On Saturday Aug: 26th, nimquid with Two other Indians came on board ye sloop, and said yt the Indians were going down the River to catch fowl. And accordingly we saw them moving down the River in the forenoon. On Sabbath Day Aug: 27th, we met together in ye Lower BlockHouse to attend ye worship of God. Monday Aug: 28th, was a fine, pleasant day, and all hands followed business briskly to get ye fortification between ye Block-Houses done and get wood into ye sloop. This day 2 Ind: came to us with foul? Tuesday Aug: 29th, was a fine, pleasant Day, and all hands were at work again to drive on business. Wednesday Aug: 30th, we set sail for Arrowsick but the wind being against us we got no farther that day then the Harbour at George's Islands, and there we anchored that night. Thursday Aug: 31st, we had very calm weather a great part of y Day and some times sudden squalls, and we got but little a head, being in sight of Pemaquid Point all Day, and that night we kept out. Friday Sept: 1st, we arrived at Arrowsick about ye middle of yo Afternoon. On Saturday Sept: 2, we sailed up to Capt" Wainwrights Fort at Richmond. And There we kept Sabbath, Sept. 3. On Monday Sept. 4th, we went to Topsham and there lodged. On Friday Sept: 8th, I went on Bord M. Parkers sloop, who was bound for Boston. That Day we went down ye River, and at night Anchored at Saggadehock. Saturday Sept: 9th, having not a good wind we sailed but a little way. Sabbath day Sept: 10th, we were becalmed and could not get any farther then cape Porpoise, and in that Harbour* we anchored that night. Monday Sept: 11th, was very calm, and we sailed but a little way, and that night stood out to sea, and towards day the wind sprang up very fresh and fair, and then we came along very briskly, and arrived at Boston about one or Two a clock on Tuesday Sept: 12th. [Cetera desunt.-ED.] The above journal is written in a little book bound in parchment, in a plain and legible hand. The journal occupies 27 pages, and the rest of the book contains sundry accounts inserted from time to time by persons into whose hands the book has fallen. On the first page is written the name of John Mason, Bangor. In the last part of the book, in the hand writing of Mr. Baxter, is a brief vocabulary of the Indian language, which we give entire. How do you. Conhechau-Pum Mâttâm. I. Nea. I do not care. Hegriodarrke. I forgot. Plamene. Nogawed honze. You. Kea. He. Egqumoh. We. Messcue. * "Secure from all winds, whether you have anchor or not."-Morse. COPY OF A ROYALIST HANDBILL DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE BRITISH SOLDIERS AT BOSTON, SEPTEMBER, 1774.-" To the Officers and Soldiers of his Majesty's Troops in Boston." It being more than probable that the King's Standard will soon be erected, from rebellion breaking out in this province, its proper that you soldiers, should be acquainted with the authors thereof, and of all the misfortunes brought upon the province, the following is a list of them, viz. :-Mess. Samuel Adams, James Bowdoin, Dr. Thomas Young, Dr. Benjamin Church, Capt. John Bradford, Josiah Quincy, Major Nathaniel Barber, William Molleneux, John Hancock, William Cooper, Dr. Chauncy, Dr. Cooper, Thomas Cushing, Joseph Greenleaf, and William Denning. The friends of your King and Country, and of America, hope and expect it from you soldiers, the instant rebellion happens, that you will put the above persons immediately to the sword, destroy their houses and plunder their effects; it is just they should be the first victims to the mischiefs they have brought upon us. A Friend to Great Britain and America. AXTELL. From a pocket memorandum Book and Almanac published in 1691, which is well preserved and now in the hands of Joshua E. Crane, Esq., of Bridgewater, was taken the following record of the death of Henry Axtell as recorded by his son, Daniel Axtell. "My Father Henry Axtell was Šlayne' by the Indians the 19th day of April, in the year 1676," between Marlboro' and Sudbury." In Hudson's Hist. of Marlborough, page 310, the date is given, April 20th. PAGE.