HENRY AUGUSTUS PEIRCE PAPERS - Amazon Web Servicesnehgs.org.s3.amazonaws.com/ebooks/FindingAids/Mss0020... · 2011-02-04 · Henry Augustus Peirce Papers Mss 20 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

GUIDE

TO THE

HENRY AUGUSTUS PEIRCE PAPERS

AT THE

NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

Abstract: This collection relates to Joseph Peirce (1745-1828) his son, Joseph Hardy Peirce (1773-1832), both of Boston, Massachusetts, and his grandson, Henry Augustus Peirce (1808-1885) of Boston and Honolulu, Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). The collection contains records of the Twenty Associates Land Company from when Joseph Peirce was chosen clerk in 1794 until 1832 when Joseph Hardy Peirce, who had been acting as his father’s attorney, died at sea. The records consist chiefly of correspondence, deeds and other records of land transfer, surveyors’ plans, bills and receipts, and a diary. The collection also contains letters of instruction written by Henry Augustus Peirce to his nephew, Marcus Peirce Hall, who was running a cotton plantation in Mississippi in 1866.

Collection dates: 1768-1867 Volume: 2 linear ft. (5 boxes) Repository: R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Call Number: Mss 20

Copyright ©2010 by New England Historic Genealogical Society. All rights reserved. Reproductions are not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.

Henry Augustus Peirce Papers Mss 20

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

JOSEPH6 PEIRCE (Isaac4-5, Samuel3, Thomas2-1) was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 25 December 1745 and died 1 January 1828. He married at Boston, Massachusetts on 4 [6?] April 1771 to ANNA DAWES, daughter of Col. Thomas Dawes. Anna was born 19 May 1753 and died 4 March 1812. Joseph graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1756. He was the commander of the Provincial Grenadier corps and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He occupied a store as a dealer in dry goods and other merchandise at No 58 Cornhill from 1774 to 1811. He became a member of the Old South Church on 26 February 1775. Joseph Peirce was a business associate and personal friend of Henry Knox. Joseph served as Treasurer of the Twenty Associates of the Lincolnshire Company. From 1795 to 1799 he was in co-partnership with his son Joseph Hardy Peirce called Joseph Peirce & Son. Children:

i. Hannah Peirce b. 1771; d. 1775 (1) ii. Joseph Hardy Peirce b. 8 March 1773 (see below)

iii. Ann Peirce b. 11 August 1774; m. John Lathrop iv. Thomas Peirce b. 4 October 1775; d. October 1776 v. Hannah Peirce b. 5 October 1777; d. September 1778 vi. Lucy Peirce b. 17 February 1779; d. 9 March 1779 Boston vii. Hardy Peirce b. 18 July 1780; d. 15 October 1780 Boston viii. Isaac Peirce b. 30 December 1781; d. 16 March 1793 Boston ix. Hannah Dawes Peirce b. 3 January 1783; m. 11 April 1808 Thomas P. Kettell x. Lucy Peirce b. 28 October 1785; d. 28 October 1785 xi. Elizabeth Somes Peirce b. 25 October 1787; d. 13 August 1845 Fairfield; m. 25

July 1805 Fitch Pool Putnam xii. Maria Peirce b. 18 October 1789; d. 11 August 1874 xiii. Francis Peirce b. 31 August 1792; d. 2 September 1792

(1) JOSEPH HARDY7 PEIRCE (Joseph6, Isaac4-5, Samuel3, Thomas2-1) was born in Boston,

Massachusetts 8 March 1773 and died 1832. He married December 1791 FRANCES TEMPLE CORDIS, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Russell) Cordis. Frances was born 1776 and died 1815. Joseph Peirce married second 1819 to ABBY ROBINSON. Abby was born 1790 and died at sea in 1832. Joseph Peirce was a merchant and supercargo and made several voyages to Europe, East Indies, Brazil, etc. He retired from the sea in 1810 and became active member of the Independent Company of Cadets. He also served as Secretary of the Board of War for Massachusetts 1812-1814, and Clerk of the Municipal Court 1817-1829. In 1824 he was appointed agent of Massachusetts for claims against the government resulting from the War of 1812 and spent the year in Washington D.C. His daughters were celebrated for their beauty. He was lost at sea onboard the schooner Alabama while traveling from New York to Mobile and New Orleans.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE (continued) Children of Joseph H. and Frances T. (Cordis) Peirce:

i. Joseph Peirce b. 1792; d. 3 September 1823 Buenos Ayres ii. Frances Peirce b. 17 January 1794; d. 22 March 1830; m. 28 October 1810 Henry

Gray Children of Joseph H. and Frances T. (Cordis) Peirce (continued):

iii. Delia Peirce b. 16 February 1796; d. 31 October 1881 West Medford, mass.; m. 18 May 1852 J. L. C. Amee

iv. Marcia Peirce b. 29 April 1797; d. 15 November 1861 Boston; m. 7 November 1835 Thomas Blanchard

v. Marcus Tullius Peirce b. 17 May 1799; d. 17 April 1834 Darien; m. 28 April 1830 Savannah, Ga. to Sarah C. E. Wood

vi. Constantius Peirce b. 9 May 1801; d. 1839 near San Jacinto, Tex.; m. 25 November 1823 Arlington, La. to Mary Lintot Steer

vii. Isaac Peirce b. 21 January 1803; d. 1863 viii. Laura Peirce b. 28 April 1804; d. 12 December 1892 Chelsea, Mass.; m. 6

September 1825 Capt Samuel May Holland ix. Ann Peirce b. 30 April 1805; d. 23 November 1885 Brooklyn; m. 22 September

1835 Fishkill, NY to Edward Augustus West x. Mary Elizabeth Peirce b. 31 March 1807; m. 29 January 1826 Edward Fitch Hall

(2) xi. Henry Augustus Peirce b. 15 December 1808 (see below) xii. John Dorr Peirce b. 6 August 1812; d. 19 October 1870 Cincinnati; m. 18 June

1837 Ruth (Smith) Stogen xiii. Hardy Peirce b. 21 March 1814; d. 1 May 1838 Santa Barbara, Calif.

Children of Joseph H. and Abby (Robinson) Peirce:

xiv. Sarah Robinson Peirce b. 3 August 1820; d. 3 August 1820 xv. Emma Robinson Peirce b. 17 August 1823; d. 16 August 1826

