Bissell Family History

 

[-------- Captain Benjamin Pierce, b. 1646

[           SEE Bisbee Chart 2.3.1

[

[------- Benjamin Pierce, b. 11 Mar 1683/84

[                   [

[                   [-------- Martha Adams, b. 1 Apr 1658

[                               SEE Bisbee Chart 2.3.2

[

[------- Benjamin Pierce b. 4 Dec 1721, 6th Great-grandfather

[                   [                                      

[                   [                                      [------- John Cowen, b. 1636, Scotland

[                   [                                      [

[                   [                   [-------- Israel Cowing, b. 10 Dec 1664, Scituate, MA

[                   [                   [                  [

[                   [                   [                  [------- Rebecca (Mann?)

[                   [                   [

[                   [------- Mary Cowing, b. 28 Dec 1691 (Married 5 Feb 1711/12)

[                                       [

[                                       [-------- Hannah Litchfield, b. 24 Dec 1672, Scituate, MA

[                                                   SEE Bisbee Chart 2.3.3

Benjamin Pierce, 5th Great-grandfather

b. 1 Mar 1745/46                                                                             [------- John Field [GMD] , b. 1610-1616, Thurnscoe Yorkshire,       d. 1809         [                                                                                 [          Eng.

                    [                                                                                 [          d. 22 Mar 1686, Providence, RI

                    [                                                                                 [

[                                                           [------- John Field, b. 22 May 1644, Providence, R.I.; m. at Bridgewater, MA 1670

[                                                           [                     [

[                                                           [                     [------- Ruth Fairbanks, b. 1620, England

[                                                           [                                m. 1639, Providence, R.I.

[                                                           [

[                                       [-------- Captain John Field, b. 20 Feb 1670

[                                       [                   [

[                                       [                   [------- Elizabeth Everden, bap 16 Apr 1643, Kent, Eng.

[                                       [

[                   [------- Sarah Field, b. 7 Jan 1700

[                   [                   [

[                   [                   [------- Elizabeth Ames, 6 Sep 1680

[                   [                              SEE Bisbee Chart 2.3.4

[                   [

[------- Charity Howard, b. Jul 1720 Bridgewater, MA (Married 3 Nov 1743 in Bridgewater)

 d. 25 Feb 1748

[

[                   [------- Jonathan Howard, b. 1665

[                   [          SEE Bisbee Chart 2.3.5

[                   [

[------- Jonathan Howard, b. 9 Dec 1692

[

[------- Sarah Dean, b. 9 Nov 1668

           SEE Bisbee Chart 2.3.6

 

 

Per Research Notes Sources 51 and 54, Charity Howard may have been born in 1721 as stated in the Bridgewater History and the Pierce Families sources or, as calculated from her age at the time of her death, in July 1720.

 

 

Notes on Capt. Benjamin Pierce, 1646.  Captain Benjamin Pierce was born in 1646 and died in 1730 at the age of 84.
Benjamin Pierce is first in a long line of mostly first born sons all named in honor of their fathers and grandfathers.
Captain Benjamin Pierce [2nd generation] settled on his father's considerable estate and managed it after his father's death in 1676. He lived the life of a wealth landowner (his lands were most probably in excess of 1000 acres). He managed these lands, no doubt, like a typical colonial plantation. In addition, he owned and ran a saw-mill that was erected on a river running through his lands. 
Like his father before him, Benjamin [2nd generation] was appointed Captain of the local militia. He probably took this rank following the death of his father when he was 30 years old, not yet married, and the head of his dead father's household. 
On February 5, 1678, two years after his father's death, and at the age of 32, Benjamin [2nd generation] married Martha Adams, the daughter of James Adams. They had ten children: Martha, Jerusha, Benjamin [3rd generation], Ebenezer, Persis, Caleb, Thomas, Adams, Jeremiah, and Elisha. 
Benjamin's [2nd generation] first wife, Martha, died sometime between 1699 and 1718. On July 21, 1718, Benjamin [2nd generation] married Mrs. Elizabeth (Adams) Perry. They had no children. 
During his 84-year-long lifetime, Benjamin Pierce saw the total population of the New England colonies grow from a sparse 16,000 persons at the time of his birth in 1646, to well over 200,000 by the time of his death in 1730.
Before his death he executed a will, dated 13 October 1730. His will shows him to have died a wealthy landowner. 
Sometime, long before his death, Benjamin [2nd generation] deeded his eldest son, Benjamin [3rd generation] (born March 11, 1683) a major portion of his land holdings to own, live on, and manage. Working from future generation backwards, it is save to say that the amount of land given to Benjamin [3rd generation] was between 400 and 600 acres.