p'te and p'cell thereof, I the said Allis Bradford do fully acquit and discharge him the said Richard Sares, his heirs and assigns forever, bargained and sold, enfeoffed, assigned and confirmed, and do by these presents do bargain, sell, enfeoffe, assign and confirm unto the said Richard Sares, his heirs and assigns, two allotments of land containing forty acres, be they more, or be they less, lying and being at a place commonly called and known by the name of Sasuett, between a brook commonly called and known by the name of bound brook, and a brook called Saquahuckett brook, -- twenty acres whereof was the first lot, ( so called) of upland with a small neck of land next the said bound brook, on the Easter side the said brook, and was the lot of the aforesaid William Bradford, deceased; the other twenty acres of land lying and being the next adjoining hereunto onthe Easter side called the 2cond lott, and was late an allotment of land of Experience Michels; both which allotments of land are bounded on the Weste side with bound brook aforesaid, and on the Easter side with an allotment of the land late Nicholas Snowes, now in tenure and possession of Peter Worden, as also a certain tract of meadow to the aforesaid lots appertaining, of seven acres and one half be it more or less, lying, being and abutting, between the norther side of the said nook of upland bound brook and small creake, as from the Easter corner of the said nook, from a spring which runs through the meadows into the said bound brook; together with all the perquisites, profits, ways, easements, emoluments and appurtenances thereunto belonging; with all my right, title, claim and interest unto the said lots of upland and meadow or any part or parcell thereof. To have and to hold the said two lots of upland, nook and meadow with every p'te and p'cell thereof, together with all the perquisites, profits, emoluments, ways, easements and appurtenances thereunto or to any part or parcell thereof any ways belonging. To him the said Richard Sares, his heirs and assigns forever, I say to the only use and behoof of him the said Richard Sares, his heirs and assigns forever. In witness whereof the said Allis Bradford have heerto these presents set my hand and seal even the twenty third day of November, Anno dom. 1664. Allis Bradford her A mark and a seal.() Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Thomas Southworth Mary Carpenter her B mark Plymouth, ss June 2, 1885. The foregoing is a true copy from Plymouth Coony Records of Deeds, Vol 3, part 1, Page 18. Attest, Wm S Danforth, Rg of Deedsm and having charge of the Plymouth Colony Records.

June 10, 1679, Paul Seers paid Maj William Bradford, four pounds to relinquish his claim on the above land. (Ply Deeds, Vol 4, page 266)

"1667. The last Will and Testament of Richard Sares, of Yarmouth, late deceased, as followeth;--- In the name of God, Amen. I, Richard Sares of Yarmouth, in the Colony of ew Plymouth, in New England, do this 10th day of the third month, Anno Dom 1667, make and ordain this my last Will and Testament, in manner and form following;--- First,-- I give and surrender up my soul to God that gave it, andmy body to the earth, from whence it was, in comely and decent manner to be buried, &c; and all my lands and goods as God hath given me, I give and bequeath as followeth: First.--I give and bequeath, and my Will is, that Silas Sares, my younger son, shall have all my land, that is, all the upland upon the neck where his house stands in which he now dwells, thus bonded and lying between the cart pathway as runs through the swamp into the said neck unto the lands of Peter Werden, unto the meadows as are betwixt the said upland and the sea, and so as it is surrounded by the meadows unto the aforesaid cartpath as runs through the swamp aforesaid, after mine and my wife's decease. To him, the said Sylas Sares, to him and his heirs and assigns forever, (provided, and my will is, that whereas my son-in-law Zachery Padduck is possessed of, and now lives in an house taht is his own proper right within the aforesaid tract of land, that he the said Zachery shall have and enjoy two acres of the aforesaid lands about his house for and during the life of Deborah, his now wife; together with all ways, easements, and emoluments, to the same appertaining, without any molestation and eviction or denial of him the said Silas, his heirs or assigns;) And my will is, and I do hereby give unto the said Silas Sares, all that tract of meadow land, as is, and lyeth between the aforesaid neck of upland, and the river, commonly known by the name of Sasuett harbor, river bound: as also thus from the Great Pine tree as bounds the meadows between the meadows of the aforesaid Peter Werden, and my meadows, unto a knoll of upland called the Island, towards the said Harbour's mouth, to the said Sylas and his heirs and assigns forever, after mine and my wife's decease. Further,--I do give and bequeath to my son Sylas, after mine and my wife's decease, as aforesaid, one half moiety of all my land called Robins, as is unfenced.. I mean only one half moiety, and part of the upland. To him the said Sylas, his heirs and assigns forever. And my Will is, and I do give and bequeath unto my elder son Paul Sares, all the rest and remain of my lands, whatsoever, and every part and parcel of them whatsoever, after mine and my wife's decease, both upland and meadow lands, which I have not in this my last Will, disposed of. To him the said Paul Sares, his heirs and assigns forever. And my Will is, and I do give unto Dorothy my wife, all my lands whatsoever to be at her dispose during her natural life, and I do give unto her all my other goods and cattle whatsoever during her life, and at or before her death, to give and bequeath them amongst my children, at her pleasure, who also I do make sole executrix of this my last Will and testament: and do intreat my brother Thacher, with his two sons as friends in trust, to see this last will performed. Furthermore my Will is, that whereas I have bequeathed to my two sons Paul and Silas all that tract of upland called Robins, as is unfenced, by an equal proportion between them, my Will is, I say, that my son-in-law Zachery Padduck shall have two acres of the said upland before it be divided as aforesaid during his said wife's life: and after the decease of his said wife, my will is, and I do give unto Ichabod Padduckm the said two acres of Robins, and also the aforesaid two acres adjoining to the house of his father, Zachery Padduck during his natural life. In witness whereof I have to this my last Will and Testament set my hand. In the presence of The marke of Anthony Thacher Richard (RS) Sares Anthony Frey

