This is a repost of an blog entry I posted in 2007 while we were on a four week vacation to the Eastern states. The popular term Mormon refers to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"I found one!" Collin yelled at about 7 PM last night behind the the Concord Society of Friends Meeting house in Pennsylvania. "It's a Peirce!" I walked up to an old grave stone under an overgrown tree. It read "My Husband, Thomas J. Peirce, 7th 8th 1811, 12th 26th 1888"
After scraping away two inches of soil from adjacent grave stones, we identified several more Peirce family names: Thomas' wife Martha Ann; Caleb Peirce and his wife Mary May. These were the immediate kinfolk of my great great great grandfather Robert Peirce who moved west with the Mormons in 1847. Caleb and Thomas were Robert's younger brothers! (I verified the dates against a PAF file my Dad gave me) Did Robert also worship in this same building?!!
The Peirce story began over three hundred years ago when George and Ann Pearce immigrated to William Penn's new colony in the year 1684. George seems to have spelled his name all three ways (Pearce, Pierce, and Peirce). They settled about 50 miles west of Philadelphia in Thornbury Township. In fact, the township was named after Ann's hometown of Thornbury, England. George's seventh child, Caleb, is my ancestor. Caleb and his children would continue to live in Thornbury for at least 150 years.
Not all of the Peirce's stayed in Thornbury. In 1700 George (Caleb's father) purchased 402 acres of land in nearby East Marlborough Township for Caleb's older sister Betty and older brother Joshua. George eventually moved to Joshua's property and died there in 1733. This Marlborough property would eventually became the world renown Longwood Botanical Gardens.
Even though Caleb did not live at Longwood (a name given to it later by Pierre Dupont) I can still claim it as an ancestral home land through his father George! So we spent a whole day there taking in the beautiful gardens and water fountain shows. I could imagine George walking the fields before Longwood was built. I imagined Caleb and his descendants stopping over for tea at the Peirce-DuPont house which still stands today, well preserved by Longwood as an historical landmark.
Caleb and his descendants down to Robert Peirce continued to live in the Thornbury and Concord areas. So I drove the family all around these parts looking for cemeteries. We found zero Peirces in Thornbury. I found two behind a Quaker meeting house in East Marlborough Township. I found two at an Episcopal Church in Concord. Later I would find about ten Peirces in Unionville. But they all seemed to be cousins of my ancestors. No direct lines.
But when Collin found the graves of Robert's two brothers and their wives at the Concord Meetinghouse, my imagination went wild. Did Robert come to church at this very building? Indeed, the meeting house has been there since 1728...even the original George Peirce could have attended there! (P.S. a Longwood historian confirmed that George attended Concord Meeting, but it may have been prior to the construction of the building.) Did Robert's brothers Thomas J and Caleb listen to the Mormon Elders when they came to town? I wanted to experience the church that made Robert so ready to hear the Restored Gospel. After all, the Quakers seem to have paved the way for Mormonism in so many ways. Quakers believe in personal revelation and a lay ministry! In fact, wasn't Pennsylvania a kind of colonial version of Utah? (Quakers are to Pennsylvania as Mormons are to Utah.)
So I decided to attend a Quaker meeting. (As a side benefit, I could ask around about cemetery records!) This part of the story began this morning. I wanted Collin and Randy to learn about other religions to so I brought them along. First we went to the Marlborough Meeting for First Day School (the non-pagan term for Sunday School). We showed up at the advertised time of 10:00 AM. Nobody showed up. I was a little worried at seeing the dilapidated paint and weathered wood trim. A new wheelchair ramp and clean swept coffee room assured me that the meetinghouse was still in use. I suppose the congregation (or "meeting" as they say) wasn't large enough to provide a consistent First Day School.
Next we went to Concord Meeting. It was to begin at 11:15 AM. We arrived just in time. There was one car in the parking lot. I was relieved. At least there is somebody here! Besides, maybe they operate on Quaker Standard Time and more will show up. A nice man let us in, and sure enough a few more people came later. But I was told that the meeting has dwindled greatly in size. New families aren't joining and young families have moved out. I felt sorry for them. It is so hard to keep up an organization that is shrinking. I've done that in a Toastmasters Club. And who's going to keep up the graves of my Peirce relatives out back?!!
We sat in silence, for forty five minutes, pondering and listening to the Spirit. Nobody was prompted to speak this time. Then it was over. Fascinating. Afterward I took photos of the very pews that Robert Peirce may have nodded to sleep on!
But the best part was going to the Downingtown Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the afternoon. Here the congregation was younger, vibrant, and growing. Ironically, there too, we all sat in silence waiting for people to be inspired to get up and speak. But hardly a minute would pass before somebody got up. I got up. The Spirit did come to me and drove me out of my seat. Afterward, the Bishop said, "So you're a descendant of the Mormon Hollow Saints!" "I am?" I had never heard the story of Mormon Hollow!
Here is a link to the story of Edward Hunter and the Mormon Hollow Saints.
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2004/07/edward-hunter-generous-pioneer-presiding-bishop?lang=eng
Robert Peirce would have known Edward Hunter. He may even have been at Hunter's Nantmeal Seminary when Joseph Smith taught there and organized the Brandywine Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
So we had to see Nantmeal too! After church we drove about 20 miles north of the Downingtown Ward building to see the Edward Hunter home which still stands today and is a private residence. The owner was outside and let me take a photo.
The photo at the top of this article shows the path to the Nantmeal Seminary where the first Mormon Elders taught, sending shock waves down through Peirce posterity.
Below is a picture of Collin and Randy at the Concord Meeting House where Robert Peirce likely attended before becoming a Mormon.
(This article was originally written 08/05/2007)
Robert Peirce would have known Edward Hunter. He may even have been at Hunter's Nantmeal Seminary when Joseph Smith taught there and organized the Brandywine Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
So we had to see Nantmeal too! After church we drove about 20 miles north of the Downingtown Ward building to see the Edward Hunter home which still stands today and is a private residence. The owner was outside and let me take a photo.
The photo at the top of this article shows the path to the Nantmeal Seminary where the first Mormon Elders taught, sending shock waves down through Peirce posterity.
Below is a picture of Collin and Randy at the Concord Meeting House where Robert Peirce likely attended before becoming a Mormon.
(This article was originally written 08/05/2007)
