(V) Giles Peirce, son of John and Susannah (Nichols) Peirce, was born at East Greenwich, and resided there and at North Kingston, where his death occurred, April 10, 1793. He was made a Freeman of Rhode Island in 1745, and some years after his marriage, the large land and estate of his father having been spent in lawsuits so that nothing of value was left of it, he moved to Block Island. He was a man of energy and enterprise and became the largest stockraiser at that place, especially of sheep, and was second to very few in the Colony, outside the Island. In the year 1775 he and Gideon Hoxie were appointed by the General Assembly to oversee stock on the Island. During the Revolution a large proportion of this stock was taken by the authorities to help out war expenses. In 1782 he purchased a large tract of land at North Kingston, and moved there in that year. Giles Peirce married Desire Case, daughter of Joseph Case, of North Kingston, and they were the parents of the following children: Sarah, born Jany. 2, 1751; Lucy, born Sept. 2, 1753; Elisha, born Oct. 30, 1755, and died in 1764; Anna, born Mary 14, 1758; Joseph, born Sept. 14, 1760; Giles, born in 1763; John, who is mentioned below; Susannah, born in 1769; Thomas, born in 1770, and Desire.