Anthony Frey testifieth to the former part of this Will that he saw Richard Sares sign it as his last Will and Testament, this second day of March, 1676. Before me, John Freeman, Assistant --- Be it known to all to whom these presents shall come, that I, Richard Sares of Yarmouth, in the Colony of New Plymouth, as in this my Will before mentioned, being now weak in body, but of perfect sense and memory, do by these presents ratify ad confirm my Will, as it has been made on the other side, bearing date the 10th of the third month 1667. And I do add hereto as followeth, that at my wife's decease my eldest son Paul Sares shall have and enjoy to his own proper use, the house which I now live in, and my bed and the bedding thereto belonging, and my clothing, and the cattle that shall be left at my wife's decease, and also my warming pan, and the earthen pott with the cover that belongs to it, and the iron pot and table: and in witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand and seale, this third day of February Anno Dom 1675.76. In the presence of John Thacher The mark of (RS) Richard Sare Judah Thacher

I, John Thacher do testify, that myself and my brother did set our hands as Witnesses to this Will, as being his last Will and Testament, and when my Uncle signed this Appendix to the Will, he delivered the Will to me, and desired me to new draw the whole Will, and to leave out of the new draft, the legacy of land that is given to Ichabod Padduck, for saith he, I have anseized it in another way, but if I die before you have done it, then it must go as it is; and trouble took me off so that I did not redraw the Will. I having this explained myself, do testify that this Will is the last Will and Testament of my Uncle Sares, so far as I know. This fift of March 1676. Mr John Thacher attested to this Will before me, John Freeman, Assistant --- October the eighth day in the year of our Lord, one thousand, six hundred and seventy six, This being a true Inventory of the Estate of Richard Sares, lately deceased, according to our best information and judgement, taken by us whose names are underwritten, as followeth: L s d Imp his house and land 220 00 00 Item, five cows 10 00 00 Item, 1 bull, 1 heifer of three years and vantage 03 10 00 Item, 1 heifer of two years and vantage 01 10 00 Item, 5 year olds 05 00 00 Item, 2 calves 01 00 00 Item, his bed and the furniture thereto belonging 08 07 00 Item, more, w pairs of sheets 02 15 00 Item, 2 sheets, and 2 pairs of drawers 01 01 00 Item, 1 table cloth, 1 pillow beare, 1 napkin, 3 towels 00 08 00 Item, britches and hat 02 03 00 Item, his coat and cloak 02 00 00 Item, 1 pair of stockings and shoes 00 05 00 Item, 1 great Bible and other books 01 03 00 Item, pewter and tin 01 03 00 Item, brass 00 06 00 Item, 1 pair of stilliyards 00 15 00 Item, iron furniture for the fire 00 12 00 Item, more on rugg 00 04 00 Item, 2 chests 00 16 00 Item, 1 beer barrell & one earthen pott 00 04 00 Item, 3 chairs 00 07 00 Item, his bees 01 00 00 Item, other householdments 00 08 00 Item, more, two waistcoats 00 12 00 Item, 1 mare and colt 00 10 00 Item, debts in cash 01 19 00 Item, more 2 Indian trays

169 06 06 [ed. May noticed the foot is incorrect 269 06 06] Thomas Boarman Lancher Winslow Samuel Worden This 15th day of November 1676. Dorothy Sares the relict of Richard Sares, and Paul Sares his eldest son, made their appearance and gave oath to the truth of this Inventory above written before me, John Freeman, Assistant.