-Petition of Richard Hutchins, Timothy Corlis, James, Mary, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Elizabeth and David Hutchins, all of Haverhill, grandchild" of John Page, late of Haverhill, decs", to be allowd to sell abt 15 acres of land in ye heart of ye town, wh was given them by y's grandfather. Elizabeth H. was a minor. Granted. Iour. H. Reps. 7 sec. 1738. THE PEIRCE FAMILY. [Communicated by EBENEZER W. PEIRCE, of Freetown, Member of Old Colony, Historical, Pilgrim, and the New England Historic-Genealogical Societies.] PEIRCE, or Pierce as the name is now more commonly spelled, is probably derived from the French name PIERRE or Piers. Thus we find Piers de Gaveston the favorite of EDWARD II. beheaded in 1313, and Peter Peirse who lived in the reign of EDWARD IV., and Richard III., who being attached to the house of York, fought at the battle of Bosworth field (in 1485) as standard bearer to Richard III. ; and also John Peirce, Bishop of York. The first patent of the Plymouth Colony was granted to John Peirce, a citizen of London, June 1st, 1621, who is thought to have been the owner of the ship commanded by William Peirce wherein were brought over many of the early emigrants. In 1630, Capt. William Peirce commanded the LION of Bristol, which ship was riding at anchor at Salem when Governor Winthrop arrived in the month of June of that year. He resided awhile in Boston, and made an Almanac for New England for the year 1639, and being entrusted with the command of an expedition against the Bahamas, fell in battle at the island of Providence in 1641. His Almanac is said to have been the first made in New England. Michael Peirce, of Hingham, and afterwards of Scituate (said to have been a brother of Capt. William) was Ensign of the company under Capt. Miles Standish, promoted to Captain in 1669, participated in the great battle at Narraganset, Dec., 1675, and escaped with his life to receive further promotion, assume a higher command, and perish in a more terrible conflict. Being entrusted with a separate command, he, early in the spring of 1676, commenced the pursuit of the Indian enemy towards Rhode Island, leading the entire force of Plymouth Colony then operating in the field. He proceeded without encounter near Pautucket (in that part called the Attleboro' Gore), when Indians were discovered, but not suspecting that Conanchet was there with all the collected force of the Narragansetts, he ventured to cross the river and commence the attack, but soon found himself in the presence of an overwhelming force. To fly was impossible, and to retreat in order before such an enemy equally desperate. His only recourse was to fall back to the river's bank, in order to avoid being surrounded, and make the sacrifice of himself and his men as costly as possible to the foe. Here, said an early historian, "they fought until nearly every man fell, and with a bravery like that at Thermopylæ and deserving of as great success." But the colonists had the satisfaction to learn that this brave band had slain thrice their own number of the enemy. This was the greatest calamity that befel the Plymouth Colony during King Philip's war. The will of Michael Peirce was made in 1675, and the preamble is in these impressive words- Being, by the appointment of God, going out to war against the Indians, I do ordain this my last will and Testament; and first I commit my ways to the Eternal God." Nathaniel Pierce, of Woburn, was in the disastrous fight at the falls on the Connecticut river, on the 19th of May, 1676, and from him were descended Benjamin Pierce, Lieut. in the army in the war of the Revolution, Major, Colonel, and Brigadier General of the New Hampshire Militia, and Governor of that State; whose son, Frank Pierce, was U. S. Senator from New Hampshire, Brigadier General in the Mexican War, and President of the United States. (Ante, vii. 9.) There was a Capt. Wm. Pierce, who was killed by a cannon ball at the taking of Louisburg, in 1745, who perhaps was of this stock. Abraham Peirce was the earliest member of the Peirce family that settled in the Colony of New Plymouth, and from him are descended most of the name in that section of the State. His name first appears upon the Colonial records at a division of the cattle in 1627, and subsequent notices as follows: a "freeman" in 1633, a tax payer in 1634, one of a coroner's jury in 1636, a householder in 1637, allowed to take up more land at Jones's river in 1639, granted 40 acres of upland and some meadow at North River in 1640, a soldier under Capt. Miles Standish in 1643, one of the original purchasers of ancient Bridgewater in 1645 (this purchase included the four towns of Bridgewater, and also Abington), brought before the court charged with idleness and neglecting public worship in 1650, but proved innocent, granted 3 acres of meadow on the north side of the brook at Namassakeset, and liberty to purchase lands at Saconeset in 1660, and soon after received a grant of one hundred acres on the back side of Indian Head River pond. His death must have occurred in or before 1673, for at that date his son Abraham was appointed by the court to administer upon the estate of Abraham Peirce, Senr., deceased. The children of Abraham were (2) Abraham, born in Plymouth, January, 1638, married Hannah Glass, of Duxbury, Oct. 29, 1695, and he died in January, 1718, aged of, and he died died in 1673, aged about 23 yrs.