(2) HENRY AUGUSTUS8 PEIRCE (Joseph Hardy7, Joseph6, Isaac4-5, Samuel3, Thomas2-1) was

born on 15 December 1808 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and he died on 29 July 1885 in San Francisco, California. Henry married at Charlestown on 3 July 1838 SUSAN THOMPSON, daughter of Joseph Thompson. Henry left home at the age of sixteen and sailed as a “green-hand” and later as clerk to his brother Marcus Tullius Peirce, captain of the ship Griffin, on expeditions for furs off the coast of British Columbia. From 1828 to 1842, Peirce worked in Honolulu as a clerk in the mercantile house of James Hunnewell and then as a business partner of Capt Charles Brewer. During this time, Peirce sailed several ships to China and Russia. Peirce was a ship owner at Boston, Mass. from 1843 to 1849.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE (continued) In 1849, Henry A. Peirce sailed to San Francisco and Honolulu and he purchased a sugar plantation of 3000 acres called Lihue on Kauai. This enterprise was unsuccessful. From 1850 to 1861, he lived on Beacon Street in Boston as a merchant and ship owner. Although he contributed $50,000 to equip Massachusetts soldiers during the Civil War, the economic hardship caused by the war consumed the greater part of his fortune. Henry A. Peirce and two business associates purchased the Scotland plantation in Yazoo County, Mississippi. The cotton enterprise was abandoned with a significant financial loss at the end of the year 1866. In 1869 the U.S. State Department commissioned Peirce as minister resident at the Hawaiian Islands and he served in this capacity until 1877. In 1878 he was appointed minister of Foreign Relations at Hawaii but resigned the same year. Children:

i. Henry Marcus Peirce b. 6 August 1846; d. 28 June 1892 Danvers, Mass. ii. Ella Augusta Peirce b. 3 October 1839; m. Frederick Clapp

Source(s): Peirce, Henry Augustus. Brief memoir of Capt. John Peirce one of the original members of the "Society of Cincinnati" and of several of his relatives of the "Peirce family" (Mss C 5181). R Stanton Avery Special Collections, NEHGS Peirce, Frederick Clifton. Pierce genealogy, being the record for the posterity of Thomas Pierce, an early inhabitant of Charlestown, and afterwards Charlestown Village (Woburn), in New England (Worcester: Press of Chas. Hamilton, 1882):103-104, 176-179 Reuel Robinson, History of Camden and Rockport (Camden, Maine, 1907) West, Edward Walter. The Peirce Family Record, 1687-1893 (New York: Bradstreet Press, 1894): 23-24, 32-43 Henry Augustus Peirce has an entry in the Dictionary of American Biography.

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SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The Henry A. Peirce Papers consists chiefly of correspondence, deeds and other records of land transfer, surveyors’ plans and bills and receipts. There is also one diary. The collection is divided into two parts. The first contains the records of the Twenty Associates Land Company, which controlled 100,000 acres in Maine during the period from 1794 when Joseph Peirce was chosen clerk, until 1832, when Joseph Hardy Peirce, who had been acting as his father’s attorney for many years, died at sea. They acted on their own behalf, as well as that of the company, speculating on this land in Maine. The second, smaller part consists mostly of the letters of instruction written by Henry Augustus Peirce, son of Joseph Hardy, to his nephew, Marcus Peirce Hall, who was running a cotton plantation in Mississippi in 1866. There is also a small amount of material concerned with Peirce family interest in trade in the Far East and with domestic matters. The Twenty Associates Land Company, whose full name is the Twenty Associates of the Lincolnshire Company, was founded as a speculative land company in 1719. The Twenty Associates traced its descent from a royal grant of 1629 to Beauchamp and Everett. In 1719, President John Leverett of Harvard formed the Ten Proprietors and Twenty Associates Land Companies, which divided between them right to 900 square miles between the Muscongus and Penobscot rivers in Maine. In 1731, these two groups subdivided their land to reward General Samuel Waldo, who had protected their rights from royal interference. Waldo’s share came by the inheritance of his wife, Waldo’s granddaughter, into the hands of General Henry Knox. Knox, 1750-1806, Washington’s commander of artillery and first Secretary of War, with great power in the Massachusetts legislature, forced the Twenty Associates to subdivide still further. In 1794, his friend Joseph Peirce, who had been his commander in the “Grenadier Company” of Boston even before the Revolution, and who served with him during the Revolution, was made clerk of the Twenty Associates. The first series of records, those of the Company itself, date from 1629 to about 1920. They include Deed Book “A”, into which were copied many of the original granting instruments and deeds. A second group of records documents the settlement with Knox. The third, larger group contains papers from the time that Joseph Peirce was clerk of the Associates. It documents the sales and the lawsuits pursued on behalf of the descendants of the original shareholders and the people who bought into shares. The holdings involved were scattered over all the towns that were carved out of the land grant. The second series of records, those from the towns, consists of deeds, leases, plans of land and papers of lawsuits from the towns of Appleton, Camden with Rockport, Hope, Liberty and Montville. Although the Twenty Associates had been founded in 1719, settlement of the land had to wait until the end of the French and Indian War. Not until 1768 was the land surveyed and the terms of settlement set forth. The original land mass was divided into the First and Second Great Divisions. Camden was the first settlement. These records, which begin in 1768, have been arranged chronologically under the name of the town. They include the papers of a complicated series of lawsuits dealing with badly surveyed land on Beauchamp Neck in Camden.