Plymouth, ss. Apl 24, 1883. The foregoing is a true copy from Plymouth Colony Records, Vol III of Wills, folios 53, 54, 55. Attest, Wm S Danforth, Reg. --:0:--

In NEHGS Vol 40, pp261 (July 1886) we find SOME DOUBTS CONCERNING THE SEARS PEDIGREE By Samuel Pearce May, Esq., of Newton, Mass.

         Some years since, at the earnest soliciation of members of the family, I undertook the task of revising the “Sears Genealogy” and bringing it down to date.  I did so in belief, common to the family and public generally, that the English ancestry of Richard Sares, of Yarmouth, as published, was entirely reliable, and that little more was to be learned on that head.

Soon after commencing my labors, my attention was drawn to discrepancies in the pedigree, seemingly irreconcilable, and an investigation was found necessary. The result of my researches proves [ p 262] beyond question that not one step of the pedigree can be substantiated by records, and on the contrary some portions are impossible, and others in conflict with known authorities.

I have been desired to give the facts publicity, in order that the pedigree may no longer be copied, and quoted as authority, as has been done in numerous local histories and family genealogies, and in the hope that, attention being drawn to the subject, renewed searches may discover the true origin of Richard Sares of Yarmouth. Want of space forbids my alluding to many errors, and I will therefore only refer to those most vital to the pedigree, as printed in “Pictures of the Olden Time,” etc., ed. 1857, Crosby Nichols & Co., Boston.

                       Part II

[p.10] “John Sayer of Colchester, Alderman, etc. d. 1509, leaving by Elizabeth his wife, three sons, viz. John, Robert and George. “The eldest of these, John, d. in 1562, leaving two sons, viz. Richard and George. “The eldest of these, Richard, is the subject of the first of the sketches in ‘Pictures of the Olden Time.’ He was born in Colchester in 1508, married Anne Bourchier, dau. Of Edmd Knyver of Ashwellthorpe, co. Norf., second son of Sir Edwd Knyvet,… Richard became a fugitive to Holland in 1537, and d. Amsterdam, 1540. … His wife, the Lady Anne, clung faithfully to her husband in his adversity, and incurred the lasting displeasure of the Knyvets.

“It is inferred that her father became so bitterly estranged from her, as to erase her name from all his family records, that she might be forgotten for ever, for he gave to a younger daughter the name of Anne, while she was yet still living,…

“George Sayer, in consequence of Richard’s flight, secured for himself possession of the patrimonial inheritance.

“This George d. 1577. … His descendant and eventual heiress married Sir John Marhsam.”

Note: The Registers of St. Peter’s Church, of which John Sayer and his descendants in Colchester were parishioners, commence in 1653, more than one hundred years after the alleged flight of Richard Sayer to Holland; and of course contain no reference to the family previous to that date. The brass to John Sayer, Ald. Represents him kneeling with his wife, four sons, and a daughter, and gives the name of his wife, but not those of his children. The Herald’s Visitations of Essex do not mention the Sayer family previous to tthat of 1612, which gives, “George Sayer, of Col. in co. Ess., gentle, sonne & heire, & John Sayer of Col. 2d sonne,” as children of “-Sayer of Col. in Essex, Gent.” George and John married sisters, co-heiresses of Werden; and their children quartered their mother’s arms, which perhaps led Morant to err in his History of Colchester, where he makes George the father to John’s children. If we may believe the Heralds, George Sayer was the eldest son and rightful heir; -- that his brother John was a second son, is confirmed by his brass in St. Peters, which is differenced with a crescent. A special, but not exhaustive, search in London, by Mr. H.F. waters, resulted in finding many Sayer wills, but none certainly identified with the Colchester family, except thatof the above-named George Sayer, ob. 1577. He mentions his children and grandchildren, brother Robert’s children, and nephew Richard Sayer. The latter, son of John Sayer, died 1610, aet. 80, leaving an heiress. It will be observed that the parentage of George Sayer is not given in the Visitation, and John was his brother, not his father.

[p. 263] There was perhaps one generation between them and John Sayer, Ald.

