Welcome! I really enjoy exchanging information with people and love that this blog helps with that. I consider much of my research as a work in progress, so please let me know if you have conflicting information. Some of the surnames I'm researching:

Many old Cape families including Kelley, Eldredge/idge, Howes, Baker, Mayo, Bangs, Snow, Chase, Ryder/Rider, Freeman, Cole, Sears, Wixon, Nickerson.
Many old Plymouth County families including Washburn, Bumpus, Lucas, Cobb, Benson.
Johnson (England to MA)
Corey (Correia?) (Azores to MA)
Booth, Jones, Taylor, Heatherington (N. Ireland to Quebec)
O'Connor (Ireland to MA)
My male Mayflower ancestors (only first two have been submitted/approved by the Mayflower Society):
Francis Cooke, William Brewster, George Soule, Isaac Allerton, John Billington, Richard Warren, Peter Browne, Francis Eaton, Samuel Fuller, James Chilton, John Tilley, Stephen Hopkins, and John Howland.
Female Mayflower ancestors: Mary Norris Allerton, Eleanor Billington, Mary Brewster, Mrs. James Chilton, Sarah Eaton, and Joan Hurst Tilley.
Child Mayflower ancestors: Giles Hopkins, (possibly) Constance Hopkins, Mary Allerton, Francis Billington, Love Brewster, Mary Chilton, Samuel Eaton, and Elizabeth Tilley.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Austin/Augustine Bearse born ca 1618 Possibly Southampton, England, lived Barnstable, Mass.




Austin (also seen as Augustine) Bearse (also seen in many other variations including Bearce) was born ca 1618, possibly in or near Southampton, England. He may be my 11th great-grandfather on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family. I need to do more research on this connection.

He immigrated at age 20 on the ship Confidence of London, leaving Southampton, England on 24 April 1638. He came to Barnstable with the first company in 1639 and was admitted freeman there in May 1653. He was a member of Rev. Lothrop’s church and listed as a member there on 29 April 1643. His name rarely occurs in records, which shows he wasn’t overly involved in public service but that he also wasn’t the subject of legal squabbles which were so common. He served as a grand juror in 1653 and 1662 and a surveyor of highways in 1674.  

His wife’s name is not known, but some say her first name was Mary.

The couple had 11 children, born and recorded in Barnstable:

Mary b. 1640, baptized 6 May 1643
Martha b. 1642, baptized 6 May 1643
Priscilla b. 10 March 1643/4, baptized 11 March 1643/4, (it has been suggested she married Deacon John Hall Jr of Yarmouth but there isn't proof of this)
Sarah b. 28 March 1646, baptized 29 March 1646, married John Hamblin of Barnstable
Abigail, born 18 Dec 1647, baptized 19 Dec, 1647, married Allen Nichols of Barnstable
Hannah b. 16 Nov 1649, baptized 18 Nov 1649
Joseph b. 25 Jan 1651/2, baptized the same day, m. Martha Taylor. He was probably a soldier in King Philip's war as his sons had land rights in the town of Gorham (later Maine)
Lydia born end of Sept 1655
Rebecca b. Sept 1657
James born end of July 1660

I descend from his daughter Priscilla.  

There have been stories that Austin was a Gypsy (his mother called a gypsy princess) and that he was deported as a criminal from England. The story goes that none of the white women were interested in him because of his dark skin, so he married Native American Princess “Little Dove” Hyanno, daughter of Chief Iyyanough. This is always a subject that gets a lot of people fired up, as they strongly believe the legend or feel it’s just a myth. It seems to me that since he was a church going man, living in Barnstable, with children who married into the best English families, that it is impossible he was a gypsy and his wife was a Native American. Whenever I read “princess” to do with an ancestor, I immediately see red flags. There is also no evidence the ship Confidence held any prisoners. The early settlers weren’t exactly an open minded lot and wouldn’t have accepted a gypsy who married a Native American, who by the way was a criminal, into their church and community!

Centerville house attributed to Austin Bearse from geni.com
The Cape Cod Genealogy Society Bulletin, Spring 2003, has a map showing locations of first century houses in the town of Barnstable which shows the home of Austin Bearse, a full Cape, at 38 Church Hill Road, Centerville. A post on geni.com says the house still stands but I’ve also read that only the house cellar and remains of an orchard mark the site. A walking map of historic Centerville by the Centerville Historic Society Museum does indicate the house at 38 Church Hill Road was built by Bearse ca 1686, which would've been very late in his life. Something I need to investigate further. A road from his house to Hyannis is still called Bearse’s Way. His house lot contained twelve acres of rocky land  and was in the westerly part of the East Parish. He also owned six acres of meadow and two thatch islands.

There is no record of his death or estate settlement, but he Otis wrote he was living in 1686 and died before 1697. 

