Another brick wall came tumbling down yesterday and I am ELATED. Buried in the deeds of Lawrence County, Tennessee from 1831 was a transaction between the “Heirs of Spencer Pearce” and Barnabas Gabel. Listed among the heirs was Harriet Pearce, my 3rd great grandmother. Ironically, I had been toying with the idea that Spencer might have been the father of my 4th great grandfather, Daniel Pearce, who was also a resident of Lawrence County. I hadn’t really considered that Spencer might have been Harriet’s father. I had dismissed him as her father early on because he did not appear in Lawrence County until 1818 and Harriet was born in Tennessee in 1811 per later census records. Spencer’s land grant in Lawrence County happened in 1818 and I thought he must have moved there from outside the state. Not so apparently! It did not occur to me that Spencer might have been living in another part of Tennessee before moving to Lawrence County.
And if this tweren’t big enough news this week— I found another court record from Lawrence County – this time from 1824 – naming Daniel Pearce the Executor of the Estate of WILLIAM Pearce.
Busting brick walls this week fer sure!
Kenfolk: Trantham
Relationship: 3rd great grandmother
Common ancestors: Harriet’s father was Spencer Pearce!!!
Do you have any information for Spencer Pearec or her mother? Do you have a copy of the information where you found Spencer is Harriet’s father?
Spencer’s identity was revealed in early court records that are on microfilm from Lawrence County and Williamson County, TN. If you are on Ancestry.com, you can find transcriptions of the court cases in my family tree.