The middle names of Bourchier, given to Anne Bourchier Knyver, and later to John Bourchier Sayer, father and son, are clearly anachronisms, as is also that of Ann Knyvet Sayer, and tend to discredit the pedigree. [middle names did not come into regular use until … LRS] Rev. Aug. Jessop, D.D., of East Hereham, Norfolk, has for years made the history and genealogy of the Knyvet family an especial study. I am informed by him that Edmund Knyvet had four married daughters, but none name Anne, much less two of that name; that he died insolvent, and in his will mentions none of his children by name. If there was an Anne, she does not seem to have been treated differently from her sisters.

[p.12] “John Bourchier Sayer was born, say the family papers, in 1528. “I suspect, however, that this is a mistake, and that the date is too early, for it would make his father but little more than 19 years of age at his marriage….

“Another date has it 1535…”

“He md Elizh, dau. Of Sir John Hawkins,…., and d. Holland, leaving by Elizh, his wife, four sons, viz: John Bourchier, Henry, William and Richard. Of the last three we have no facts, except that they were born in Plymouth, Engd, and that they settled in Kent. Plymouth was probably the temporary residence of their mother, while their father was with Hawkins as a navigator. Of John Bourchier I have given some account in the ‘Pictures.’ The date of his birth is given in the family papers as 1561.

“I have put it a little later for several reasons. He md Marie L. dau. Of Philip Lamoral van Egmond, and acquired with her a large fortune, principally in money.”

Note: Mr. Sears’s ideas in regard to dates, so important in a genealogy, are very elastic. The biographies generally state that Sir John Hawkins was born 1520, but they are in error. He died Nov. 12, 1595, and his widow erected a monument to his memory in St. Dunstan-in-the-East, London (of which he was parishioner some thirty years), with a Latin inscription, setting forth his forty-three years of service by sea and land; and a wooden mural tablet with English verses, printed in Stow’s London, ed. Strype, 1720, Vol. I. Book ii. Pp. 44,5. It ends this:

“Ending his life with his experience, By deep decree of God’s high Providence, His years to six times ten, & three amounting, The ninth, the seventh climacterick by counting. Dame Katherine, his first religious wife, Saw years, thrice ten, & two of mortal life.” …

       We see, therefore, that he was but 63 years of age in 1595, and so born about 1532, and this is confirmed by reckoning his “43 years of service” back from 1595, which brings us to 1552, when he would have been about 21, also by the fact that he was admitted freeman of Plymouth in 1555-6, a step altogether necessary at that period to a man in his position, and one that would not have been unnecessarily delayed after he attained his majority.

He removed to London in 1573, and succeeded his father-in-law, Gunson, as Treasurer of the Navy. His wife was then living, and as she died at the age of 32, she could not have been born earlier than 1541.

John Bourchier Sayer, Jr., is said to have been born in 1561. At that time John Hawkins was 29, and his wife of 20 years of age. Neither could have had a daughter of marriageable age at that date.

These dates are confirmed by R.N. Worth, F.G.S., author of “History of Plymouth” and “History of Devon,” and of an address on “Sir John Hawkins, Sailor, Statesman and Hero,” reprinted from Trans. Devon Ass’n, 1883.

The Registers of St. Andrews Church, Plymouth, to which parish the Hawkinses belonged, commence in 1573, in which year John Hawkins removed to London, and no record of him or the Sayers is to be found there.

As to the marriage with Marie L. van Egmond. --- The late Mr. S. Alofsen, of Jersey City (a well-known and esteemed antiquarian), addressed to the late S.G. Drake, then Editor of the Register, a letter which is on file. In it he states that [p. 264] the Egmond family never had a residence in Amsterdam, and that the family genealogy has been brought down to the latter part of the last century and printed:-- that it contains the name of but one Philip v. Egmond, viz. the son of Count Egmond, and that if John Bourchier Sayer did marry one of the family, his wife must have been of an obscure and unknown branch;-- a fact somewhat inconsistent with the “large fortune,” even in money, which she is said to have brought her husband.

[p.13] “John Bourchier Sayer, md Marie L. van Egmond, amsterdam, 1585, and had Marie L. b. 1597, Richard 1590, John 1592, and Jane Knyvet 1596.

“These dates are copied from the family papers of the Searses of Chatham, and I think they are correct. Such a series depending on each other would not be all wrong. John Bourchier Sayer purchased with his wife’s fortune, property in England, adjoining the lands which he hoped soon to recover.