I haven’t read it, but researcher Dale Cook said there is a thorough but hard-to-find work on this family is an unpublished typescript by Fanny Louisa (Steed) Meadows, assisted by Jennie M. Ames, Genealogical Records of Austin Bearse (or Bearce) of Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S.A. A.D. 1638 to A.D. 1933 ... (Cleveland, OH: 1933; Supplement 1939).

Sources Not Listed Above:
Vernon R. Nickerson, From Pilgrims and Indians... manuscript
Charleen Bearce Lambert, Cape Cod and Main Connections: A Bearce/Bearse Example, Cape Cod Genealogy Society Bulletin, vol 2., no 1, Spring 2012
Amos Otis,  Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, being a reprint of the Amos Otis Papers, originally published in the Barnstable Patriot, revised by CF Swift, Volume 1 and 2, Barnstable, MA, The Patriot Press, 1888
Donald Lines Jacobus, Austin Bearse and His Alleged Indian Connections, The American Genealogist, Vol. 15, 1938

14 comments:

  1. Any chance Bearse was a Palatine German? I've found a few in my daughter's Mass. ancestry. They went to London, then Ireland, then MA. My PA/Ontario people are Palatine Mennonites, and Bearse/Bearss is a very large family, esp in the Niagara area of Canada now, where they fled as Loyalists/non-combatants.

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    1. Miriam, I have no idea about Bearse's origins, unfortunately. Chris

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  2. Glad to see you are skeptical. Too many aren't.

    Franklyn Bearce was a complete and utter fraud. He fabricated the whole mess. He was never accepted as a native by the government, nor the natives themselves. It has been proved that he wasn't using oral tradition, or a diary, as he included errors from previous genealogists which, once fixed, don't make his story possible. It has been proved that he hijacked African American heritage from a Pine Plains book, and turned it into native heritage. It has been proved that he outright lied within 2 generations from himself. It has been proved that he lied about records that don't exist. It has been proved that he turned Dutch Quakers into natives. It has been proved that he turned Germans into natives. Etc.

    https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bearce-45 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Franklyn_Bearce_Analysis https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Lee_Murrah_Analysis

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    1. Hi Jason, Thank you for weighing in on the misinformation about Austin. I never understand why people completely fabricate information. Genealogy is challenging enough without roadblocks like that in the way! Chris

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    2. I am connected to Bearse and just finally dud mybdna. I did come up with native Americans and gypsy from an area on India. I knew about the native from another ancestor. But this has turned up way more then I expected. I am rather pleasantly surprised.

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    3. I'm glad you received some interesting DNA results. Mine are quite bland!

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    4. I took have done DNA came up with a small percentage of native American but both lead to the same place my 2 lines one bearse possibly but more likely to ana daughter of King Phillip I think info not in front of me I am skeptic still wish it was. Provable not a guy feeling on my part

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  3. And sadly the information is out there still being spread as the gospel truth

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  4. While doing research on Austin today, I came across your post. I am descended from his daughter Sarah (8th great grandmother). Having read some very detailed accounts of his life, that didn't appear well sourced, I had wondered about their veracity. It'll be interesting to try to further explore his life and origin.

    Thanks for the interesting read.
    Nancy

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    1. Hi Nancy, Let us know if you find anything on Austin! Chris

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  5. Last night I commented about 2 authors related to the colonist Augustine Austin Bearse.I think I pressed the wrong button and my comment was not sent. I am not referring to the fraudulent Franklyn Bearse. An Austin Bearse wrote several great articles or memoirs (not sure of the classification). Reminiscense of Fugitive Slave Law Days in Boston is under 50 pages. It is the tales of his work in the underground railroad as a boat captain, rescueing people in bondage using his ship to interrupt the return to their "owners". He belonged to a society who were called "The Comittee of Vigilance". This publication is available on the archive.org website, printed in 1880 by Warren Richardson. It lists all the members of this Committee. Sadly I didn't find many from my own family tree beside Austin Bearse. The other author is a satirist named Ambrose Bearse. He has numerous works and clearly popular. Some of his writings remind me of the famous columnist who wrote for the SF Examiner Chronicle until his death, named Herb Caen.

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    1. Thank you for informing me about this book. I will check it out! Chris

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  6. No one knows what really happened in the 1600s. Articles written decades later are written by people that put their own opinions in print. Could it not be that Augustine and Mary being of mixed marriage today, baptized, their children as a way of protecting them from being kidnapped and sold. You see there are all kinds of ways to tell a story. I would lean more to what the Indians believe. And they believed and still do that it was a mixed marriage. Back then no one would have wanted to be a descendent of a mixed marriage and would have changed the fact to protect their families. So keep an open mind is all I am saying.

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    1. Definitely keeping an open mind. I'd be thrilled to have solid evidence of a Native American ancestor.

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I'm now moderating comments on this blog. My apologies for any ensuing delays, but the large number of "spam" comments have made this necessary. ~Chris