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SCOPE AND CONTENT (continued) The third series of records consists of papers of Joseph and Joseph Hardy Peirce dealing with Maine. They include Joseph Peirce’s letter book as clerk of the Twenty Associates for 1821. They also include records made by Joseph Hardy during his efforts to live in Maine and to straighten out titles. In 1808 he made a survey of company lands, in 1811 he lived for a year in Camden, attempting to clear titles over the strenuous objections of those in residence. Through the 1820s he attempted to deal with the complications of Maine land sales by mail, mostly through the law firm of Eusebius Fales and William Farley. After the death of his aged father in 1828, he went again to Maine to untangle claims against the estate and to raise cash by selling unproductive land. The papers of a difficult lawsuit against John Dorr of Boston involving these Maine lands shed light on this same problem. There is a small series of papers dealing with family matters in Boston. The legal papers dealing with Joseph’s estate in both Massachusetts and Maine probate courts are there. Joseph Hardy was clerk of the Boston Municipal Court from 1816 to 1830, and there are some papers dealing with that aspect of his life. He was also involved with foreign trade, especially with the Far East and made trips to India, France, and Rio between 1805 and 1810. The diary of his voyage as far as Cape Town in 1805 has been preserved with these papers. It includes a full description of a “Crossing the Line” ceremony. There are also domestic bills and receipts. Henry Augustus Peirce, 1808-1886, one of Joseph’s many sons, made the shipping business his career. He first sailed at the age of sixteen as clerk to his brother Marcus on an expedition for sea otter pelts off the coast of British Columbia. At the age of twenty, he set up as a merchant in Hawaii, where he was to return in his later years as American diplomat to the Hawaiian Court. He spent the middle of his life mostly in Boston. There a few letters and reports documenting this phase of his life. The bulk of the Henry A. Peirce material consists of letters of instruction to his nephew Marcus Peirce Hall, who in 1866 was employed by a group of Boston merchants and philanthropists to manage a cotton plantation in Yazoo County, Mississippi. The records include letters of instruction, bills and receipts, labor contracts with foreman and with the freedmen who worked in the fields, and a speech to the freedmen by Peirce detailing their duties and privileges. The Mississippi rose and flooded out the enterprise, which was abandoned at the end of the year 1866. A very few letters and receipts of other family members have been preserved with the collection. They include some letters from Marcus Tullius Peirce, son of Joseph Hardy, who was the captain of the ship Griffin, on the expedition for sea otter pelts on which Henry Augustus served as clerk.

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ORGANIZATION Sub-group I. The Twenty Associates Land Company Sub-group II. Joseph and Joseph Hardy Peirce Sub-group III. Henry Augustus Peirce Sub-group IV. Other family members

RELATED COLLECTION(S) Baker Library, Harvard Business School

James Hunnewell business papers, 1823-1883 (Mss:733 1823-1869) The Gilder Lehrman Collection at the New York Historical Society

Henry Knox Papers Maine Historical Society

Samuel Waldo Papers, 1631-1824 (coll. 34) Henry Knox Papers, 1715-1839 (coll. 166)

Massachusetts Archives

Records of the Commissioners to Quiet Settlers on the Waldo Claim Massachusetts Historical Society

Lincolnshire Company records, 1766-1824 (bulk: 1766-1794) [ledger A] (MS N-826) University of California, Berkeley

Peirce, Henry Augustus. Memoranda of past events Peirce, Henry Augustus. Journals of voyages on the schooner Morse in 1839, brig Maryland

in 1841-2: and other related family papers. Peirce, Henry Augustus. Memorandum of interesting events that occurred at Honolulu … July

1869 to Sep 1877

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Restrictions: Open access for NEHGS members Provenance: Two John Leverett deeds of 1719; Gift; 1874 February 2;

Peirce, Henry Augustus Surveys of Hope and Camden; Gift; 1878 September 26;

Peirce, Henry Augustus Papers; Gift; 1908 May 18; Ellery, Harrison

Preferred Citation: Henry Augustus Peirce Papers (Mss 20). R Stanton Avery

Special Collections Department, New England Historic Genealogical Society.

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FOLDER LIST Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note the collection name and call number along with the box and

folder numbers shown below on a manuscript request form.

Folder Description Document Date(s)

Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Sub-group I. The Twenty Associates Land Company Series A. Official papers Sub-series 1. Legal structure Copy "A" original patent to John Beauchamp & Thomas Leverett of Boston in 1629; Copy "B" Madokowando's deed of 1694 to William Phipps & Spencer Phipps' release to John Leverett in 1719; Copy "C" John Leverett's deed to Spencer Phipps & others 1719; Copy "D" John Leverett & others deed of association with Jahleel Brenton & others 1719; Copy "E" Articles of agreement settling two towns on St Georges River in 1719

[52] p. 1 1

Agreement between the original purchasers (John Leverett, Elisha Cooke, Nathaniel Hubbard, Hannah Davis, Rebecca Lloyd, Nathaniel & Sarah Byfield, John Bradford & Spencer Phipps) and the first proprietors (Jahleel Brenton, John Clark, Samuel Browne, Thomas Fitch, Adam Winthrop, Samuel Thaxter, Oliver Noyes, Stephen Minot, Thomas Westbrook, Anthony Stoddard, Thomas Smith, John Smith, Jose Appleton, John Marshall, Henry Franklin, Gilbert Bant & Benjamin Bronsdon, William Clarke, John Oulton, Jonathan Waldo, Cornelius Waldo, & John Gore). Signed by Phipps, Lloyd, Davis, Leverett, & Cooke.

1719 August 15

1 ADS, vellum, 86 cm. x 66

cm.

Map case

Agreement between the original purchasers [Ten Proprietors] and the first proprietors [Twenty Associates] of St George’s land Signed by Oulton, J Waldo, C Waldo, Gore, Appleton, John Fayerweather (co-partner with Appleton), Franklin, Bant, Bronsdon, Clarke, Stoddard, T. Smith, J. Smith, Winthrop, Thaxter, Noyes, [Minot], Clark, & Smith

1719 August 15

1 ADS, vellum, 83 cm. x 60

cm.

Map case

9



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Deed Book “A” (contains entries on 132 pages, remaining pages are blank)

1796-1810 1 v. ([242] p.)