“Among the estates thus bought were Bourchier and Little Fordham Manors, both of which had in former times belonged to his ancestors.” Note. In the parlor of Richard Sears, of Chatham, there formerly hung a chart pedigree of the family, now in possession of a descendant.

This chart states that Richard Sares was born Amsterdam, 1643, twenty-three years later than the printed acount, and muchmore likely to be the correct date.

Morant and Wright, in their histories of Essex, state that Bourchier Hall, or Little Fordham, derives its name from its ancient owners, the Earls of Essex. Sir Robert Bourchier died possessed of Bourchier’s Hall in 1328, and it remained in the family until confiscated-Queen Elizabeth regranted it to William, Marquis of Northampton, who sold it to George Sayer in 1574. It continued in his descendants, finally passing to the Marsham family by marriage, fell into decay, was divided and sold. A part is now used as a farmhouse. I find no record that it ever before belonged to the Sayers.

[p.14] Here Mr. Sears prints his only piece of documentary evidence, viz., a letter from J. Hawes, Yarmouth, June 20, 1798, to Daniel Sears, of Chatham, in which he signs himself,

“Your affectionate relative, and friend, J. Hawes.

In it Mr Hawes refers to sundry “curious and important documents,”… “I have heard from your brother Richard, that Knyvet Sares, or Sears, before he went to London, and some years before his death, collected and arranged these valuable papers with the intention of using them. They had long remained neglected and uncared for.

“Among them was a list of marriages, births and deaths, similar to that which I now send, and many original deeds and letters, with a long correspondence between the Sayres, the Knyvets, and others in England.

“It seemed to be closed by a letter from John Bourchier Sares, dated, Leyden, 1614.

“Your brother always speaks highly of this letter. … A highly interesting manuscript was compiled from these papers, and came into possession of Daniel Sears, your father.

“The original letters were taken to England, by Knyvet, and are possibly still there in the hands of some of the family. The manuscript was last seen and read so late as 1760, -- but neither the one nor the other are now to be found. It may be the originals are not lost, but the copy, your brother thinks, was either burnt, or carried away when the family mansion was nearly destroyed in 1763. … I send such facts as I have been able to collect, assisted by Richard and Mr Colman.” Note. I have been unable to identify the writer of this letter, or ascertain his relationship to the family.

The signature attracts attention by its variance from the universal custom of the period, of writing the name in full. The only marriage recorded between the Sears and Hawes families is that of Jonathan Sears and Elizabeth, daughter of Dea. Joseph Hawes, of Yarmouth, in 1721. This Jonathan was second cousin, once removed to Daniel Sears.

I am aware that the Sears Genealogy says that Daniel Sears, of Chatham, married 1708, Sarah Hawes, daughter of J. Hawes, of Yarmouth (another mysterious J.), and this error, for such it is, has been perpetuated on the Sears monuments in Chatham, Yarmouth and Colchester. On Yarmouth town records the name is clearly written Howes, and the will of Samuel Howes, of Yarmouth, recorded Barnstable Prob. Rec. iv. 90, mentions “daus. Sarah Sears, & Hope Sears,” who married their cousin, Josiah Sears. “J. Hawes” the letter writer may stand for Dea. Joseph Hawes, the schoolmaster, who flourished in 1798, and long after.

There is no record, or tradition, in Chatham, of the family mansion have been “nearly destroyed in 1763.” Benjamin Bangs, of Harwich, who chronicled in his diary more trivial events happening in Chatham at that time, makes no mention of the occurrence, and when the old building was taken down in 1863, the original timbers were in place, with the bark still on, and there was no trace of its ever passing though the fiery ordeal.

A tradition that Deborah Sears broke through the floor of “the long chamber,” while dancing on her wedding night in 1742, was confirmed by a patch in the floor boards. And, we may ask, why should J. Hawes relate to Daniel Sears particulars with which he should have been conversant from childhood, and when his brohter Richard, living in the same town, could have given the information at first hands?

We admire the vivid recollection, after the lapse of thirty-eight years, of Richard Sears, of the letters, etc., read last, when he was scarce eleven years of age.

[p.16] “John Bourchier Sayer, d. 1629. By Marie L. Egmond, his wife, he left two sons, and two daughters, viz.: Richard, John, Marie, and Jane. The three latter went to England and settled in Kent. …

“Richard Sayer or Sears. … His birth is variously given, but 1590, we think is the true date. He md Dorothy Thacher, at Plymouth, in 1632. The likeness of him was taken from a painting in Holland, in possession of the Egmont family, and is supposed to be correct. … He d. 1676, and his wife in 1680. By her he had the following children, viz.: Knyvet, Paul, Silas and Deborah. … Knyvet Sears was b. 1635, md Elizh Dymoke, … went to England on a second voyage, and d. 1686, at the residence of his relative, Catherine (subsequently Baroness Berners), dau. Of Sir John Knyvet, and wife of John Harris, Esq.

