Nancy Watson Pierce was my husband’s 2nd great-grandmother. She was married to Ward Pierce in 1865 in Hurffville, Gloucester, NJ.
As I was writing this post, I noticed something that I somehow had overlooked for a number of years. Nancy died in October of 1887. I have her youngest son’s (Irving Pierce) birthdate listed as May 1888 (according to the 1900 census – not accurate, I know).
Ward didn’t marry again until 1891, so I’m assuming that this birth date is wrong – perhaps a year off. I haven’t looked into this particular son much, so I will have to add it to my list of things to search for.
Whatever his exact birth date might have been, Nancy left behind a number of very young children when she died. It must have been really hard for her husband, who was a wounded Civil War veteran. I think that he must have been very eager to remarry, in order to have someone to take care of his children.
He did remarry – first to a woman named Elmira Kesler in 1891. She died of monomania in 1893. Monomania is an excessive mental occupation with one thing, idea, etc. (according to dictionary.com). How would you die of this? Anyway, it doesn’t sound like she was good mother material. Poor kids.
He then married a widow named Mary Lester Dea Radford in 1896. She had a couple of children of her own. By 1900, only the youngest son was still living with Ward. I think that the older siblings helped in raising the younger ones.
Anyway, here is Nancy Watson Pierce’s death certificate….
