Person:Richard Pearce (6)

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Richard Pearce
b.Abt 1590 England
 
Facts and Events
Name Richard Pearce
Gender Male
Birth? Abt 1590 Englandif he existed
Marriage to Martha _____

No Evidence this Person Existed

The source for this person and his wife is the Pearce Genealogy by Frederick Clifton Pierce[1], which Robert Charles Anderson (in Great Migration Begins[2]) describes as "one of his usual confused productions". Anderson states that "The elder Richard [father of the Richard Pierce who married Susanna Wright] does not seem to have existed, ..."[2]

The lineage connecting Richard Pierce of Portsmouth, Rhode Island (husband of Susannah Wright) to Sir Ralph Percy (both of whom existed) seems to be a product of speculation, misread notes, and/or outright fabrication (by the author or by researchers in England upon whom he relied). This lineage has been copied (in full or in part) by many books[3][4][5][6][7][8] and has found its way onto many websites, including FamilySearch Family Tree, Find A Grave[9], WikiTree, MyHeritage, Wikipedia, numerous amateur trees, and here at WeRelate. In some instances, the lineage has been embellished (without evidence) with the names of wives, but Frederick Clifton Pearce gave no names of wives until the last link (this Richard), and he gave no maiden name for Martha.

Despite the many places this lineage has been published, there is no independent evidence that anybody in it (from Richard and Martha Pearce and their children to Richard's supposed great-grandfather Peter Percy) existed. If Robert Charles Anderson could find no evidence of this Richard Pearce in early New England, then it is highly unlikely that he existed.

This lineage is being kept on WeRelate to forestall future incorrect linking of Richard Pierce to Sir Ralph Percy. No changes should be made to this lineage without new evidence published in a peer-reviewed journal or post-2000 edited book showing primary sources.

References
  1. Pierce, Frederick Clifton. Pearce genealogy: being the record of the posterity of Richard Pearce, an early inhabitant of Portsmouth, in Rhode Island, who came from England, and whose genealogy is traced back to 972. (Rockford, Illinois: unknown, 1888)
    p. 36.

    'Richard Pearce, Jr., (Richard), b. 1590 ; m. in England Martha -----. He resided in Bristol, England, and came to America in the ship "Lyons" from that place. His brother, Capt. William Pearce, was master of the ship.'

    This book lists the following children of Richard and Martha Pearce:
    Richard (who married Susannah Wright, for which there is evidence)
    John (for whom there is evidence)
    Samuel
    Hannah
    Martha
    Sarah
    William
    Mary
    There is no further information on the last 6 children.

  2. 2.0 2.1 Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995)
    p. 1472, p. 1477.

    p. 1472 (emphasis added): "In 1888 Frederick Clifton Pierce published one of his usual confused productions, a Pearce Genealogy, Being the Record of the Posterity of Richard Pearce, An Early Inhabitant of Portsmouth, in Rhode Island ... (Rockford, Illinois, 1888). He made John Pierce of Dorchester and Boston a son of this elder Richard Pierce, and the latter was supposedly brother of WILLIAM PIERCE, mariner, of Boston, and father of a younger Richard Pierce of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The elder Richard does not seem to have existed, nor is there evidence that any of these other three men are related to one another."

    p. 1477: "Frederick Clifton Pierce, whose genealogical conclusions are generally of little value, ..."

  3. Bicknell, Thomas Williams. The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. (New York: The American Historical Society, 1920)
    Biographical:552.

    In the entry for Hon. Edwin Chase Pierce, "a direct descendant in the seventh generation of Captain Michael Pierce, founder of this famous old Rhode Island family.":
    "Captain Michael Pierce was ... a brother of John Pierce, of London, ... and also of Captain William Pierce, ..."
    "Captain Michael Pierce, the immigrant, was born in England in 1615, the son of Richard and Martha Pierce, of Bristol, and of the twentieth generation direct descent from Galfred, who according to English genealogists is regarded as the progenitor."

    Caution: This book cannot be considered to be an independent source for the existence of Richard and Martha Pierce, as it appears to rely on information from two books by F. C. Pierce, one about Richard Pearce and one about Michael Pierce.

