Charles H. Pierce, 1854/5-1902
CHARLES H. PIERCE was likely born in January 1854 or 1855 in Maryland
to parents William Clarke Pierce and Sarah A. (Rogers) Pierce.[1] His birth date is not definitively known – prior
to 1865, it was not required to keep a record of births in Maryland, and only
church birth records were available.
Unfortunately, a church birth record for Charles has not been found.[2] His birth date has been arrived at by
examining the following documents:
Table 1
Evaluating the documents in Table 1 provides a birth month
most likely of January. The 1900 census
provides a stated (not calculated) birth month of January, and the death
certificate supports a calculated birth month of January.
For birth year, although multiple documents created later in
Charles’ life show a probable birth year of 1855, the earliest documents
available (i.e., the 1860 and 1870 censuses) indicate a birth year of
1854. So, unless an actual baptism or
birth record exists, we cannot narrow the date down any further.
Charles lived with his parents William and Sarah and
siblings in the 6th district of Cecil County, Maryland throughout his childhood
– first in Elkton, then in Fair Hill. Charles was the 2nd oldest of 12 children,
born between 1853 and 1877.[3]
On 30 December 1875, when he was about 20 years old, Charles
married Amanda V. Funk at the Oxford Circuit Methodist Episcopal Church in
Chester County, Pennsylvania.[4]
The couple had the first of their nine children within one year of their marriage. Carrie L.
Pierce was born on 5 October 1876, then followed by: Mildred on 25 January1879, Bertha M. on 8
September 1880, Grace I. on 2 January 1883, Mary E. on 1 July 1888, Florence V.
on 28 March 1887, Maud E. on 29 June 1889, Helen H. on 29 August 1891, and
finally their only son, Warren J. on 20 October 1895.[5] All of their children except Mildred lived to
adulthood – she passed as an infant at only 4 days old.[6] During the birth of their children, they
continued to live in Cecil County, Maryland, while Charles worked as a day
laborer and then as a farmer.[7]
During Charles’ time living in Cecil County, Maryland, he
had a number of land-related transactions that were recorded in the Circuit
Court of Cecil County and the newspaper.
These included:
2. 30 April 1883: A mortgage for the same 7+ acres of land. This mortgage stated that Charles was a month late in a payment that had been due to Mr. Barclay Reynolds, and that unless he paid the $475 owed by 25 March 1884, he would forfeit the land.[9]
3. 13 June 1892: A bill of sale for farm animals, equipment and seeded crops to Mr. William C. Karsner for $155.49 to settle a debt that Charles owed Mr. Karsner.[10]
4. 10 June 1897: A deed for the same 7+ acres of land mentioned above, from Charles H. Pierce to Ruth Ann Gilmore; Ms. Gilmore then satisfied the original $475 mortgage with Mr. Reynolds on 14 July 1897.[11]
5. 15 January 1902: Charles purchased an 85-acre property known as the “Haddock Farm” near Zion, Cecil County, Maryland, for $4,085 at a public auction.[12]
The notification for this large purchase was included in the
newspaper, but interestingly it also provided the property that he was
currently farming (a search for the Haddock property was completed, but has not
yet been found):
Researching the “Jos. H. Lincoln place near Rising Sun” uncovered this map from 1877 identifying two properties owned by J. H. Lincoln just outside of Rising Sun:
Note that nearby was also a “B. Reynolds,” potentially the same Barclay Reynolds that he had gotten his 7 acres from in 1883.
Unfortunately, Charles must have been struggling with mental
health and/or financial issues, because on 19 March 1902, just two months after
spending a substantial sum on the new property (and prior to actually moving
there), Charles committed suicide. The
newspaper accounts of this tragedy tell the story of a family who could “not account
for the rash act unless he was despondent over financial matters.”[13] Charles was described as a “prominent
farmer,” “very popular and highly esteemed by his neighbors in that community.”
It was said he went to the barn shortly
after 7 am to feed the animals, and never came back in for breakfast. His family went on a search and found him,
but too late.[14] He is interred at Brookview Cemetery in
Rising Sun, Maryland.[15]
Charles’ death at the age of 47 or 48 years old left his wife Amanda to run the household and raise their eight children, aged 5 to 25 years old - all women except for the youngest. She was also the administratrix of Charles’ estate; he did not leave a will, but the estate papers are extensive. An appraisement of the personal estate totaled $783.50, with the 4-page list of items including house furniture (beds, tables, chairs, wash stands, desks, dressers), tools (barrels, wagons, hayfork, rope), farming equipment (plows, binder, mower, wheat drill), farm animals (horses, cows, pigs), and crops (corn, oats). A public sale was held for these items, which garnered $1,238.49 in receipts.
Expenses against the estate included normal items such as taxes, funeral costs and attorney fees, but also included the following two items of note:
- $50 paid to an attorney for “getting release from the Haddocks in matter of release of estate for purchase” – so that the family did not have to complete the purchase of the 85-acre farm that Charles had bought at public sale just two months prior to his death
- $150 provided to Amanda for “amount allowed widow with minor children under the law” – there were four minor children at this time (Florence, Maude, Helen and Warren)
The net remaining to be divided amongst the family members
after taking into account all expenses was $791.66. Per the laws of the state, Amanda received
1/3 of that amount, and each of the eight children received 1/8 of the
remaining 2/3; the children had to wait until they reached the age of majority
to receive their portion.[16]
Examples of the horses he owned, their valuation, and their
sale price from the estate papers are as follows:
Valuation of 1 male and 3 female horses:
[1]
Maryland, Certificate of Death, Charles H. Pierce, 1902; Maryland State
Archives, series S1177, online microfilm SE42-1048, image 41. See also 1870 U.S. census, Cecil County,
Maryland, population schedule, 6th district, Fair Hill P.O., p. 21, dwelling
166, family 165, Wm Pierce household; NARA microfilm M593, roll 1403 AND 1860
U.S. census, Cecil County, Maryland, population schedule, 6th district, Elkton
P.O., p.7, dwelling 1224, family 1187, Wm C Pierce household; NARA microfilm
M653.
