John James Pierce
Genealogy of John Harwood Pierce:
7th Generation
John James Pierce [7th generation] was born April 14,
1801, and died (at age 69) Oct. 8, 1870. He and his descendants form the
seventh American generation of Pierces in our family tree. His father
was Benjamin
Pierce [6th generation]. John James Pierce was the grandfather of John Harwood
Pierce, who is the central focus of this Pierce family genealogy.
John James Pierce [7th
generation] would have been 37 years old when his father, (Benjamin Pierce
[6th generation]), began his migration from Constantia,
New York to Indiana. At this time, John James was already married and living
somewhere near the Green Mountains District of Vermont.
In the 1920s, when John Harwood Pierce (John
James Pierce's [7th generation] grandson)
wrote a brief geneology
of his family tree, he recalled only that his
grandparent's marriage "was consummated somewhere in the Green Mountains
District" of present day Vermont. It is safe to assume that they lived in this
area as well, at least in the early part of their marriage. Their seventh
child, John James Pierce [8th generation] was born in Hillsboro,
New Hampshire. Perhaps they resettled there later in their married life.
John James Pierce [7th generation] and his wife Fanny Harwood had
nine children. In maturity, these children spread out across the American
and Canadian frontiers.
As young adults, three of John and Fanny's children, Harwood Pierce, John James Pierce,
[8th generation] and Julia
Pierce resettled to the northern frontier in Canada. Harwood Pierce settled in
Renfew, Ontario, Canada. Julia Pierce, then married to Robert Bulmer, made her
home in Ross Forrester's Falls,
Ontario, Canada. John James Pierce [8th generation] and his wife Almira built a
home in Waltham,
Province of Quebec, Canada. These homes are actually fairly
close (within 100 to 200 miles) from one other and from their parent's home
in or near the Green Mountains District.
According to the
brief geneology
that John Harwood Pierce [9th generation] wrote in the 1920s, his father,
John James Pierce [8th generation] and Harwood Pierce, his uncle,
left their new homes in Canada having been "called [by the Church and God]
to undertake a mission to
preach abolition of slavery in the Southern States." There they met "with
reverees and severe violence at the hands of the Southern mobs and
returned north." Harwood Pierce returned to his home in Renfew, Ontario, Canada.
But, John James Pierce [8th generation]
met Judge Loren T. Hill at Davenport, Iowa and, at Judge Hill's suggestion,
undertook a journey to
Nebraska to buy land. He purchased the old town site of Ionia for
Judge Hill and sent word for his wife and daughter in Canada "to join
him in the west." His wife Mary Almira and daughter Clarissa Matilda undertook the
journey from Waltham, Canada to Ionia, Nebraska on foot and via ox-drawn carts.
The family resettled
there and built a farm. A few years later, Clarissa married Mr. Smith and made her
home a few miles up river. In the 1920's, John Harwood Pierce [9th generation]
wrote in his
brief geneology that his
father's farm in Ionia did not exist any more, that the family farm had
"long since been swept into the treacherous river." He goes on to report
that his father John James Pierce, [8th generation] "is buried on the hill
overlooking the town of Vermillion, S.D." This would be very close to where the
old farm had been before the river remade its course.
As adults, two more of John and Fanny's children, Henry Pierce, and
Mary Pierce resettled in and around the Ionia, Nebraska
area. Henry Pierce resettled in Elk
Point, Dakota, Mary Pierce resettled very close nearby in Ionia,
Nebraska. One might assume that these siblings went west to join
their brother, John James Pierce [8th generation] after he helped Judge Hill
purchased the old town site of Ionia.
Mary Pierce married Jonathan Curtis. Records indicate that they were
in Illinois in 1861. Jonathan Curtis is known to have served in the
Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. After the War, Mary and Jonathan
joined their brother Henry Pierce in Elk Point, Dakota (at that time it
was still part of Nebraska). Albert Curtis, their only child, was born
in 1867 in Elk Point. Sometime later, the family resettled close by in
Ionia, Dixon Co., Nebraska. At this time, Mary's brother John James Pierce
[8th generation], his wife Mary Almira and their daughter Clarissa were also
living in Ionia.
Harvey Pierce relocated to St. Louis, Missouri.
It is not known what became of John and
Fanny's three remaining children: Maria, Benjamin and Emily. Perhaps they did not
survive their childhoods. If they did survive, it is not known where
they may have settled.
- 47. John James Pierce, born
April 14, 1801; died (at age 69) Oct. 8, 1870.
- married Fanny Harwood. Little is know
concerning Fanny Harwood, except that she had a brother living at Utica
N.Y. John James Pierce and Fanny Harwood Pierce had these nine
children.
- 53.
Harwood Pierce. Settled in Renfew, Ontario, Canada. (See more biographical
information in the text, above.)
- 54.
Henry M. Pierce. settled in Elk Point, Dakota. (See
more biographical
information in the text, above.)
- 55. Fanny Maria Pierce.
(According to the attached PDF document entitled
Descendants of Fanny Maria Pierce,
she was born April 4, 1822 in Utica, Oneida County, New York
and died November 29, 1884 in Smithland, Woodbury County, Iowa.
She married Moses Brown Bellows (son of Caleb Bellows
and Maria Hartwell) on January 10, 1841 in Westmeath Township,
Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. He was born on August 11, 1808
in Walpole, New Hampshire and died April 5, 1885 in Newcastle,
Dixon County, Nebraska. Fanny Maria Pierce and Moses Brown
Bellows had these seven children:
George Lyman Bellows, b. Apr 15, 1842;
Benjamin Franklin Bellows, b. Mar 17, 1844;
William Henry Harrison Bellows, b. Feb 21, 1846;
Charles Cotesworth Bellows, b. Dec 31, 1848;
Elizabeth Rowe Bellows, b. Apr 18, 1852;
Caroline Pearl Bellows, b. Jan 27, 1854; and
Fannie Maria Bellows, b. Nov 19, 1857.)
- 56. Mary Pierce. Married
Jonathan Curtis. In 1861, records indicate that Mary and
Jonathan settled briefly in Illinois. Jonathan Curtis served in the
Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. After the War, Mary and Jonathan
joined their brother Henry Pierce in Elk Point, Dakota (at that time it
was still part of Nebraska). Albert Curtis, their only child, was born
in 1867 in Elk Point. Sometime later, the family resettled very close by
in Ionia, Dixon Co., Nebraska. Already living in Ionia at that time was
Mary's brother John James Pierce, his wife Mary Almira and their daughter
Clarissa Matilda.
- 57. Benjamin Pierce.
- 58. Julia C. Pierce.
Married Robert Bulmer. Lived in Ross Forrester's Falls, Ontario, Canada.
- 59. >>>John James
Pierce was born in Hillsboro, N.H. Married Mary Almira. Had three
children: John Harwood Pierce, Clarissa Matilda Pierce and Lewis Pierce. The
family lived first in Waltham, Pontiac Co. Ontario, Canada and later in Ionia
Dixon Co., Nebraska.
- 60. Emily Pierce.
- 61. Harvey A. Pierce.
Lived in St. Louis, Mo., with his two sons, and four grandsons. Died in
the Civil War fighting for the Union army.
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