“The evidences he carried with him were never recovered. He left two children, Daniel and Richard.” Note: I have already alluded to the doubtful date assigned for Richard Sare’s birth. The statement that he married Dorothy Thacher at Plymouth in 1632, needs confirmation. His name first appears there in the tax list of 25 March, 1633. There is no know record of the marriage, and no Dorothy is known to the Thacher genealogists. It is claimed that she was sister to Anthony Thacher, and Richard Sares in his will calls him “bro. Thacher,” and Antony’s son John, in an affidavit, calls him “Uncle Sares.”

Thomas Thacher, of Beckington, co. Somerset, in his will proved 1611, mentions “bro. Antony,” and Clement Thacher of Marston Bigot, in his will dated 1629, and proved 1639, names “bro. Antony”and others. Rev. Peter Thacher of Sarum made his will in 1640, and mentions “bro. Antony” and “sister Ann, wife of Chris. Batts, and other relatives, among them his “wife’s sister Dorothy” (of whom I would much like to learn further; she is supposed to have been an Allwood.) It would seem, if they had a sister Dorothy, one or the other would have remembered her. But it is more probable that Richard Sares (so he wrote his name) married Dorothy Batts, a sister of the above-named Christopher, who came over with her brother and his family, in “Bevis” from Southampton to Lynn, in 1638, she then being aged 20. [p. 266] The precise date of their arrival is not known, but it appears by an endorsement on Lord Treas. Warrant, that the vessel sailed before May 2, and they probably arrived in June, or even earlier.

Richard Sares was then in Marblehead, as we learn from Salem tax list, 1 Jan. 1637-8, and on 14 Oct. 1638, he was granted three acres of land “where he had formerly planted.” The connection of Dorothy Batts and Antony Thacher fully justified the terms of the relationship quoted,-- see a parallel case cited by the late Col. J. L. Chester, in Register, xxi. 365. The same cause perhaps influenced Richard Sares to remove to Yarmouth in 1639, with the party led by Antony Thacher. In a note to first edition of the “Pictures,” the portrait of Richard “The Pilgrim,” is said to be from the Egmont gallery in Amsterdam, which more definitely locates it.

There formerly hung in the west parlor of Squire Richard Sears of Chatham, a painting which Mrs. Sears was wont to call “Sir Richard,” supposed by some persons to have been the original. This is an error. It was given after the Squire’s death to his widow, by his nephew and is a copy. It doubtless originally represented one of the family, judging from the resemblance to some of them, but who, and when, and where painted is a mystery.

It is evident Rev. E. H. Sears did not know of Richard Sare’s will recorded in Plymouth, or he would not have written that he had an eldest son Knyvet, born 1635, died 1686. In his will dated 10. 3 mo. 1667, Richard Sares names “my elder son Paule Sares,” and in the codicil dated 3 Feb. 1676, he again mentions “my eldest son Paule Sares.” Paul made oath to the inventory, 15 Nov. 1676, before John Freeman, Assistant, who calls him “Paule Sares eldest son of Richard Sares deceased.” John Freeman lived near by, and must have known the whole family.

There is no allusion to Knyvet in the will, although he is said to have been alive twenty years after the will, and ten years after the codicil were written; nor is there any reference to estates in England. Neither the name of Knyvet Sares, or Elizabeth Dymoke his wife, is to be found in colony, town, court or church records, nor is there any gravestone to either; -- no record of administration upon the estate of either, or appointment of guardian to their infant children.

Richard Sares never had a son Knyvet. The name was unknown on the Cape until the publication of the “Pictures,” and has never been adopted as a family name, except by the Chatham branch in one instance, and then for a tenth child.

Although “the papers taken to England by Knyvet were never recovered,” and the copies in Chatham were “lost, or destroyed,” a tablet was erected in 1858 to his memory in Colchester, which states that it was “Inscribed by Catherine harris in 1687”! P.19. Paul Sears, b. 1637. He inherited most of his father’s property. …

“He adopted the children of his bro. Knyvet after the death of their father in England, and they were brought up in his family.

