Jesse Pierce (1747-1824) and (Ruth Perkins 1752-ca 1799) of Middleborough, Mass.

Jesse Pierce was born Middleborough, Plymouth County, Mass., on 12 July 1747. He was the son of Richard and Mary (Simmons) Pierce. His last name is spelled in a variety of ways including Peirce and Pearce.

Jessie married Ruth Perkins in Middleborough on 26 January 1772 (recorded Middleborough and Freetown Vital Records). She was of Freetown at the time of their marriage. She was born 5 August 1752 in Wrentham, Norfolk Co., Mass., the daughter of Ignatius/Ignatious and Keziah/Kezia (Davis) Perkins. I wrote about her parents here.

Jessie and Ruth had seven children, only the birth record for their oldest son, David, has been found:

1.      David, born 22 June 1773, Middleborough, married Desire Nye and lived in Wareham, Plymouth Co., Mass.

2.      Keziah born 1770s, she married, first _____ Holmes; she married, second, Joseph Harris.

3.      Richard born 1770s, married Joannah Nye

4.      Ignatius born about 1785, married Betsey Besse.

5.      Branch born about 1788, married Rebecca Bates

6.      Jessie born about 1790, died in New Orleans, date unknown

7.      Mary born about 1794, married Joshua Douglass

I descend from their son David, whom I wrote about here.

The records on this family are sparce, so I haven’t found what Jesse did for a living or if he served in any public office.

The couple lived at Middleboro but at some time moved to Plymouth. Perhaps this occurred around the time of Ruth's unrecorded death as the last record found in vital records for either Ruth or Jesse is the second marriage of Jesse Pierce to Susannah (Harlow) King on 2 January 1799 in Plymouth.

Paul Bumpus of the Mayflower Society came across the Descendants of Abraham Perkins of Hampton, NH to the Eighth Generation, compiled by Carolyn C. Perkins. In Perkins work, only four children, all sons, were attributed to Ignatius and his wife Keziah Davis: David, Ignatius, Luke, and John.  Perkins work showed the connection between the family who lived at Freetown, later at Wrentham, and the Ruth Perkins who married Jesse Pierce at Middleboro. This led Paul to examine the Wrentham records, thus finding the birth of Ruth Perkins there on 5 August 1752, "d of Ignatius and Kezia." This discovery means that Ruth and her brother William are "new" Mayflower descendants, from John Howland, John Tilley, and Isaac Allerton. It is also now possible to have Mayflower lines approved from the female passengers in this line: Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland, Joan (Hurst) (Rogers) Tilley and Mary (Norris) Allerton.

Ruth died before before 2 January 1799 when Jesse married, second, Susannah (Harlow) King in Plymouth. Her death is unrecorded but likely took place in Middleborough or Plymouth.

Jesse Pierce died 30 September 1824, possibly in Plymouth. His death is found only on his 2nd wife's Revolutionary War pension application which she filed on 4 September 1837 as the widow of William King.

No Plymouth County probate for Jesse and Ruth has been located.

Sources Not Listed Above:

Ebenezer Peirce, The Peirce Family, printed in NEHGR in Jan., April, July 1867 and October 1868.

Paul Bumpus, Ruth Perkins, daughter of Ignatious of Freetown, Mass., printed in the Mayflower Quarterly, September 2006