Birth: ABT 1615 Higham, Kent, England
1st Marriage: ABT 1643 to Persisis Eames
Immigration: ABT 1645
Lived in: 1645-1666
Place: Hingham, Massachusetts
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1645
Name: Persis Pierce
Land Rec: 1647
Details: Purchased lands in the Conihassett.
Birth of Son: ABT 1647
Name: Benjamin Pierce
Birth of Son: ABT 1647
Name: Ephraim Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1649
Name: Elizabeth Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1650
Name: Deborah Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1652
Name: Sarah Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1654
Name: Mary Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1656
Name: Abigail Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1657
Name: Anna Pierce
Birth of Child: ABT 1659
Name: Abiah Pierce
Birth of Son: ABT 1660
Name: John Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1661
Name: Ruth Pierce
Birth of Daughter: ABT 1662
Name: Persis Pierce
2nd Marriage: AFT 1662 to Hannah James
Note: His house was on the Cohasset road, one mile from the present [1831] north Meeting house, at the well known place where Elijah Pierce now resides, of the sixth generation that has possessed it. … Capt. Michael has left evidence on record, in the Town, of his usefulness in publick affairs.
Military: 1669
Details: Commissioned a Captain by the Colony Court. Historical records show that he was first given the rank of Ensign under Captain Miles Standish, then later, in 1669, he was made Captain. These titles reflects his role as a leader in the local militia formed to protect the colony from the Indians.
Lived in: 1676
Place: Situate, Massachusetts
Details: Scituate is located some 10 miles north of the original Plymouth colony. It was settled as early as 1628 by a group of men from Kent, England.
Military: 1676
Details: In the spring of 1676 he commanded an expedition against the Indians under Canonchet, was attacked near Pawtucket by a superior force and his command nearly annihilated. The story of the fight, related by Mather and others, is well known history. Captain Pierce fell early in the fight. Fifty-five of the sixtythree Englishmen were slain, and ten of the twenty Indian allies. The Indians were commandecl by Nanuntenoo, better known as Ganonchet, and the place of the battle is now called Quinsniket.
Note: Michael Pierce resided on a beautiful plain near the north river and not far form Herring brook. He assisted in erecting the first saw-mill. The mill was the first one erected in the colony. It was burned down by the Indians.
Will: 1675
Details: His will is dated 1675; and the preamble is in these impressive words: ‘Being, by the appointment of my God, going out to war against the Indians, I do ordain this my last will and Testament: and first I commit my was to the Eternal God, &c.’ He then gives ‘to wife Ann [who was a second wife] the house which last built, &c. To son Benjamin my present dwelling house–To son John all my lands in Hingham–to son Ephraim 5?–to daughter Abigail Holbrook 5?–to daughters Elizabeth, Deborah, Ann, Abiah, Ruth, Persis, 50? each.'”
Military: DEC 1675
Details: He was in the Narragansett fight in December 1675, and escaped with his life
Death: 26 MAR 1676
Details: His memory is to be forever honored for the brave manner in which he fell in defence of his country. He was ambushed and killed with his company by Canonchet at Attleboro Gore during King Philip’s war. This site is commemorated by a memorial called Nine Men’s Misery.
Burial: Pierce Riverwalk and Memorial, Central Falls, Providence County, Rhode Island
Parents are Azrika Pierce and Martha ?
Brother of famous Colonial Sea Captain, William Pierce. Captain Michael Pierce was the brother of the famous Colonial sea captain, William Pierce, who helped settle Plymouth Colony. Captain Michael Pierce played a significant role in the Great Migration. Historical records show that this one sea captain crossed the Atlantic, bringing settlers and provisions to the New World more frequently than any other. He had homes in London, the Bahamas and Rhode Island. He played a central role in the government of the early colonies. He was killed at Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, in 1641.
There were actually four Pierce brothers who made their mark on the New World: John Pierce (the Patentee), Robert Pierce, Captain William Pierce, and Captain Michael Pierce. All were grandsons of Anteress Pierce, and sons of Azrika Pierce and his wife Martha.