2 1

Loose papers from Deed Book “A” 1766-1805 [22] p. 3 1 Memorandum that Nathaniel Appleton was appointed clerk 6 Sept 1766 and that he served in this function until 1785

[4] p. 4 1

Deposition by Nathaniel Appleton with a handwritten copy of a 1768 deed from the surviving heirs of Samuel Waldo to the Twenty Associates of the Lincolnshire Company

1798 April 9

[13] p. 5 1

Deposition of David Fales (1798), [List of] 20 Associates joined with the Lincolnshire or Muscongus Company in 1719; Warrant by John Cushing to John Jeffries to call a proprietor's meeting (1766); application … to James Sullivan to call a new meeting and his warrant (1796); Question to Judge Dawes; copy of John Leverett's memorial 1722 & resolve of court thereupon

1719-1798 [19] p. 6 1

Questions stated by the standing committee to Judge Lincoln and his answers

1797 [4] p. 7 1

Reports issued by Massachusetts Legislature, February 1798

1798 [13] p. 8 1

Appointment and issuance of power of Standing Committee

1801-1802 [8] p. 9 1

List of lands sold by Joseph Pierce at Camden, August-October 1815

1815 [3] p. 10 1

Sub-series 2. Papers concerning the Waldo heirs and Henry Knox Waldo heirs deed 1768 April 7; and note of Joseph Peirce 10 December 1821

1768, 1821 [18] p. 11 1

Waldo land grant and Henry Knox 1785–1798 [13] p. 12 1 True copy of original indenture 1797

January [9] p. 13 1

Sub-series 3. Shares Memorandum of original claimants in Twenty Associates

Undated [3] p. 14 1

Copy of lands drawn to the right of Bant and Bronsdon 1770-1803; Letter to, claim of, & list of land sold for Benjamin Joy (1820)

1815-1820 [16] p. 15 1

10



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Land sold relating to Montville Plantation 1825 April-July

[16] p. 16 1

Lists of notes received and land sold by Joseph Peirce on behalf of Benjamin Joy

1825 [11] p. 17 1

Deeds, 1825 April 25 and 1825 July 8 Benjamin Joy to Edward Prescott

1825 [7] p. 18 1

Notes and correspondence relating to Benjamin Joy’s land

1825 April-May

[10] p. 19 1

Hand drawn map of lot ranges in Montville and Bant & Bronsdon account records

1815 December

[11] p. 20 1

Thomas Fitch, deed 1812 October 22; Account of taxes 1814 November 8

1812, 1814 [3] p. 21 1

Charles Little deed selling shares of the late Anthony Stoddard

1794 June 28

[4] p. 22 1

John Odin, statement of account of land and note

1815 November

18

[8] p. 23 1

Thomas and John Smith, account of their shares of land

1808 [2] p. 24 1

Deed Martha Stevens estate 1802 March 23

[4] p. 25 1

Samuel Thaxter right 1803-1822 [2] p. 26 1 William Winthrop, Hannah Mason, Ann Mason, & Elizabeth Mason deed (original and handwritten copies) and memo

1815 December

7

[12] p. 27 1

General terms of settlement of the differences with residents on the Waldo Claim

1783-1797 [16] p. 28 1

Twenty Associates documents of First and Second Great Division

[2] p. 29 1

Description of lots of First Great Division [8] p. 30 1 James Malcolm’s field notes on settlers lots 1803 Sept-

Oct. 1 v. ([12]

p.) 31 1

First Great Division field book survey of town of Liberty and plantation of Appleton

1803 1 v. ([19] p.)

32 1

Field notes by Ballard & Bullen of lots in Second Great Division in Hancock County

1803 1 v. ([22] p.)

33 1

Second Great Division lot description and settlers in Montville

1815-1829 1 v. ([160] p.)

34 1

Minutes of Settler’s Lots in Second Great Division dated Hallowell 14 Feb 1804

1804 1 v. ([28] p.)

35 1

11



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Sub-series 2. Islands Plans, lists, and notes of Islands 1805-1820 [19] p. 36 1 Copy of two deeds, Simonton’s Island, Indian Island

1795, 1811 [4] p. 37 1

Notes and correspondence relating to Long Island

1830 [6] p. 38 1

Hand drawn plan of Long Island by James Malcom

1805 May 3

1 sheet 39 1

Sub-series 3. Appleton, Maine (also Appleton Ridge) Deed, mortgage, lawsuit concerning Luther Proctor; Quit claim deed from Eliphalet Rollins; and minutes from the writ of possession vs. Ebenezer Gray and copy of sheriff's return

1808-1825 [11] p. 40 2

Mortgage deed of William Battie, Appleton, with related correspondence from Joseph Peirce to Hon. Alfred Johnson

1829-1830 [14] p. 41 2

Lawsuit of Twenty Associates vs. Joseph Skinner of Appleton

1829 May 29

[4] p. 42 2

Leases granted between February 18 and February 25 1808 to Abiesor Trask, John Murray, Isaac Rokes, John Newbit Jr, Peleg Lincoln, John Davis, & John Weller

1808 [18] p. 43 2

Leases granted between February 25 and August 7 1821 to Joshua Lincoln, Shubael Pease, Joseph Wood, George Robinson, James Chapman, Alexander Paul, David Winslow, & Jeremiah Proctor

1808-1821 [16] p. 44 2

Sub-series 4. Camden, Maine Survey of Camden by Noah Miller 1787 June

20 1 map (78 cm. x 55

cm.)

Map case

Survey of Camden by John Harkness 1799 September

20

1 map (75 cm. x 46

cm.)

Map case

Proposals for town settlement & copy of permission

1768 [10] p. 45 2

List of inhabitants 7 August 1778 and permissions of settlement for Robert Thorndike, Ebenezer Thorndike, Samuel McLaughlin, & James Jones

1768-1785 [13] p. 46 2

12



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

William and Francis Minot obligation to build Grist Mill

1771 [3] p. 47 2

Miscellaneous documents 1801-1811 [6] p. 48 2 Deed from Nathaniel Palmer Jr., collector of taxes in Camden, to Nathaniel Hosmer Jr. of 70 1/10 acres land

1792-1793 [4] p. 49 2

Hardy St. Wharf landing, construction and expenses

1810-1811 [13] p. 50 2

Correspondence relating to plans of town 1768-1771 [12] p. 51 2 Notes and lot maps by surveyor David Fales: plan of Camden, copy of the lower lots at Camden, plan of lands lying at and near Negunticook Harbour in Camden

1811 [11] p. 52 2

David Fales certificate and lot map of Camden

1798 July 3 [6] p. 53 2

History of Beauchamp Neck, copy of the lease to Robert Thorndike in 1768 & 1804; power of attorney to Joseph H Peirce; memo on possession of Indian Island

1768-1812 [18] p. 54 2

Copies of deeds and minutes from the records of land William Molineaux sold on Beauchamp Neck

