Finding Hillman’s father
Hillman Pierce
In both Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts: 1638-1900 and Pierce genealogy: being the record of the posterity of Thomas Pierce, an early inhabitant of Charlestown, and afterwards Charlestown village (Woburn), in New England, with wills, inventories, biographical sketches, etc., the progeny of Jacob Pierce (1751-1826) and Rebecca Whitcomb (1754-1843) are recorded. Among their 13 children is Benjamin Pierce, born 1782, who married Sally Erskine.
Benjamin and Sally are identified as the parents of:
Benjamin (b. 8 December 1814)
Hillman (b. 9 June 1816)
Marshall (b. 30 November 1819)
Benjamin, Sally, and their three sons reportedly removed from Jaffrey, Cheshire, New Hampshire, to Pulaski, Oswego, New York. These extensive genealogical publications do not, however, provide any sources for these claims, which is very frustrating. (Always cite your sources!) In fact, multiple New York state censuses, newspaper articles, and Hillman’s headstone list Hillman’s birth as being in 1815, not 1816 as the genealogies assert, making me question the credibility of the information in these old books even more.
I had spent years trying to track down any reliable source document that directly said Benjamin Pierce was the father of Hillman Pierce. Although a few federal and state records document the relationship of Benjamin (1782) as father of Benjamin (1814) and Marshall, I hadn’t found anything connecting Hillman to Benjamin (1782) or to any other possible father for that matter.
This spring I took a road trip through New York and New Hampshire, intent on finding the proof I needed that Hillman was Benjamin’s son.
Richland (New York) Town Clerk’s Office
The Richland Town Clerk’s death register indicates that both Benjamin (1814), who died 24 Nov 1897, and Marshall, who died 25 Feb 1898, were born in Jaffrey, N.H., and their parents were Benjamin Pierce (1782) and Sarah/Sally Erskine. Their presumed brother, Hillman, didn’t die until almost a decade later, on 3 April 1912. The town clerk recorded Hillman’s birthplace, father, and mother as “not known.”
New Hampshire State Archives
No New Hampshire birth records for Benjamin (1814), Marshall, or Hillman appear at the State Archives. The archivist told me that it’s likely the records were discarded when the town clerk of that time moved on. Didn’t he know that 200 years later someone would be looking for those papers?!
The First Church in Jaffrey (New Hampshire) - Hallelujah!
Burial recorded at Old Burying Ground (Jaffrey, Cheshire County, New Hampshire), Jacob Pierce marker, plot 133; personally read, 2022.
The town of Jaffrey in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, had only one church before 1823: the First Church Jaffrey. It is in the burial grounds across from this church that Jacob Pierce, father of Benjamin (1782), was buried in 1826, suggesting that the Pierce family may have belonged to this church at the time of Hillman’s birth in 1815.
Of course, I was visiting on the day this very small church was not open. Luckily, I had met up with a member of the local genealogical society at the cemetery, and she offered to contact the church’s historian for me the following week. A few weeks later I received several text messages with photographs from records books housed in the church archives, and finally got the proof I’d been looking for!
Baptisms
The First Church in Jaffrey’s Record Book of Members and Baptisms, 1780-1816 includes a handwritten covenant by the church’s first pastor, Laban Ainsworth, a list of the original members in 1790, and records of baptisms. Most of the baptismal records are undated, however, the names of eight children are recorded at the top of one one page, alongside the words “baptized April 28 1816.” At the bottom of the page appear the words “Children of Benja Pierce” with the names Benjamin, [H]illman, and Marshal. I finally had a father and his three sons all documented in the same record. But could I be sure this was the “right” Benjamin Pierce? The one who later moved to New York?
Source: The First Church in Jaffrey, (Jaffrey, New Hampshire), “Record Book of Members and Baptisms, 1760-1816,” page 31, children of Benjamin Pierce; church office, Jaffrey.
Member Records
The church record book covering the years 1830-1842 includes notes from meetings and financial information. A page dated 15 March 1830 includes a list of members of the church who were among the “three fourths of the members present,” voting on and approving a regular meeting. Among them were several of the Pierce surname, with notations clearly added at later dates, in different handwriting, as follows: Benjamin Pierce, moved away; Jonos[?] Pierce, died; Josiah Pierce, moved away; Moses Pierce, moved away; Samuel Pierce, died.
In 1832 church members agreed to contribute funds for the salary of Rev. Giles Lyman. Among those on the list of subscribers with the Pierce surname are Benjamin, Jonos, Josiah, Joseph, Moses, and Samuel. Benjamin, Josiah, Joseph, and Moses have “moved” written beside their names in different pen, though the note next to Josiah’s name is barely legible.
