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2nd document,
2nd
marriage of Phillip Smith Pierce and Margaret Carey, 1873
Mass. 1902
death cert. of Phillip Smith Pierce:
Mass. 1902
death register entry, Phillip Smith Pierce:
OTHER
ITEMS OF NOTE:
In
one document dated 20 Dec 1904, the Special Examiner notes the following:
“In
examining the public record of the administration of the sailor’s
estate I found that the claimant [Margaret] was the administratrix
and that Walter Coulson and Anna Coulson were on her bond as sureties.
James Pierce, New Brunswick, N.J., Charles Pierce, Brighton [sic],
N.J. (brothers) and Louisa and Elizabeth Pierce (sisters), ----------,
N.J. were named as the only known relatives of sailor. Mrs. Anna Coulson
I found to be a niece of the claimant and her husband Walter Coulson
was claimant’s attorney. On personally interviewing Mr. Coulson
at Lawrence, Mass. he informed me that owing to the unsatisfactory
data furnished by the claimant as to the whereabouts of sailor’s
relatives notices of administration of the estate was made by publication
in the Randolph, Mass. newspapers. […] I fail to find a Brighton,
N.J. post-office in the 1902 U. S. Postal Guide, the nearest to that
name being Bridgeton, Cumberland Co., the latter being noted on the
Navy Dep’t records as sailor’s birth place.”
Upon
Philip’s death, his 2nd wife Margaret attempted to obtain a widow’s
pension. However, a Special Examination could find no record on his
having been officially divorced from Susannah (misnamed in the following
record as “Hannah”) prior to his & Margaret’s marriage
in 1873, and therefore Margaret
was deemed ineligible for a pension.
It
appears Margaret had no idea Philip had been previously married. They
had been married for 29 years at the time of his passing. His death
left her with a mortgage that she could not pay, and she had no means
of supporting herself. A December 1904 letter mentions, “She
is almost a mental and physical wreck and on account of poor condition
mentally she seemed unable to be at all exact as to time or circumstances.
Owing to her marriage to sailor who was a colored man she has been
practically ostracized by her relatives and people generally.”
At one point she was receiving assistance from the town of Randolph.
In
June 1906 Margaret was evicted from her home and delivered to the
Randolph Alms House, complete with all of her belongings and furnishings
and 100 chickens (!!). The belongings were determined to be of no
value and designated to be burned. The
chickens were designated as being worth $20.
Susannah
had secured a divorce from Philip in June 1885, and if Philip &
Margaret had taken the steps to re-marry after that date, then Margaret
would have been his legal widow. But since he & Margaret’s
only marriage was the one in 1873, and since he was not yet divorced
from Susannah at that time, the 1873 marriage was declared void.
Interestingly,
Susannah later (1920) attempted to claim a widow’s pension herself,
but was rejected on the grounds of her having obtained the divorce
from Philip in June 1885:
document1
document2
document3
OTHER
ITEMS PERTAINING TO PHILIP S. PIERCE (OR HIS WIVES), NOT FROM THE
PENSION RECORDS:
Philip
Smith Pierce was a son of Richard Pierce, III and Amelia (Murray)
Pierce.
1st wife Susannah “Anna” Pierce was a daughter of Jonathan
Freeman Pierce and Anna (Gould) Pierce.
2nd wife Margaret Carey was an Englishwoman, per their marriage record.
(Note: Philip’s mother is listed in the wedding record as “Permelia”
instead of “Amelia”)
As
stated above, in an affidavit Susannah states “I had one child
[Virginia] by my said husband but it died six weeks after its birth”
and gives the date of Virginia’s birth as 14 Jul 1865. Note:
at least one other source (FamilySearch.org, with reference to “New
Jersey, Births and Christenings, 1660-1980”) shows the birth
date as: 15 Jul 1865.
There
is record of the child being buried at Gouldtown Cemetery with a death
date as shown here:
Click
here
to view Gouldtown Cemetery listings, page M-P, and scroll down to
see the lines pictured above.
In
the pension records of fellow Civil War veteran Ephraim Pierce (Philip’s
nephew), there is an affidavit from Ephraim’s uncle (Philip’s
brother) Charles Morgan Pierce, which states the following:
“I know that in the early fall of 1863, the date I don’t
now recall, Ephraim and my brother, Smith Pierce, and I went to New
York to go into the service. When we got there Ephraim enlisted in
the 48th NY Inf. and my brother and I enlisted in the Navy, where
I served until 1864, when I was discharged for disability.” The
reference to his brother as “Smith Pierce” indicates that
Philip once was known by his middle name rather than his first name.
This does not seem to be the case after he moved to Massachusetts,
however. His 2nd wife Margaret, to whom he was married for 29 years,
stated in an affidavit that she didn’t now Philip even had a
middle name.
Philip
and his future 2nd wife Margaret Carey were both enumerated as domestic
servants at a hotel in Boston in the 1870 census.
Philip’s
death record states he was buried in “Boston” but does not
name the cemetery.
1st
wife Susannah is buried in Gouldtown Memorial Park, Gouldtown, Cumberland
Co, NJ - (for some reason she has two headstones—one shared with
her mother, both somewhat difficult to read):
http://nativeamericansofdelawarestate.com/Cemeteries/Gouldtown%20Cemetery/DSCN8071.JPG
http://nativeamericansofdelawarestate.com/Cemeteries/Gouldtown%20Cemetery/DSCN9347.JPG
It
is unknown when 2nd wife Margaret died, or where she is buried.
QUERY
ITEMS:
1).
Among Philip’s pension records are affidavits from a Joseph P.
Pierce and a Mark W. Pierce (see above). Does anyone know who they
were? If they were living in Boston and stated they had lived near
Philip for 22 years (being themselves only 24 and 33 years old), it
would appear they’d grown up there as well. Are they connected
to the NJ Pierces?
2).
Does anyone know what cemetery Philip is buried in?
3).
Does anyone know when 2nd wife Margaret died? Or where she is buried?
-------------------
For
those who may be new to the list, I have posted a few of these Civil
War pension extractions previously, as has Paul Johnson and Joseph
Romeo. To
view some of the other Civil
War pension extractions, as well as an explanatory note, please see
the following page of the Mitsawokett site:
http://www.mitsawokett.com/MilitaryService/DelmarvaAreaCivilWarPensions.htm
(Once
on the page, scroll down below the Index to see the Overview).
Please
let me know if anyone has any questions or corrections.
Thanks,
John
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