1785-1819 [29] p. 55 2

Beauchamp Neck deeds 1792-1822 [17] p. 56 2 Beauchamp Neck lawsuit of Robert Thorndike v. Mary Molineaux, deposition, 1796, and judgment of court, 1806

1796, 1806 [7] p. 57 2

Thorndike v. Molineaux deed, notes, correspondence, and account of sales of Molineux lands at auction

1768-1822 [26] p. 58 2

Beauchamp Neck lawsuit of Ebenezer Oliver v. William and John Molineaux

1791-1794 [13] p. 59 2

Beauchamp Neck lawsuit of Paul Thorndike v. Daniel Barnett

1822-1825 [15] p. 60 2

Paul Thorndike v. Daniel Barrett, court judgment, notes and expenses

1825 [11] p. 61 2

Daniel Barrett, deposition and other documents

1806-1829 [25] p. 62 2

Description of land at Beauchamp Neck and surrounding area

[2] p. 63 2

13



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Papers relating to Beauchamp Neck lawsuits: copy of original instructions of 20 associates to David Fales (1768), copy of a letter from David Fales (1798); copy of Robert Thorndike's note to Nathaniel Appleton respecting 50 acres land (1768), extracts from journal of JH Peirce of July -Sept 1808; copy brief Peirce v. Thorndike (1812); report of the case Daniel Barret v. Samuel McLaughlin (1815)

1768-1815 [33] p. 64 2

Plans and lot maps of Beauchomp Neck by David Fales (1804, 1805); copy of lines run by John Harkness for Thorndike (1802); plan by James Malcom (1807); sketches of Robert Thorndike's lot; JH Peirce's brief [for] case Thorndike v. Barret (1816); memo (1829)

1802-1829 [27] p. 65 2

Sub-series 5. Hope, Maine Survey of Hope by John Harkness 1799 1 map (55

cm. x 45 cm.)

Map case

Description of Lot 31 in Hope 1821 1 p. 66 2 Lease to William Corthall 1803

August 17 [2] p. 67 2

Sub-series 6. Liberty, Maine Correspondence between Timothy Copp and Joseph H. Peirce

1829-1830 4 ALS, [9] p.

68 2

Leases and deeds from Charles Walker to Joseph Peirce and between Joseph H. Peirce and Hiram Knowlton

1827-1829 4 ADS, [8] p.

69 2

Letters by Timothy Copp of Montville dated 13 January 1830 (with tax assessment on non-resident's land in Liberty for 1829) & 14 January 1830; land in Liberty belonging to Peirce sold for taxes

1829 [5] p. 70 2

Letter by William Davis, Ezekiel Knowlton & Simeon Avery from Davistown (1797); List of the quantity land in each settler's lot in Davistown by James Malcom (1803); Description of David Cargill's lot

1803 [8] p. 71 2

14



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Copy of field note surveys of settlers and lots by James Malcom, October - November 1815

1815 [55] p. 72 2

Bond and obligations to Joseph H. Peirce from Richard Small, Joseph C. Cram, Benjamin Stevens.

1828 [5] p. 73 2

Two deeds from Artemas Messinger, collector of taxes for Montville, to Joseph Peirce dated 27 & 28 Sept 1814 & both recorded 11 Sept 1816; Deed from Marshall Spring, collector of taxes, to Timothy Copp dated 1 July 1824 & recorded 24 July 1824

1814-1821 3 ADS, [7] p.

74 2

Leases to Doty Richards, Smith Cram, Edward Burgess, John Knowlton and Thomas Robinson, Moses True, Joseph Shaw, Mary Lewis, Jacob Rowell, Asa Gowin, Philip Grinnell, Joseph Peirce, Nathaniel Peirce, Samuel Ratcliff, & Charles Walker

1815-1827 [35] p. 75 2

Joseph Barrell's land; List of lands sold for Benjamin Joy; includes letter by Timothy Copp of Montville to Joseph Peirce dated 16 March 1826

1825-1828 [10] p. 76 2

Deeds by Artemas Messinger& Marshall Spring, collector of taxes, to Joseph Peirce; Deed by Hugh Boynton, collector of taxes, to Steven Prescott (verso has note that Prescott sold the land to Peirce in 1826)

1813-1826 [12] p. 77 2

Discharge for highway taxes (1823, 1828); Three deeds of equity from Jonas Mason, Deputy Sheriff (1825-1826), Quitclaim deed from Joseph Bartlett (1820); Deed from Joseph Ellis (1824); Deed from John Knowlton to Charles Walker (1826) (verso has note that Walker relinquished the land to Peirce in 1827)

1823-1827 [21] p. 78 2

Deeds from John N. Fairbanks (1815) and David Edwards (1815) to Joseph Peirce; Deed from Timothy Copp to Marshall Spring (1824); and deed of equity by Jonas Mason, Deputy Sheriff, to Joseph Peirce

1815-1825 [10] p. 79 2

15



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Deed from Ezekiel True (1815); Memo of what J.P. has now to dispose of in range 18 Montville (1825); Deed from Marshall Spring (1827); Deed from Samuel Howard (1829); Letters by Timothy Copp 18 May 1827 & 2 Oct 1828; Letter by Ebenezer Stevens of Montville dated 27 January 1830

1815-1830 [21] p. 80 2

List of lands surveyed in Montville with settlers (1815); Copy of Peter Light's lease of 1821; Sketch of report by Timothy Copp relating to ranges 1 & 13 lots 1 & 2 (1828)

1815-1829 [6] p. 81 2

Plan of settlers lots in the northerly part of Montville surveyed by Ebenezer Everett and James Malcom (1815) (so called Ballard line Joseph Gavin & others in the same neighborhood); Ebenezer Everett plan of lots surveyed by him in Montville (James Walker & others in that neighborhood); Letter by Timothy Copp with plan of lots surveyed by Copp in range 10-13 (1820) (Cushman & others)

1815-1820 4 plans 82 2

Plan of northerly part of Montville lots 6-8 (1815); Plan of land in lots 5-7 ranges 3-8 north part of Montville by Timothy Copp (1826); Copy of Joseph Bean's land (1823); Copy plan of land in ranges 7 & 8 Montville; Plan of land set off in Montville to Abel Bellows & J Ingersoll (1812); Plan Montville ranges 15-17 lots 5-7; Plots of sundry lots of land in north part of Montville surveyed by John Gleason (1820)