-(Church Records and Town Records.) (6) Isaac, born in 1661, married Alice in Middleborough, now Lakeville, Feb. 28, 1732, aged about 71 years. -(Middleborough Town Records.) By order of the court, (2) Abraham the eldest son received all the landed estate of his deceased father, save 20 acres of upland and 2 acres of meadow, assigned as the portion of Isaac the youngest son, and twenty shillings apiece to each of the daughters.-(Colonial Records.) Abraham Peirce, Jr. (2) had (7) Abraham, married Abigail Peterson, Sept. 25, 1729. (8) John, married Susannah Newland, of Bridgewater, in 1713. She was (9) Samuel, married 1st, Mary Saunders, Jan. 18, 1703. a daughter of John Saunders, one of the Selectmen of Cape Porpoise, Maine; 2d, Abigail Pool, in 1728. (10) Hannah, born April, 1706, and she was probably the only child by wife Hannah Glass, who must have been a 2d wife, as the date of her marriage was only eight years prior to that of Samuel the son. The colonial records notice (2) Abraham Peirce as follows: 1661, Oct. 1st. Acknowledgment that he had defamed Rebecca Alden and Hester Delancy. 1663. Arraigned before the court for his abusive speeches used toward his father. 1673. To administer on the estate of his father. 1682. One of the surveyors of highways in Duxbury. 1718. January, his death. Isaac Peirce (6) and wife had (11) Isaac, married Abigail ; (12) Thomas, married Naoma Boothe, of Middleborough, April 16, 1714.-(Middleborough Town Records.) (13) Mary, married Saunders. (14) Lydia, married, first, John Heyford, in 1706; second, Aaron Seekel, Jan. 12, 1725. (15) Mercy, married Joseph Trouant, 1707. (16) Sarah, married Macomber. (17) Rebecca, married Samuel Hoar, of Middleborough. Isaac (6) the parent, disposed of his inheritance at Duxbury and removed to Middleborough, in or about 1710, where he purchased land to a considerable amount. His will bore date of Jan. 22, 1722. Gave his real estate to sons Isaac and Thomas, and to each of his daughters five pounds in money. He died suddenly while sitting in a chair, Feb. 28, 1732, in the 71st year of his age. From a deed dated May 28th, 1733, we learn that some of the real estate of Isaac Peirce, Senr., in Middleborough, was granted to him by the General Court, as he was one of the soldiers in the Naraganset war.” Abraham Peirce (7) is said to have removed to Pembroke, but what is probably true is, that lands he had inherited from his grandfather, which at first were said to be in Plymouth, fell within the limits of Duxbury at the date of its incorporation (June 7, 1637), and to Pembroke at its incorporation in 1711, and to Hanson in 1820, and are not far from Bryantville in Hanson. John Peirce (8) located at Gloucester, in 1712, and in 1735 had a grant of land at a place in that town called Squam. llave not learn ed his children's names, if indeed he had posterity.. Samuel Peirce (9) and wife Mary Saunders had— (18) David, born Oct. 5, 1713, married Susannah Stevens, Jan. 20, 1736, and he died in 1759. (19) Jonathan, born in Gloucester April 24, 1719. (20) Joseph, born Aug. 14, 1725. Samuel (9) the parent left Duxbury in 1713, and removed to Gloucester, where he carried on the business of ship-building. The date of his death I have not been able to learn. Hannah Peirce (10) married Joseph Newell, of Bridgewater, 1732, and had a son (21) Jonas, born in 1733. Hannah the mother died in or before 1734. Isaac Peirce (11) and wife had— (22) Ebenezer, born in 1704, married Mary Hoskins, of Taunton, Dec. 13, 1728, and he died Aug. 14, 1796. She died Oct. 5, 1768. (23) Isaac, born 1705, married Deliverance Holloway, of Middleborough, May 5, 1735, and he died Sept. 18, 1782; she died Oct. 11, 1801. (24) Elisha, married Margaret Paine, of Freetown, Nov. 10, 1738. Died about 1779; she died at date unknown. |