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JOSHUA
PIERCE, the father of Joshua, John, and Seth Pierce, and
of several daughters, belonged to Pembroke, of Plymouth
County, Mass. He bought the place now occupied by Maj.
Seth Pierce, May 17, 1748, consisting of three hundred
and three acres, of Joshua Jewel. Joshua Pierce was the
venerable ancestor of the Pierce family. He was a poor
boy, put out to a hard master, who treated him with much
unkindness and severity. But when he became of age, the
severe training which he had received made him an
industrious, economical, and respectable citizen. He
gave half his wages of one year's hire, when living at
Pembroke, for the building of a house for the worship of
God. He was remarkably prosperous in acquiring property.
He gave £3,000 for his farm, which he bought of Jewel.
He here increased in wealth, and was very liberal
towards all benevolent objects and ever remembered the
poor; and such was his reputation and standing that he
was one of the first chosen to represent the town in the
legislature, to which place he was re-elected for ten
different sessions. He was a good ministerial man for
the sake of their sacred office. He showed himself a
genuine descendant of the Puritans in principle and
feeling. Generally the descendants of this venerable
Joshua Pierce have been prosperous and respectable,
having a blessing resting upon them. He died at the age
of eighty years, on March 13, 1794.
He had five
daughters. Elizabeth and Eleanor married two brothers,
Amos and Solomon Johnson. Sarah, the second daughter,
married Jonathan Chandler. The younger, Priscilla, and
Anna, married Perez and Titus Bonney, two brothers. Mr.
Pierce married, for his second wife, a widow Starr, from
Danbury.
Joshua, second, his
oldest son, had children, - Joshua, Samuel, Captain
John, and Lorain, who married Captain Nehemiah Clark.
Joshua, third,
married Betsey Paine, and had children, - Mills, a
farmer in Cornwall; Fayette, who went to New York;
Colonel Dwight, who remained in Cornwall; and a
daughter, who married Dr. B. B. North.
Captain
John, the youngest son of Joshua, second, had daughters
who married Menzies Beers and Rexford Baldwin, and
remained in Cornwall; and two sons, who removed to
Plymouth. His second wife, Sally Russell, still
survives, living with her daughters at Cornwall.
John,
second son of the elder Joshua, lived where William
Harrison now lives. He had one daughter, who married in
Washington. He went to live with her, and died there,
aged about ninety.
Captain
Seth Pierce, the youngest son, inherited the homestead.
He was a very liberal man. When the old meeting-house
was moved down to the plain, he put on one bent at his
own expense. He was a large and thrifty farmer, breeding
horses and cattle in large numbers, having at one time
eighteen horses. At this time Captain Pierce and Noah
Rogers were the largest landholders in town, each
listing over one thousand acres. He had sons, Major Seth
and John H. and daughters, who married Franklin Gold.,
Oliver Chapin, and Ezekiel Birdseye.
Major
Seth inherited the homestead, which he still holds at
the age of ninety-two. He graduated at Yale in the class
of 1806, and, having been born May 16, 1785, is the
oldest living graduate of the college. A bachelor, his
life has been that of a quiet farmer, and he still
enjoys good health in his green old age, and is much
respected by his fellow-citizens. John H., second son,
was a farmer; built the corner house, so called, which
he occupied; and was killed about 1825, having been
crushed by a cart.
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