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30 oz. plate, 1783; 7 slaves, 1790. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: 156 acres in Kent County, including a
grist mill on Swan Creek and possibly half of
another mill; also 4.5 lots in George Town, Kent
County. ADDITIONAL COMMENT: In the 19 years
before his first election, Pearce purchased almost
2,000 acres in Kent County, apparently for spec-
ulation; he had sold most of it by 1781. SIGNIFI-
CANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELEC-
TION AND DEATH: purchased at least 667 acres,
all located in Kent County except for a small
parcel in New Castle County, Delaware, 1785-
1801; obtained 229 acres in Kent County in 1785
by foreclosing on a mortgage which he held; pat-
ented 314 acres in Cecil County, 1791; sold 292
acres in Kent County, plus 4 lots in George Town,
between 1785 and 1793; purchased 2 lots in George
Town at public sale in 1794 and 3 more lots in
George Town in 1801. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED:
will probated on March 22, 1802, in Kent County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £2,796.1.0 current
money (including 38 slaves and plate); FB, estate
overpaid £1,712.18.3. LAND: ca. 1,500 acres in
Kent and Cecil counties and a small parcel in New
Castle County, Delaware. His holdings included
his dwelling plantation, a plantation on the Ches-
ter River, and plantation lands on Morgan Creek,
Kent County, plus at least 4 lots in George Town,
as specified in his will.
PEARCE (PEIRCE, PERSE), WILLIAM (ca.
1641-1720/21). BORN: ca. 1641, probably in Eng-
land. IMMIGRATED: probably in the late 1650s,
definitely by 1664, probably as an indentured
servant. RESIDED: probably in Baltimore County;
Cecil County by 1675; Kent County at death.
MARRIED Isabella (?-1729). CHILDREN. SONS: Daniel
Pearce (1677-1727); William (?-1703); Col.
Benjamin (ca. 1683-1734), a justice of Cecil
County, 1720-1734, who married Mary, widow
of John Hynson (ca. 1670-1708), daughter of John
Stoops; and Gideon (1678-1751), sheriff of Kent
County, 1720-1723, and justice, 1733-1738, who
married Ann. DAUGHTERS: Isabella, who mar-
ried first, William Blay (ca. 1681-1716), and sec-
ond, by 1722, John Johnson; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Henry Ward (?-1734); Sarah, who married
first, Joseph Hopkins, and second, John Rogers;
and Mary (?-alive in 1713/14), who married Wil-
liam Pott. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican, South Sassaf-
ras Parish, Cecil County. SOCIAL STATUS AND AC-
TIVITIES: probably the William Pearce, former
servant of Thomas Mowell (?-1675), who received
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a warrant for completion of service in 1661/62,
and then in 1663 patented 250 acres with another
former servant, Robert Neife; in 1714, Col. Wil-
liam Pearce, the legislator, aged "73 or therea-
bouts," testified concerning this event that had
occurred 50 years previously in Maryland. OC-
CUPATIONAL PROFILE: probably indentured serv-
ant, free by 1661/62; planter, probably by 1663,
definitely by 1675. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE
SERVICE: Lower House, Cecil County, 1676-1682,
1682-1683 (resigned before the 3rd session of the
1682-1684 Assembly to become sheriff), 1694-
1696 (Aggrievances 4, 5; resigned before the 6th
session of the 1694-1697 Assembly to become
sheriff), 1700 (elected to the 4th session of the
1697/98-1700 Assembly), 1704-1707. LOCAL OF-
FICES: justice, Cecil County, 1676-1684, 1694;
sheriff, Cecil County, 1684-1688, 1689-1691,
1696-1699; South Sassafras Parish Vestry, Cecil
County, 1693-1696, 1704-1705; naval officer of
Cecil County, 1695. MILITARY SERVICE: captain,
by 1688; colonel, by 1690. STANDS ON PUBLIC/
PRIVATE ISSUES: active supporter of Protestant
Associators' Revolution, 1689; fined for cheating
the county while sheriff, 1699; found guilty of
misappropriating levy, 1704. WEALTH DURING
LIFETIME. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: probably 350
acres. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN
FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH, acquired at least 3,355
acres in Kent and Cecil counties, probably by
patent and purchase, which he then deeded as
gifts to his children, 1710-1717. WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: between February 9 and March 5, 1720/21,
in Kent County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV,
£1,168.11.17 current money (including 22 slaves
and £49.1.4 in coined gold); FB, £1,153.7.4. LAND:
1,450 acres mentioned in his will.
PEMBERTON, BENJAMIN (ca. 1698-1733/34).
BORN: ca. 1698 in Talbot County; youngest son.
NATIVE: at least second generation. RESIDED, in
Talbot and Queen Anne's counties. FAMILY BACK-
GROUND. FATHER: John Pemberton (?-ca. 1701),
of Talbot County, a merchant and cooper. STEP-
FATHER: Col. Robert Grundy (?-1720), of Talbot
County, merchant. Grundy married Margaret
Pemberton in 1703. MOTHER: Margaret Matthews
(?-by 1718). BROTHERS: John (1685-1722), of
Queen Anne's County, merchant, who married
Deborah (?-1749), daughter of Col. Robert
Grundy; James (1687-1724), of Queen Anne's
County, merchant; and Joseph (1690-?). STEP-
SISTERS: Ann Grundy (1690-1732), who married
James Lloyd (1679/80-1723); Deborah Grundy
641
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