    The proof that Bicknell’s book copied from Pierce’s book about Micheal Pierce (unless they both copied from the same unknown source) is that it copied information about Capt. William Pierce almost verbatim from page 11 of Pierce’s book. Then it repeated Pierce’s erroneous claim that Capt. Michael Pierce was a brother of the Capt. William Pierce who died in 1641. Pierce made his error based on a 1676 letter about the death of Capt. [Michael] Pearse/Pierse, brother of Capt. Pierce of London (see page 23 of Pierce’s book). A man who died 35 years earlier is unlikely to have been described that way in a letter, so Michael’s brother must have been a different Capt. Pierce.

    Bicknell’s book then goes on to say that Captain Michael Pierce was born in England in 1615, the son of Richard and Martha Pierce of Bristol “and of the twentieth generation in direct descent from Galfred, who according to English genealogists is regarded as the progenitor.” This latter bit is obviously taken from Pierce’s book about Richard Pearce, where the twenty supposed generations are listed on page 36, but it ignores the fact that Pierce doesn’t list Michael as one of the children of Richard and Martha. Regardless, this is not proof that Richard and Martha existed - only that F. C. Pierce said so in his book.

  4. Wright, Otis Olney. History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917. (Swansea, Massachusetts: The Town, 1917)
    p. 182.

    Another book that clearly copies from F. C. Pierce's book about Richard Pearse and thus is not an independent source.

  5. Preston, Belle (Mary Isabella). Bassett-Preston Ancestors: A History of the Ancestors in America of Marion Bassett Luitweiler, Howard Murray Bassett, Preston Rogers Bassett, Isabel Bassett Wasson, and Helen Bassett Hauser, Children of Edward M. and Annie (Preston) Bassett. (New Haven, CT: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co., 1930)
    pp. 210-11.

    Another book that clearly copies from F. C. Pierce's book about Richard Pearse and thus is not an independent source.

  6. Hurlburt, Clifford George. Pierce genealogy : being a partial record of the posterity of Richard Pearse, an early inhabitant of Portsmouth in Rhode Island, who came from England, and whose genealogy is traced back to 972. (San Diego, Calif: Published for the author by George E. White, 1927)
    p. 6.

    'RICHARD PEARCE, Jr., was born in 1590. He married in England, Martha_______. He resided in Bristol, England, and came to America in the ship :Lyons: from that place.'

    Another book that clearly copies from F. C. Pierce's book about Richard Pearse and thus is not an independent source.

  7. Colby, Barnard Ledward. Thirty-One Generations: A Thousand Year of Percys and Pierces 972 to 1969. (1947)
    pp. 12-18.

    This book accepts the ancestry hypothesized by Frederick Clifton Pierce in his 1888 book, including the change in name from Percy to Pierce/Peirce/Pearce, and thus should not be treated as an independent source.

  8. Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (1963)
    p. 1192.

    "PEARSE, Richard (1590-) & Martha _____; m Eng, by 1615; Swansea {Swansea Hist. 182; Pierce (#4) 6; Pierce (#6) 36; Bassett-Preston 212 [s/b 210]}"

    This entry, which simply summarizes information from other books, can be disregarded. The only original source (Pierce (#6) p. 36) is unsubstantiated and refuted by modern scholarship; the other sources (all cited on this page) all copied from the original source.

    Note that the reference to Swansea is misleading; Swansea History (the only source that mentions Swansea) shows that it was only in the 1800's that Pearse descendants moved from Bristol, R. I. to Swansea, Massachusetts.

  9. Richard Pearce III, in Find A Grave.

    This entry claims that Richard was born 1590 in Waltham, Kent, England, died 7 Oct 1666 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, and was a descendant of Joscelin, Count of Louvain and Agnes de Percy of Alnwick, Northumberland.

    Without an image of a gravestone or any sources, this entry is without merit. There is no easily found Vital Record online to support the death date. The birth year seems to be based on F. C. Pierce's "confused" book and the place on the known marriage place of Richard Pearce (b. ca. 1615) and Susanna Wright (which conflicts with F. C. Pierce's assertion that Richard and Martha were from Bristol - all the way across England from Kent).