Source: The First Church in Jaffrey (Jaffrey, New Hampshire), “Record Book 1830-1842,” subscriber page dated 1832; church office, Jaffrey.
Rev. Lyman retired five years later, and subscribers were again organized to support his replacement, Rev. Josiah Crosby. The names were recorded on 11 September 1837 and included Benj, Jonos, Josiah, Joseph, Moses, and Samuel Pierce. There are hashmarks next to the names of Benjamin, Joseph, and Moses, indicating that they were out of town on the day the list was compiled.
Source: The First Church in Jaffrey (Jaffrey, New Hampshire), “Record Book 1830-1842,” subscriber page dated 11 Sept. 1837; church office, Jaffrey.
It all comes together
The combination of information uncovered in the church records of First Church in Jaffrey with previously obtained information about Benjamin (1782), Benjamin (1814), and Marshall make it probable that Benjamin (1782) is also the father of Hillman Pierce. One baptismal entry directly ties Hillman to a Benjamin Pierce, and member records make it certain that this Benjamin Pierce was the same one who moved to Richland, N.Y. about 1837, and was a son of Jacob Pierce and his wife, Rebecca.
The record page on which the 1816 baptismal date of some children in the First Church of Jaffrey was recorded suggests the baptism of Benjamin’s (1782) children, Benjamin (1814), Hillman, and Marshall, even though the word “baptized” is missing from the Pierce family entry. The presence of all three sons’ names appearing in the same record with Benjamin (1782) suggests that this is the same family documented in the White and Pierce genealogies. It is impossible for the date of their baptism to have occurred in 1816, however. Marshall Pierce was not born until 1819, according to various state census records. Since a line separates the Pierce names from those above them in the record as well, we can be certain that the Pierce baptisms occurred after 28 April 1816. It was not uncommon for multiple children in a family to be baptized at the same time.
The member records show that there were many in Jaffrey with the surname Pierce, so the possibility exists that there was more than one Benjamin Pierce in town at the time of Hillman’s birth. Jacob Pierce and Rebecca Whitcomb had 13 children born in Jaffrey, including Benjamin (1782). Among them were Josiah and Moses, whose names appear with Benjamin Pierce on the 1830,1832, and 1837 member and subscriber lists.
It is certain that Benjamin, Josiah, and Moses all removed from Jaffrey after the last list was recorded on 11 September 1837. In fact, all three were referred to as being out of town on that day. A deed dated the following day, 12 September 1837, documents the sale of land from David R. and Betsey Wood of Richland, Oswego, N.Y., a village in Pulaski, to “Benjamin Pierce Town of Jaffrey County of Cheshire and State of New Hampshire.” It’s therefore certain that the Benjamin Pierce in the Jaffrey church record book is the same Benjamin Pierce who moved to Richland, N.Y. All of these sources in combination with one another show that Benjamin Pierce (1782), once a resident of Jaffrey, N.H., was the father of Hillman Pierce.
Are you struggling to find the sources you need to prove an ancestor’s parents? Contact me to discuss how I can help!
Sources:
1855 New York State census, Oswego County, population schedule, Richland, page 2, dwelling 16, family 14, Marshall Pierce household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com : accessed 7 July 2022); citing various county clerk offices, New York.
1865 New York State census, Oswego County, population schedule, Richland, page 54 (penned), dwelling 311, family 417, Marshall Pierce household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com : accessed 7 July 2022); citing various county clerk offices, New York.
1875 New York State census, Oswego County, population schedule, Richland, Enumeration District (ED) 1, page 3, dwelling 28, family 31, Marshall Pierce household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com : accessed 7 July 2022); citing various county clerk offices, New York.
First Church of Jaffrey, First Church Jaffrey 1780-1980: Celebrating the Bicentennial (updated edition 1995), pamphlet (Jaffrey, NH), page 7.
First Church (Jaffrey), “Record Book 1830-1842,” 15 March 1830 member list.
First Church in Jaffrey, (Jaffrey, New Hampshire), “Record Book of Members and Baptisms, 1760-1816,” page 31, children of Benjamin Pierce; church office, Jaffrey.
Jaffrey County, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Birth Records, through 1900, file: “197 PICKFORD TO PRENTISS,” alphabetically arranged, see Benjamin Pierce; New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records; New Hampshire State Archives, Concord.
“U.S. NY Land Records, 1630-1975, Oswego County, Deeds 1837 vol. Y-Z,” David R. and Betsey Wood to Benjamin Pierce, 12 Sep 1837, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 9 Mar 2022), p350, image 534 of 625; citing multiple county courthouses, New York.