1812-1826 7 plans 83 2

Plan by Timothy Copp of Joseph & Asa Boynton's Montville Plantation (1815); Copp's plan of Choate's & others land in Montville (1822); Lists of persons in Ranges 13-18 lots 4-8 (1824); Plans of ranges 18-19 lots 3-5 & ranges 7-8 lots 3-4; Plan of land in lots 6 & 7 range 18 by William Davis (1815); Survey part range 18 by Jonathan Bean (1825); Plan Choate, Cushman, Carter, Chandler, Dyer & Jackson; Plan of Ebenezer Nash's lot; Plan by Timothy Copp of lots in Montville (1823)

1815-1828 9 plans 84 2

16



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Letters by Timothy Copp to Joseph H. Peirce dated 20 March 1830 and 6 April 1830. First letter includes receipt by Thomas Pickard dated 10 February 1830

1830 2 ALS, 1 ADS

85 2

Sub-series 8. Miscellaneous Arguments against the claims of Alexander Jamison and James Jones on Leverett Neck

[4] p. 86 2

Lease to David Connor as tenant at will 1812 May 7

[3] p. 87 2

Sub-group II. Joseph and Joseph Hardy Peirce Series A. Legal and financial dealings with Maine real estate Sub-series 1. Joseph and Joseph Hardy Peirce as agents of the Twenty Associates Letter book as clerk, 4 June to 28 September

1821 1 v. ([81] p.)

88 3

Appointments as Clerk, 1794, 1796, 1798 1794-1798 [6] p. 89 3 Nathaniel Appleton, Mortgage Deed, 1820 June 13, and settlement of account, 1816 January 1

1816, 1820 [6] p. 90 3

List of debtors Undated [2] p. 91 3 Appointment of Joseph H. Peirce as attorney for Twenty Associates

1816 August 29

[3] p. 92 3

Shareholders granting power of attorney 1811-1829 [18] p. 93 3 Sub-series 2. Joseph Hardy Peirce: Journals, Notebooks, Deeds Camden journal (contained 82 numbered pages but pages have been removed, some remain but are torn, and some are blank)

1808 1 v. ([82] p.), + [2] p.

94 3

List of Maine lands 1811 [24] p. 95 3 Memorandum book 1819 [23] p. 96 3 Journal (leaf) 1828 [4] p. 97 3 Deed Camden, Me. 1811

March 5 [9] p. 98 3

Copy deed Joseph Peirce to Joseph H. Peirce for small parts of undivided land that belonging to the Company

1811 March 20

[3] p. 99 3

Sub-series 3. Correspondence Sub-sub-series a. Correspondence from Joseph Peirce Letters to Joseph H. Peirce 1824-1825 4 ALS, [11]

p. 100 3

17



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Letters to William Parkman of Camden 1816 13 ALS, [34] p.

101 3

Letters to John Gleason 1815 1 ALS, [2] p.

102 3

Sub-sub-series b. Correspondence from Joseph Hardy Peirce Letters to Joseph Peirce, Purchase St., Boston

1811 8 ALS, [29] p.

103 3

Memo to Joseph Peirce, 20 December 1825 1825 1 p. 104 3 Letters to Eusebius Fales of Thomaston 1827-1828 9 ALS, [21]

p. 105 3

Letters to John Gleason of Thomaston 1826-1828 7 ALS, [28] p.

106 3

Letters to Timothy Copp 1828 6 ALS, [16] p.

107 3

Letter to William Parkman of Camden (1816); Copy of affidavit sent Jonathan Thayer of Belfast (1829); Letters to Thomas Pickard (1828); Letter to Joseph Williamson (1828); Letter to Jonathan Thayer (1829); Letter to Alfred Johnson (1830); Letter to editor of the Argus (1830)

1816-1830 7 ALS, 1 ADS, [14]

p.

108 3

Letter to Josiah Quincy 1822 1 ALS, [2] p.

109 3

Letter of introduction by Samuel Cary, Nantucket, 27 September 1831, to James Hathaway, Merchant, New Bedford

1831 September

27

1 ALS, [2] p.

110 3

Sub-sub-series c. Correspondence to Joseph Hardy Peirce Letters from Fales and Farley 1826 1 ALS, [2]

p. 111 3

Letters from Eusebius Fales 1827 6 ALS, [14] p.

112 3

Letters from Fales and Farley 1828 January-March

11 ALS, [25] p.

113 3

Letters from Fales and Farley 1828 April-June

6 ALS, [12] p.

114 3

Letters from Fales and Farley 1828 July-September

10 ALS, [22] p.

115 3

Letters from Fales and Farley 1828 October-

December

5 ALS, [10] p.

116 3

18



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Sub-sub-series c. Correspondence to Joseph Hardy Peirce Letters from Fales and Farley 1829

January-March

6 ALS, [13] p.

117 3

Letters from Fales and Farley 1829 April-December

7 ALS, [18] p.

118 3

Letters from Fales and Farley 1830 6 ALS, [12] p.

119 3

Letters from Alfred Johnson of Belfast 1828-1829 3 ALS, [7] p.

120 3

Letters from Jonathan Thayer of Camden 1829 4 ALS, [12] p.

121 3

Letter from W Rice of Wiscasset (1827); Letter from Joseph Williamson of Belfast (1828); Letters concerning Thomas Pickard of Belfast

1827-1828 6 ALS, [14] p.

122 3

Letter from Simon Greenleaf of Portland (1829); Letter from Henry Rowell of Montville (1829); Letter from Charles Jones of Portland (1829); Letter from Charles Pickard of Belfast (1829); Letter from John Sprowl of Montville (1829); Letter from Ezekiel Thompson of Lisbon (1830); Letter from Charles Goodwin of Belfast (1830)

1829-1830 7 ALS, [16] p.

123 3

Miscellaneous correspondence: Letter from Hon. Thomas H Perkins; Letters to Judge Peter Oxenbridge Thacher (1830); Note from S. L. Fowler of Baltimore (1831); Mr Lawrence of Baton Rouge to Mr Peirce and son to dine (1831); Letters from John Hunt for James Hathaway of New Bedford (1831)

1830-1831 7 ALS, [13] p.

