Peirce family.

The Peirce family of Newbury, Mass., Portsmouth, N.H., and Kittery, Me., was originally settled in Newbury in 1638 by Daniel Peirce (1611-1677), a blacksmith, of Ipswich, Suffolk County, England. He married a woman named Sarah, who died on 17 July 1764. They had three children: Daniel; Joshua; and Martha (1648-1674), who married Col. Thomas Noyes and had three children. Daniel Peirce married (second), on 26 December 1764, Mrs. Ann Millward ( -1690), with whom he had one child: Sarah ( -1665), who married Caleb Moody and had two children.

Daniel Peirce (1642-1704), the oldest child of Daniel and Sarah Peirce, was prominent in the civil, ecclesiastical, and military affairs of Newbury, Mass. He married, on 5 December 1660, Elizabeth Millward (1644-1709). They had eleven children.

Daniel Peirce (1739-1803), the great-grandson of Daniel and Elizabeth Peirce, settled at the head of Spruce Creek in Kittery, Me. He married Ruth Sargent ( -1800). They had nine children.

Charles Peirce (1770-1851), the second child of Daniel and Ruth (Sargent) Peirce and the great-great-grandson of Daniel and Elizabeth Peirce, was a publisher and bookseller in Portsmouth, N.H., from 1793 to 1814, and was in partnership with James Foster Shores (c.1792-1871), his son-in-law, from 1812 to 1814. After the death of his wife, Elizabeth (Oliver) Peirce ( -1813), by whom he had nine children, Peirce removed to Philadelphia, Pa. and entered into partnership with his son-in-law, Cyrus Peirce (1787-1878) [no relation, except by marriage], in the wholesale grocery business. This partnership ended when Charles married, on 4 July 1816, Frances V. Blair ( -1848), the daughter of Dr. Samuel Blair. They removed to Germantown, Pa., where Charles was clerk of the Mayor's Court, and remained there until 1825 when they returned to Philadelphia. In 1848, shortly before the death of Mrs. Peirce, they removed to Bristol, Pa. Soon afterwards Charles removed to Byberry, Pa. to live with his daughter Ruth and her family. He died there on 23 September 1851.

Ruth Sargent (Peirce) Peirce (1798-1880), the fourth child of Charles and Elizabeth (Oliver) Peirce and the great-great-great-granddaughter of Daniel Elizabeth Peirce, married, on 17 March 1813, Cyrus Peirce of Sadsbury, Chester Co., Pa., the son of Joseph (ca. 1761-1847) and Sarah ( -1822) Peirce. Ruth became a farm wife and had thirteen children, one of whom, Charles William (1825- ), married Mary, the daughter of Lardner Vanuxem.

Cyrus was the oldest of three children, the others being: Isaac, who was a teacher, bookseller, and publisher in Philadelphia from 1811 to 1819 and who eventually moved to New York; and Jane, who married George Peirce in 1826.

Joshua Peirce (1643-1670), the second child of Daniel and Sarah Peirce, was instrumental in settling Woodbridge, N.J. He married, first, Sarah Saunders. They had no children. He married, second, on 7 May 1667, Dorothy Pike. They had two children.

John Peirce (1746-1814), the great-grandson of Joshua and Dorothy Peirce, lived in Portsmouth, N.H. He was a member of the New Hampshire Legislature; a principal agent in erecting the Piscataqua Bridge in 1794, and in the construction of the turnpike to Concord, and was Loan Officer for New Hampshire during the administration of John Adams. For many years he had charge of an insurance office in Portsmouth.

From the description of Papers, 1692-1991. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259602