“His will is on Old Colony records, in which his brother’s children are named as his own sons. … The names of his sons were, Samuel, Paul and John.” _____________________________ Note. Paul Sears died Feb. 20, 1707,8 in his 70th year, according to his gr. stone in Yarmouth Cemetery, and was therefore born not earlier than 1638. His will is recorded in Barnstable, not in Old Colony records. The names of his children on Yarmouth records have been obliterated, but the dates of birth of seven remain. From other sources we have been enabled to learn the names of five sons and four daughters, leaving one daughter unnamed. His last two children were his sons, Richard, born 1680, and Daniel, born 1682. In the Sears Genealogy these names are reversed, Richard being said to be the youngest, and born 1684.

Their grave-stones in Chatham prove the contrary. In his will Paul Sears gives his real estate to his sons Samuel, Paul and John, charged with a payment to their “brothers,” Richard and Daniel, towards their purchase of land in Monamoy. We may feel sure that they were the sons, and not adopted sons merely of Paul.

To sum up briefly: the “English pedigree” cannot be proved; -- it is doubtful if Richard Sares was ever in Holland, or that his wife was a Thacher; -- he never had a son Knyvet, -- and Richard and Daniel Sears, of Chatham, were younger sons of Paul, and not “Head of the American Family.”

The claim to estates in England is purely mythical. The “family papers,” if still in existence, are not now accessible to inquiries.

For the benefit of future investigators, I will not the genesis of the Pedigree, etc., so far as seems desirable.

About the year 1845, the late Mr. H. G. Somerby was employed to collect data regarding the Sears family in England, and a pamphlet was issued, entitled “Notices of the Sears Family, from Sir Bernard Burke’s Works, and Somersby’s Collections in England, etc.” The manuscript of his collection is in the library of the Mass. Hist. Society, Boston. It consists of a mass of extracts from local histories, &c., showing no connection with the American family, and of “Extracts from parish registers, and family papers in possession of Hon. David Sears, Boston.”

It is evident Mr. Somerby found nothing to connect the English and American families, or he would have given the data in full, with authorities, as he has done in other genealogies. In a conversation with a well-known Boston gentleman, he gave him clearly to understand that he did not assume responsibility for many of the statements in the pedigree. In 1852, Sir Bernard Burke published the first volume of “Visitations of Seats and Arms,” which contains at p. 52 of Part II. an amplified account of the family, claiming that by right of primogeniture the Chatham branch is the “Head of the American Sears Family.” This was followed in 1863, in third series of “Vicissitudes of Families,” by a sketch entitled “A Pilgrim Father.” Burke now repudiates the articles, and they are left out of later editions.

In 1884, he wrote me that he received the material from Mr. Somerby, but had since made investigation and found “that the details were not only not proven, but also incapable of proof, if not altogether wrong, and opposed to fact.”

In 1857, Rev. E. H. Sears published “Pictures of the Olden Time,” to which was added in a later edition a Genealogy of the family. In his preface he states that he derived his facts mainly from Burke’s “Visitation of Seats and Arms,” and from “family papers.” But few copies were distributed.

In the letter of J. Hawes, before quoted, he says he has been “assisted in his collections by Mr Colman and Richard.” This is confirmed by a manuscript in handwriting of Hon. David Sears, of Boston, dated Feb. 10, 1845, in possession of Gen. C. W. Sears, of Oxford, Miss., entitled “Memoranda of the Sears, from Minutes collected by J. Hawes and William Colman to 1800,-- and continued by Richard Sears of Chatham to 1840,” “Copied from the original in possession of Mrs Richard Sears of Chatham.” It is full of important errors, and varies from the records and from the published genealogy.

We cannot fix the share of either of the trio in the production of these “minutes,” but one fact will show how little “Squire Richard” could have known of them. In this document his mother, Frear Freeman, is said to have been the daughter of John Freeman, of Sandwich, and the printed genealogy makes a similar statement. She was in fact the daughter of Benjamin Freeman of Harwich, by his wife Temperance Dimmick, as shown by his will recorded in Barnstable.

Richard Sears was 9 years old when his gr.-father died, and 24 when his gr.-mother died. They lived in adjoining towns, and it is absurd to suppose that he did not know his grandparents’ names and residence, or that such a gross error could have escaped his notice.

Mr. Colman ws his brother-in-law, and resided in Boston; his part in the matter is not evident. Of J. Hawes I have already written. If we accept his letter as evidence, then the story is apparently traced back to Daniel Sears who died Chatham, 1761, a. 49.