124 3

Copy of deed by Joseph Peirce to John Dorr; extracts of letters from Joseph to Joseph H Peirce; Proposition of Dorr

1810-1815 [10] p. 125 4

Affidavits of Samuel Jacobs, Joseph Peirce (includes copies of letters), & Joseph Jones

1825-1827 [16] p. 126 4

Correspondence with John Dorr 1828 March-April

[23] p. 127 4

Correspondence with Judge Peter Oxenbridge Thacher

1828 July-October

5 ALS, [14] p.

128 4

Correspondence with Judge Peter O. Thacher

1829 2 ALS, [4] p.

129 4

19



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Joseph H Peirce v. John Dorr: lists of papers & documents, minutes from letters

1811-1828 [15] p. 130 4

Correspondence to Joseph Dorr 1807-1812 5 ALS, [11] p.

131 4

David Fales v. Joseph Peirce 1823-1825 [10] p. 132 4 Lucy Hubbs v. Edward Little 1831-1834 [21] p. 133 4 Spaulding v. Joseph Peirce 1829 2 ADS, [4]

p. 134 4

Sub-series 5. Financial Sub-sub-series c. Money borrowed Notes to Fales and Farley 1826, 1829 [9] p. 135 4 Notes to Thomaston Bank 1819-1827 [15] p. 136 4 Notes to various people in Maine 1826 [9] p. 137 4 Notes miscellaneous 1811-1830 [18] p. 138 4 Sub-sub-series b. Money lent Fales and Farley 1827 [9] p. 139 4 Promissory note for Luther Proctor, 24 February 1808, settled 16 December 1815

1808 [2] p. 140 4

Series B. Personal Sub-series 1. Joseph Peirce’s death and estate Will dated 16 December 1827, codicil 18 December 1827 with notes by Judges of Probate and Registers of Probate in Boston, Massachusetts and Belfast, Maine

1827-1828 [14] p. 141 4

Appointment of Executor and memoranda 1828-1829 [13] p. 142 4 Estate inventories 1828-1829 [10] p. 143 4 Additional inventory and accounts 1828-1829 [18] p. 144 4 Maine probate filing of will and appointment of Executor

1828 [16] p. 145 4

Letter to Joseph Hall Judge of Probate Suffolk Co.; Letters to Judge Thacher; Letters to Alfred Johnson of Belfast Judge of Probate; Letters to Rufus B. Allyn

1828 January-March

11 ALS, [23] p.

146 4

Correspondence to Joseph H. Peirce from Judge Peter O. Thacher and Rufus B. Allyn of Belfast

1828 January-

April

6 ALS, [13] p.

147 4

20



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Maria Peirce: furniture bought of Joseph Peirce (1823); bill of Edward F. Hall; list of property received from Maria Peirce belonging to Joseph Peirce Estate; power of attorney to Joseph H Peirce (1828)

1823-1828 [13] p. 148 4

Bills from G W Bryant; Thomas Todd for advertising in the Eastern Argus; Warren Rice

1828 [14] p. 149 4

Legal discussions [4] p. 150 4 Claims against the estate by Edmund Horton and Robert Orr

1829 [5] p. 151 4

Peirce family tomb, Chapel Burying Ground, Boston

1819-1823 [5] p. 152 4

Sub-series 2. Domestic Sub-sub-series a. Bills and receipts Bills and receipts from Abel Smith and Edmund Winchester

1798 [4] p. 153 4

Bills and receipts 1819 [17] p. 154 4 Bills and receipts with Oliver Davis 1824 [4] p. 155 4 Bills and receipts with Oliver Davis, J P Brown, James & Cornell, & Richardson & Lord

1827 [11] p. 156 4

Bills and receipts with John R Ingalls, Oliver Davis, Thomas Meek, Daniel Chandler

1828 [8] p. 157 4

Bills and receipts 1829 [44] p. 158 4 Bills and receipts 1830 [21] p. 159 4 Bills and receipts with David Ledyard, James Hunnewell

1831 [4] p. 160 4

Bills and receipts Undated [3] p. 161 4 Sub-sub-series b. Boston real estate Lease from Benjamin Crombie to Joseph H. Peirce, Leverett St. dwelling

1826 October 25

1 ADS, 1 ALS, [7] p.

162 4

William Thompson lease, 1812 ; John Jennison lease, 1815

1812, 1815 2 ADS, [4] p.

163 4

Sub-sub-series c. Joseph Hardy Peirce as clerk, Boston Municipal Court Appointment to administer oaths to witnesses before the grand jury

1820 Dec 4 1 ADS, [2] p.

164 4

21



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Power of attorney granted 1803, 1806, 1827 1803-1827 3 ADS, 2 ALS, [12]

p.

165 4

Power of attorney granted by Marcus Peirce 1824 October 22

1 ADS, [1] p.

166 4

Legal questions and responses 1798, 1812 [20] p. 167 4 Legal questions Undated [19] p. 168 4 Legal questions (pertaining to a court case?) Undated 169 4 Laws relating to poor debtors 1818-1823 [6] p. 170 4 Legal forms: lease; indenture of 3 parts (1811); Forms used at the Supreme Judicial Court in some Counties (1816)

1811, 1816 [22] p. 171 4

Case of John D. Atwell, Jr., debtor to John R. Bradford

1827 [9] p. 172 4

Sub-series 3. Diary and reminiscences Voyage from Boston to Lisbon, Madeira, & the East Indies on board the ship Olive Branch, John Sheppard, Esq. Comm. ; Passage from Madeira to Cape Good Hope

1803 1 v. ([72] p.)

173 4

Sketch of a letter the original of which was sent to Brig Gen William Sullivan with reminiscences of “Grenadier Company”, Boston

1820 October 25

1 ALS, [4] p.

174 4

J.H.P. description of visit with Marquis de Lafayette

1825 June 19

[4] p. 175 4

Sub-series 4. Miscellaneous Instructions for a Militia Company drill Undated [3] p. 176 4 Massachusetts towns (key to map) 1825 July

21 [5] p. 177 4

Miscellaneous 1815-1831 [23] p. 178 4 Miscellaneous notes 1816-1828 [27] p. 179 4 Sub-group III. Henry Augustus Peirce, 1808-1885 Series A. Trader and diplomat in the Pacific Letters to father / parents from Wash. D.C., "North West America", and Oahu / Honolulu, Sandwich Islands

1824-1830 9 ALS, [24] p.