Erected First Saw-Mill. Michael Pierce resided on a beautiful plain near the north river and not far form Herring brook. He assisted in erecting the first saw-mill. The mill was the first one erected in the colony. It is believed that Samuel Woodworth (1784-1842) wrote the song, “The Old Oaken Bucket,” concerning this river and mill in Scituate. Samuel Woodworth’s grandfather, Benjamine Woodworth, witnessed the signing of Captain Michael Pierce’s will, on January 1675. The lyrics to this classic American folk tune are given below:
How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view,
The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood,
And ev’ry lov’d spot which my infancy knew.
The wide spreading stream, the mill that stood near it,
The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell.
The cot of my father, the dairy house by it,
And e’en the rude bucket that hung in the well.
The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.
The moss-covered bucket I hail as a treasure,
For often at noon when returned from the field,
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.
How ardent I seized it with hands that were glowing,
And quick to the white pebbled bottom it fell.
Then soon with the emblem of truth overflowing,
And dripping with coolness it rose from the well.
The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.
How soon from the green mossy rim to receive it,
As poised on the curb it reclined to my lips,
Not a full flowing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Tho’ filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell.
As fancy reverts to my father’s plantation,
And sighs for the bucket that hung in the well.
The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well.
Honored for Heroism in King Phillip’s War. Captain Michael Pierce’s memory is well-documented in American history. He is honored for the brave manner in which he died in defense of his country. The exact manner in which he died is repeated in more than 20 books and letters detailing the military history of the King Phillip’s War. This war took place between 1675 and 1676, and remains one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history. It was also a pivotal point in early American history. Although the English colonists were ultimately victorious over the Indians, it took the colonies over 100 years to recover from the economic and political catastrophy brought about by this conflict.
The battle in which Captain Michael Pierce lost his life is detailed in Drakes Indian Chronicles (pp. 220-222) as follows:
“Sunday the 26th of March, 1676, was sadly remarkable to us for the tidings of a very deplorable disaster brought into Boston about five o’clock that afternoon, by a post from Dedham, viz., that Captain Pierce of Scituate in Plymouth Colony, having intelligence in his garrison at Seaconicke, that a party of the enemy lay near Mr. Blackstorne’s, went forth with sixty-three English and twenty of the Cape Indians (who had all along continued faithful, and joyned with them), and upon their march discovered rambling in an obscure woody place, four or five Indians, who, in getting away from us halted as if they had been lame or wounded. But our men had pursued them but a little way into the woods before they found them to be only decoys to draw them into their ambuscade; for on a sudden, they discovered about five hundred Indians, who in very good order, furiously attacked them, being as readily received by ours; so that the fight began to be very fierce and dubious, and our men had made the enemy begin to retreat, but so slowly that it scarce deserved the name, when a fresh company of about four hundred Indians came in; so that the English and their few Indian friends were quite surrounded and beset on every side. Yet they made a brave resistance for about two hours; during which time they did great execution upon their enemy, who they kept at a distance and themselves in order. For Captain Pierce cast his sixty-three English and twenty Indians into a ring, and six fought back to back, and were double – double distance all in one ring, whilst the Indians were as thick as they could stand, thirty deep. Overpowered with whose numbers, the said Captain and fifty-five of his English and ten of their Indian friends were slain upon the place, which in such a cause and upon such disadvantages may certainly be titled “The Bed of Honor.” However, they sold their worthy lives at a gallant rate, it being affirmed by those few that not without wonderful difficulty and many wounds made their escape, that the Indians lost as many fighting men in this engagement as were killed in the battle in the swamp near Narragansett, mentioned in our last letter, which were generally computed to be above three hundred.”
Today, in Scituate, there is a Captain Pierce Road.
In Cumberland, Rhode Island, there is a monument called Nine Men’s Misery. A tablet near the monument reads:
NINE MEN’S MISERY
ON THIS SPOT WHERE
THEY WERE SLAIN
BY THE INDIANS
WERE BURIED
THE NINE SOLDIERS
CAPTURED IN
PIERCE’S FIGHT
MARCH 26, 1676
The monument is located in a dark, place in the woods, near a former monastery. The monastery is now a public library. The monument consists of little more than a pile of stones cemented together by a monk and marked with a plaque. However, this site is of major historical significance because it is considered to be the oldest monument to veterans in the United States.
Persis Eames
Birth: ABT 1621 at England
Christened: 28 OCT 1621 at Fordington, St. George, Dorset, England
Death: 31 Dec 1662 at Hingham, MA
Click here to see parents: Anthony Eames and Margery Pierce
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