History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917; - citizen hylbom blog

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History of Swansea
fied with the political, judicial, legislative, social, and business life of
Rhode Island and South Eastern Massachusetts. During both the Colonial
and Revolutionary periods the name constantly recurs either in legislative
or mihtary affairs. Capt. Nathaniel Pearse commanded an artillery
company at the burning of Bristol by the British in the Revolutionary w£ir;
and covering the period from 1757 to 1849 different members of the family
represented the town of Bristol R. I. in the State Legislature. The Hon.
Dutee J. Pearse, in the early part of the last century, served as a member
of Congress from Rhode Island for more than a decade.
^r TWs article deals with the ancestry and biography, in particular, of
WiUiam George Pearse, and WiUiam Henry Pearse, father and son, of
Swansea, Mass.
(I) Richard Pearse (name changed from Percy in this generation),
born in England in 1590, married in England, his wife's name being Martha,
and was a resident of Bristol, England. He was a son of Richard, who
resided on the homestead of his father, grandson of Richard Percy, the
founder of the Pearce Hall, in York, England, where he hved and died; and
great-grandson of Peter Percy, standard bearer to Richard III in 1485.
Richard Pearse came to America in the ship " Lyon " from Bristol, England,
his brother Capt. William being master of the ship. His children were:
Richard, John, Samuel, Hannah, Martha, Sarah, William, and Mary. Capt.
Wilham Pearse, of the ship "Lyon," was a distinguished shipmaster. He
was killed by Spaniards at Providence, in the Bahama Islands, 1641. He
is credited with being the author of the first almanac (1639) published in
North America.
(II) Richard Pearse (2), son of Richard the immigrant, born in 1615,
in England, married in Portsmouth, R. I., Sus£umah Wright, born in 1620.
He was at Portsmouth as early as 1654, and was admitted a freeman of the
Colony from that place. He died in 1678, in Portsmouth, and his wife was
deceased at that date. His children were: Richard, born Oct. 3, 1643;
Martha, Sept. 13, 1645; John, Sept. 8, 1647; Giles, July 22, 1651; Susanna
Nov. 22, 1652; Mary, May 6, 1654; Jeremiah, Nov. 7, 1656; Isaac, December,
1658; George, July 10, 1662; and Samuel, Dec. 22, 1664.
(III) Richard Pearse (3), son of Richard (2), born Oct. 3, 1643, in
Portsmouth, R. I., was a freeman of the Colony of Portsmouth in May,
1663. He removed to Bristol, R. I., probably soon after his father's death,
and he and his wife Experience died there, his death occurring July 19,
1720. Their children, born in Bristol, were: Jonathan, Richard, Abigail,
Mary, Jeremiah, Annie, Benjamin, and William.
(IV) WiUiam Pearse, son of Richard (3), was born Sept. 18, 1716,
and married, April 22, 1742, Lydia Brown. They resided in Bristol, R. I.,
and in 1753, he purchased from Jacob Lawton the property known as the
Bristol Ferry. There was an old fort located not far from the home at
Bristol, it being this fort which prevented the British from passing on their
way to burn Fall River and other places, during the Revolutionary w£ir.
The Colonists made it so uncomfortable for them, indeed, that they were
obhged to abandon their fleet, and man their barges, thinking thus to pass
safely, hugging the south shore, but nearly all their boats were sunk and
the attempt had to be abandoned.
At this time, during the war, the Pearse home stood a short distance
to the northeast of the present house, and in that house two sentries were
killed by a cannon ball fired from the British fort upon the other side of the
river, or bay, about one mile distant. The inmates of the house were
repeatedly warned of the danger, but did not heed. The ball first struck
the water, then a sharp rock at the foot of the house, then a partition, and
passihg through the body of one man lodged in the body of the other,
killing both. Mr. Pearse's son, George, related that one day the cannon