It appears by records of Probate Court in Barnstable, Feb. 10, 1758, that “upon inquisition of the Selectman of Chatham,” Daniel Sears was adjudged non compos, and his wife Fear was appointed his guardian.

Swift’s “History of Old Yarmouth,” published 1885, states that “the marriage of Richard Sears and Dorothy Thacher, and the birth of Knyvet Sears, are recorded in a bible left by Richard Sears of Chatham, kept in the family for several generations.” I have been unable to hear of any person who has seen this bible. An inquiry addressed three years since to a descendant of Squire Richard, was the cause of letters to all her “Uncles, Aunts and Cousins,” who one and all replied, “they had never seen or before heard of such a bible.” They would be grateful for any hint of its whereabouts.

In conclusion:--it is possible there may have been some ancient alliances of the Sayer, Knyvet and Hawkins families, and the family genealogist may have erred in placing “the flesh on the wrong bones.”

About 1500, one Edmund Knyvet died at Stanway, the next parish to Colchester, leaving his second sister, Lady Thomasine Clopton, his heir; and about the same time a family of the Hawkinses were settled at Braintree, some twenty miles distant, of which one John Hawkins, a wealthy clothier, bought estates in Colchester, and settled at Alresford Hall, hard by, circa 1600.

There was more than one family of Hawkins in Plymouth, and another John was made a freeman there the same year as the famous Admiral. Somerby does not notice these families, and they were apparently unknown to him.

“Magna est veritas, et prevalebit.”

CHILDREN-DEATH-BIOGRAPHY: GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY of SOUTHERN NEW YORK and the HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, Vol II;1640-1913; Lewis Historical Publishing Co, 1913; pp 507-510; Brewster, NY Public Library; The several attempts of genealogists to trace the pre-American ancestry of the Sears immigrant have met with many discouraging obstacles and few satisfactory results; while it seems to be pretty well established that the family is one of great antiquity there has always existed a doubt regarding its origin, and there are those who are disposed to place it among the old Holland families and bring forth Dutch intermarriages in support of their reasoning. In these annals no attempt is made to investigate the subject of the origin of the family of the Sears immigrant, for it is not known when or where he was born, and nothing of his parentage, although there are various traditions and vague conclusions regarding his forbears. The family in America is fully strong enough in every material respect to stand forever without the warrant of distinguished pre-American lineage. But in regard to the apparent lack of earlier data the Sears family is only one in the long list of our best colonial families whose history back of the immigrant is unkown, and the absence of definite knowledge of his ancestors is not to be taken as evidence of doubtful or obscure origin, for the simple truth is that it has been found impossible to trace his lineage in the mother country.

(I) Richard Sears appears in our New England colonial history with the mention of his name in the records of the Plymouth colony tax list in 1633, when he was one of fourty-four persons there assessed nine shillings in corn at sixshillings per bushel. From Plymouth he soon crossed over to Marblehead, MA, and was taxed there, as shown by the Salem list, in 1637-38. He also had a grant of four acres of land "where he had formerly planted," from which it appears that he may have been in that plantation at some previous time. In 1639 he joined the colonists under Anthony Thacher and went to Cape Cod and founded the town of Yarmouth. His first house was built on Quivet Neck, and afterwards he built another house a short distance to the northwest of his first house there. In 1643 the name of Richard Sears appears in the list of inhabitants of Yarmouth "liable to bear arms." He was made freeman in 1652, grand juror in 1652, took the oath of allegiance and fidelity in 1653, was constable in 1660, and representative to the court in Plymouth in 1662. In 1664 Richard Sears, husbandman, purchased for twenty pounds from Allis, widow of Governor William Bradford, a tract of land at Sesuit. He died in August, 1676, and was buried March 19, 1678-79; but it is not certain that she was his only wife, or the mother of all or even any of his children. Indeed, there is a presumption that he was previously married and that his children may have been born of his former wife.

Dennis, Cape Cod, p 59, 95

1. ↑ Richard Sears (pilgrim), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
2.   May, Samuel Pearce. The descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1638-1888: with an appendix containing some notices of other families by the name of Sears. (Albany: J. Munsell, 1890)
   p 23.

   Handnotes from the author's personal copy of the original book which was discovered by Corrine Weis and her sister, Sears girls, in an Albany, NY bookstore and later purchased from her estate by L. Ray Sears, III. The book has since been donated to the manuscript collection of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), and revised and corrected typescript (also at the NEHGS), 1913, p 4