Bethiah (Pearce) Hurst (abt. 1690)

Born about 1690 in Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Circumstantial evidence suggests she was the wife of Joseph Church 3rd.

Records show that Joseph Church 3rd married in 1709 in Little Compton. ^[1] The record comes from "Vital Records of Rhode Island 1636-1850" a transcription of more original records edited by James N Arnold and published in 1893. The name of Joseph's wife is not listed. It appears to come from a family record listing his children Joseph and Grace.^[2] The person supplying the family record may not have known the name of Joseph's wife or even when he married, just filling in the obvious date, the year before his son was born.

Noting that Jospeh's son Joseph, born 1710 was only 2 when he died, and that his daughter Grace was born 2 months after his death, his children did not know their father. The children were probably raised in the household of their grandparents, Joseph and Grace Church whose 8 remaining children ranged from age 5 to 21 in 1712. One can only speculate how long Joseph's widow remained in the household with her children.

Marriage of John Hurst 26 Nov 1719, in Tiverton This marriage is indexed in several ways on family search. 4 are in the "Vital Records of Rhode Island"

• Bethiah Church married John Hurst (listed under Church)^[3]
• Jethiah Pearce married John Hurst (listed under Pearce)^[4]
• John Hurst married Bethiah Church (listed under Hurst)^[5]
• John Hurst married Bethiah Pearce (listed under Hurst)^[6]

A clip of the last 2, which are together are shown in the images. They include the information that they were married by Job Almy, Justice. The only reasonable conclusions are that Bethiah is Bethiah Pearce, widow of Church, or Bethiah is Bethiah Church widow of Pearce.

Searching Rhode Island Records, the only male death for Pearce recorded 1700-1718 is for an infant John. Searching for male Church deaths, without a known spouse, and over 15, the ONLY one is Joseph Church born 1689, married 1709 , died 1712 in Tiverton (the location of Bethiah's marriage to John Hurst).

Research Notes

Besides the above marriage, there are no further records for Bethiah Church, Pearce or Hurst, or John Hurst (or any Hurst before 1800) in "Vital Records of Rhode Island" where Bethiah and John's marriage was found.

There is a Bethiah Peirce, wife of Ephraim Peirce, whose son Benjamin died 1698 in Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts.^[7] Swansea is about 7 miles north of Tiverton RI. Bethiah and Ephraim are then possible parents for the Bethiah of this profile.

There is a birth record for Beriah Pearce in Boston MA in 1689, daughter of Samuel and Mary^[8] Her father Samuel might be the Samuel with wife Mary mentioned in "Seven Pierce Families".^[9] No children are listed in the book, but Samuel was the son of John Pearce who settled in Boston, Dorchester. John was a brother of Richard Pearce of Portsmouth.

Sticking closer to home Bethiah is probably a granddaughter of Richard Pearce who was born in England, emigrated in 1647, and is first mentioned in records of Portsmouth, R.I. in 1651. His Will of 1677 mentions 7 sons. Portsmouth is on an Island about a mile across the water from Tiverton. The only one of his sons with a family group sheet listing children is George Pearce who married in 1687.

Sources

1. ↑ "Rhode Island Marriages, 1724-1916", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1N-2J4 : 22 January 2020), Joseph Church, 1709.
2. ↑ see comment by Bobbie Hall on Joseph's page.
3. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3Q-8FC9?i=337
4. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3Q-8FLM?i=352
5. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3Q-8FQS?i=348
6. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3Q-8FQS?i=348
7. ↑ "Rhode Island Town Deaths Index, 1639-1932", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DZX6-CSN2 : 9 November 2020), Bethiah in entry for Benjamin Peirce, 1698. Death Date 6 Aug 1698 Death Place Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America Death Place (Original) Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States Father's Name Ephraim Peirce Father's Sex Male Mother's Name Bethiah
8. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHM4-TGZ : 15 January 2020), Beriah Pearce, 1689. Beriah Pearce Sex Female Birth Date 7 Feb 1689 Birthplace Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America Birthplace (Original) Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States Father's Name Samuell Pearce Father's Sex Male Mother's Name Mary
9. ↑ Seven Pierce Families, collected by Harvey Cushman Pierce. Published 1936, page 218-9.(https://archive.org/details/sevenpiercefamil00pier/page/218/mode/2up>

• "Rhode Island Marriages, 1724-1916", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8KB-FXF : 22 January 2020), Bethiah Church in entry for John Hurst, 1719. John Hurst and Bethiah Church married Nov 26, 1719 in Tiverton, by Job Almy, Justice.