[2] On FamilySearch,
database “Maryland births and christenings : COLLECTION RECORD, 1650-1995”
(https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1674912 : viewed 26 March 2022) –
no results. Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, Maryland
Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County
and Church from Original Sources (Baltimore, Maryland: Williams &
Wilkins Co., 1915) – no results. On FamilySearch,
database “Miscellaneous Maryland Records” (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008960123
: viewed 26 March 2022) – no results. On
FamilySearch, database “Maryland, Births and Baptisms: 1665-1995” (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2384981
: viewed 26 March 2022) – no results. On
Ancestry, database “All Maryland, U.S., Births and Christenings Index,
1662-1911” (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2565
: viewed 26 March 2022) – no results. On
Maryland State Archives, birth records are available for 1875 and later
– no results. On FamilySearch,
database “Church records, 1835-1869 [Oxford Methodist Circuit]” (https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/656887
: viewed 31 March 2022) – no results.
[3] See narrative on parents William and Sarah Pierce for
details.
[4] Oxford
Circuit Methodist Episcopal Church (Oxford, Chester Country, Pennsylvania),
"Marriage Record," for Chas H. Pierce and Amanda Funk (1875); image,
Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40355_267284-00273 : viewed 13 Dec 2020), image 183.
[5] Pierce
Bible Records, 1876 - 1980, loose "Births" page from unknown bible;
copy in author's records, Winter Springs, Florida.
[6] Pierce
Bible Records, 1876 - 1980, loose "Deaths" page from unknown bible;
copy in author's records, Winter Springs, Florida.
[7] Day laborer noted as occupation in 1880 U.S. census, Cecil County, Maryland,
population schedule, Rising Sun, district 6, enumeration district (ED) 015,
p. 23, dwelling 5, family 5, Chas.
Peirce household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 507.
Farmer noted as occupation in 1900 U.S. census, Cecil County, Maryland,
population schedule, Oakwood, district 8, enumeration district (ED) 0026, sheet
12B, dwelling 240, family 243, Charles H. Pierce household; NARA microfilm
T623, roll 620.
[8] Cecil
County, Maryland, Circuit Court Land Records, Book 7, Clerk JAD, Liber 8, pp.
368-369; Deed of Charles H. Pierce from Barclay Reynolds, 20 April 1883;
Maryland State Archives, microfilm CR25347; image, MDLANDREC.NET (https://mdlandrec.net/main/dsp_inventories.cfm?CID=CE&sch=4&srtyp=I : viewed 26 March 2022).
[9] Cecil
County, Maryland, Circuit Court Land Records, Book 7, Clerk JAD, Liber 7, pp.
40-41; Mortgage of Charles H. Pierce to Barclay Reynolds, 20 April 1883;
Maryland State Archives, microfilm CR25347; image, MDLANDREC.NET (https://mdlandrec.net/main/dsp_inventories.cfm?CID=CE&sch=4&srtyp=I : viewed 26 March 2022).
[10] Cecil
County, Maryland, Circuit Court Land Records, Book 8: P-Z, Clerk JTG, Liber 1,
p. 361; Bill of Sale from William C. Karsner to Charles H. Pierce, 13 June
1892; Maryland State Archives, microfilm CR25348; image, MDLANDREC.NET (https://mdlandrec.net/main/dsp_inventories.cfm?CID=CE&sch=4&srtyp=I : viewed 26 March 2022).
[11] Cecil
County, Maryland, Circuit Court Land Records, Book 9, Clerk JGW, Liber 2, pp.
31-32; Deed of Charles H. Pierce to Ruth Ann Gilmore, 10 June 1897; Maryland
State Archives, microfilm CR25348; image, MDLANDREC.NET (https://mdlandrec.net/main/dsp_inventories.cfm?CID=CE&sch=4&srtyp=I : viewed 26 March 2022). For satisfaction of the 1883 mortgage, see
Cecil County, Maryland, Circuit Court Land Records, Book 7, Clerk JAD, Liber 7,
pp. 40-41; Mortgage of Charles H. Pierce to Barclay Reynolds, 20 April 1883;
Maryland State Archives, microfilm CR25347.
[12] "Minor
Locals," The Midland Journal (Rising Sun, Maryland), 17 January
1902, p.3, col.1; image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/664828408 : viewed 25 October 2021).
[13] "Suicide
by Hanging," The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 20 March
1902, p.10, col.1; image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/365323203 : viewed 14 October 2021).
[14] "Took
His Own Life," The Cecil Whig (Elkton, Maryland), 22 March 1902,
p.1, col.2; image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/466391039 : viewed 25 October 2021). This article also states that the family was
still living at the Joseph H. Lincoln farm, which Charles had been running, and
was planning to move to the new Haddock farm the following week.
[15] Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88970643/charles-h-pierce : viewed 14 April 2022), memorial 88970643, “Charles
H. Pierce,” 22 April 2012, by “Ronh.”
[16] Cecil
County, Maryland, Orphan's Court Register of Wills, Estate Papers for Charles
H. Pierce, Estate no. 1902-74; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6W93-XG1 : viewed 27 March 2022), images 106-141.
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