180 5

Account of furs collected and shipped to Canton per various vessels

1825-1827 [4] p. 181 5

Payment order to James Hunnewell, 19 November 1830

1830 1 ALS, [1] p.

182 5

22



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Financial balance 1837-1839 [5] p. 183 5 Speech or article on Kingdom of Hawaii (incomplete begins with page 5)

Undated [13] p. 184 5

Letters from Charles Brewer, Peruvian Consul to Kingdom of Hawaii in succession to H.A.P. (copies)

1845 [17] p. 185 5

Series B. Scotland Plantation, Yazoo County, Mississippi Sub-series 1. Correspondence Letters by Henry A. Peirce to Marcus P. Hall

1865-1866 2 ALS, [7] p.

186 5

Letters by Henry A. Peirce to Marcus P. Hall

Jan-Feb., 1866

3 ALS, [14] p.

187 5


March-April, 1866

6 ALS, [27] p.

188 5


May-June, 1866

7 ALS, [21] p.

189 5


July-Sept., 1866

9 ALS, [33] p.

190 5


Oct.-Dec., 1866

7 ALS, [22] p.

191 5

Miscellaneous business correspondence 1866-1867 9 ALS, [19] p.

192 5

Sub-series 2. Labor contracts and manpower Contract and receipt of overseer Will Ross and contract for assistant James A. Whitaker

1866-1867 [8] p. 193 5

Freedmen 1865-1866 [9] p. 194 5 Employment contracts 1866 [11] p. 195 5 Payroll and amount of cotton picked [3] p. 196 5 Henry A. Peirce speech to freedmen 1866 May

27 [4] p. 197 5

Bill from Craig & Rundle; bill of lading & way bill for trunk and box on steamer Cassandra; bill from grocers Mangum & Shepherd

1866 January

[8] p. 198 5

Bills and receipts from Craig & Rundle 1866 February

[24] p. 199 5

Bills and receipts from Craig & Rundle, Barksdale & McFarland, Harrison & Hyatt

1866 March

[28] p. 200 5

Bills and receipts of F.J. Herron of New Orleans, La.

1866 April [7] p. 201 5

23



Physdesc Folder #

Box #

Bills and receipts of F.J. Herron of New Orleans, La.

1866 May [4] p. 202 5

Bills and receipts 1866 June [6] p. 203 5 Bills and receipts 1866 July [20] p. 204 5 Bills and receipts of A.J. Whitaker; B.F. Williams; J.F. Green & Co.; Mississippi Central Railroad Co.; Strode, Rubey & Co.; F. J. Herron

1866 August

[33] p. 205 5

Bills and receipts of J.F. Green & Co.; Mississippi Central Railroad Co.; Strode, Rubey & Co.; A. Vansyckel & Co.; F. J. Herron

1866 September

[20] p. 206 5

Bills and receipts of Craig & Rundle; F. J. Herron; Will Ross; Mississippi Central Railroad Co.; Strode, Rubey & Co.

1866 October

[45] p. 207 5

Bills and receipts of Craig & Rundle; Strode, Rubey & Co.; F. J. Herron

1866 November

[39] p. 208 5

Bills and receipts of Craig & Rundle; F. J. Herron; Strode, Rubey & Co.; Thos. B. Bodley & Co.; John McAlister

1866 December

[29] p. 209 5

Medical and other bills 1866 [14] p. 210 5 F.J. Herron & Co., bills 1866 [10] p. 211 5 F.J. Herron & Co., accounts 1866 [15] p. 212 5 US Internal Revenue excise tax bills collector's office, 2 district, state of Miss

1867 2 DS 213 5

Sub-group IV. Other family members Series A. Marcus Tullius Peirce, 1799-1834 Correspondence to parents / father written from Sandwich Islands, Newport, and New York

1825-1830 7 ALS, [20] p.

214 5

Bills and receipts 1829 [14] p. 215 5 Letter by E. Wood written from Savannah, Georgia to Mrs. Abby R. Peirce of Boston

1830 April 8

1 ALS, [3] p.

216 5

Series B. Hardy Peirce, 1814-1838 Letter to father Joseph H. Peirce, Boston written from Gibraltar

1828 June 29

1 ALS, [3] p.

217 5

Series C. Samuel May Holland, 1798-1833 Letter to mother [Sarah (May) Holland] written at Alexandria

1823 December

31

1 ALS, [2] p.

218 5

24


ACCESS POINTS This collection is indexed under the following headings in Millennium, the on-line public access catalog (OPAC) of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings. Personal Name(s) [Tag 600] Brewer, Charles, fl. 1845 Hall, Marcus Peirce, fl. 1866 Holland, Samuel May, 1798-1833 Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 Lafayette, Marquis de, 1757-1834 Leverett, John, 1662-1724 Peirce, Hardy, 1814-1838 Peirce, Henry Augustus, 1808-1886 – Diaries. Peirce, Joseph, 1745-1828 Peirce, Joseph Hardy, 1773-1832 Peirce, Marcus Tullius, 1799-1834 Tobey, George H., died 1866 Waldo, Samuel, 1695-1759 Corporate Name(s) [Tag 610] Griffon (Brig) Ten Proprietors of the Lincolnshire Company Twenty Associates of the Lincolnshire Company Subject Term(s) [Tag 650] Cotton growing — Mississippi — Yazoo County Deeds – Maine -- Diplomats, American Land grants — Maine Probate records – Maine – Real property — Maine Geographic Term(s) [Tag 651] China—Commerce—United States Hawaii — History Maine — History United States — Commerce — China United States — History — Revolution — Correspondence, reminiscences United States — History — Civil War — Negro troops

25


ACCESS POINTS (continued) Index Term(s) – Genre/Form [Tag 655] Diaries. Receipts. Wills. Additional Author(s) [Tag 700]

26

Documents

HENRY AUGUSTUS PEIRCE PAPERS - Amazon Web Servicesnehgs.org.s3.amazonaws.com/ebooks/FindingAids/Mss0020... · 2011-02-04 · Henry Augustus Peirce Papers Mss 20 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE