I'm trying to link my friend to ancestors in colonial Massachusetts by sorting out all those of the same surname in Broome county, NY in the early 1800s. Many of them are found in the town of Lisle in the 1820 census; I understand that descendants of the early settlers still live there. My hope is that some of descendants are also tracing their lines and can give me some clues.

Harmon (Herman) Pierce, b. about 1810 in Massachusetts has proven to be a challenge. Although the town clerk has the names of his parents on his death record (1901), I can't find records in Massachusetts vitals to support it. The names of his parents listed in the Lisle town records are Enoch Pierce and Mary Williams. Perhaps Enoch married more than once; records found for his marriage in MA state that he married a Mary Bowen (Bourne).

Enoch Pierce is listed in the 1850 census for Lisle as follows:

Enoch Pierce, 67, farmer, b. MA
Mary Pierce, 64, b. MA
Enos Pierce, 33, farmer, b. MA
George Pierce, 42, farmer, b. MA
Mary Ann Pierce, 26, b. NY (Cayuga co., NY - 1855 census)
Emeline Pierce, 4, b. NY
Abagail Pierce, 1, b. NY

Seven Pierce Families by Harvey Cushman Pierce (Washington, DC: 1936) contends that Enoch had two sons but doesn't name them. The compiler's source for this information is not cited so there is no way to know where he got this information. If he relied on the 1850 census, which was available at the time this was published, he may have assumed the men named here were Enoch's only sons.

Any assistance in unraveling this mystery would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Kathy