Paul Sears

Paul Sears (1669–1740), son of Paul Sears and Deborah Willard

Mercy Freeman (1674–1747), daughter of Thomas Freeman and Rebecca Sparrow

Paul Sears was born on 15 June 1669 in Yarmouth. [1]. He died on 14 or 17 February 1739/40 in Yarmouth. [1][2][3] He is buried in the Sears Cemetery in West Brewster, Barnstable County. [3] He married Mercy, the daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Freeman) Sparrow, in 1693 in Harwich. [1]

The epigraph on his gravestone says, "Here lyes ye body of Mr. Paul Sears. Who departed this life Feb. 17 AD 1740 in ye 71 year of his age. [3]

Mercy, the daughter of Thomas Freeman and Rebecca Sparrow, was born on 30 October 1674 in Harwich. [1][4] She died on 30 August 1747. [1]

Paul and Mercy lived on Quivet Neck in Yarmouth. [1] Paul was prominent in the church of the east precinct. [1] He was admitted on 23 June 1728; Mercy was admitted on 6 August 1727. [1]

If Paul had probate records, they were probably lost in a fire. [1]

Mercy made her will on 13 December 1746 and it was filed by her executors, Daniel and Edmond Sears, on 9 September 1747. She named Ebenezer, Paul, Thomas, Joshua, Daniel, and Edmond Sears, Rebecca Hall, Deborah Howes, Mercy Blackmere, and Ann Bangs. Inventory on her estate amounted to £562-04-02. [1]

Children of Paul Sears and Mercy Freeman: Births of the children recorded in Yarmouth. [2]

i. Ebenezer Sears was born on 15 August 1694. He married Sarah Howes.

ii. Paul Sears was born on 21 December 1695. He died in early 1771 in Rochester. [1] He married Charity Whittredge on 30 May 1721 in Rochester. [1] Charity, the daughter of William and Mary Whittredge, was born about 1702 and died in 1760/7. [1]

iii. Elizabeth Sears was born on 27 August 1697. She died on 28 February 1728/9. [1] She married Nathaniel Crosby on 10 February 1725/6 in Yarmouth. [2][1] He married second Esther Young in 1732. [1]

iv. Thomas Sears was born on 6 June 1699. He died in 1755 in Plymouth. [1] He married first Elizabeth Bartlett in 1734 in Plymouth. [1] Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert and Sarah (Bartlett) Bartlett, was born in 1707 in Plymouth. [1] He married second Mehitable Fish of Sandwich after 21 March 1751/2 (intention). [1]

v. Rebecca Sears was born on 2 April 1701. She died in 1791. [1] She married Joseph Hall, Jr. on 15 October 1719. [1] Joseph was born on 6 August 1694 and died on 22 February 1772. [1]

vi. Marcy Sears was born on 7 February 1702. She married Joseph Blackmere of Rochester on 7 or 9 January 1724/5 in Rochester. [1]

vii. Deborah Sears was born on 11 March 1705. She married Thomas Howes of East Yarmouth. [1] Thomas, the son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Joyce) Howes, was born on 22 January 1699. [1]

Deborah was admitted to the second church in Yarmouth on 5 May 1725. [1]

viii. Ann Sears was born on 27 December 1706. She married Ebenezer Bangs ("Going") on 18 December 1727 in Yarmouth. [2][1] Ebenezer was the son of Captain Edward Bangs of Harwich. [1]

Edward and Ann may have moved to Gorham, Maine. [1]

ix. Joshua Sears was born on about 20 December 1708. He died on 27 September 1753 in Middletown, Connecticut. [1] He married Rebecca Mayo on 10 February 1731 in Eastham. [1] Rebecca, the daughter of John and Susannah (Freeman) Mayo of Eastham, was born on 10 October 1713. [1]

x. Daniel Sears was born on 16 July 1710. [1] He died on 28 November 1771. [1] He married Mercy Snow on 13 January 1736/7 in Eastham. [1] Mercy, the daughter of Micajah Snow of Eastham, was born on 16 September 1713 and died on 8 May 1790. [1]

xi. Captain Edmond Sears was born on 6 August 1712. He died on 12 August 1796. [1] He married [his first cousin once removed] Hannah Crowell on 7 April 1743. [1] Hannah, the daughter of Christopher Crowell and his wife Sarah Matthews, was born on 9 September 1725 and died on 22 June 1802. [1]

xii. Hannah Sears was born on 6 March 1714/5. She married Thomas Howes on 4 July 1734 in Yarmouth. [1][2] Thomas, the son of Prince and Dorcas (Joyce) Howes, was born on 27 June 1706. [1] He married second [Hannah's second cousin] Bethiah Sears. [1] Bethiah was the daughter of Captain Joseph (Silas, Richard) and Hannah (Hall) Sears. [1]

Endnotes:

1. Samuel Pearce May, The Descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1638-1888 (Albany: J. Munsell, 1890).

2. Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, vol. 1 (Warwick: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island, 1975), 1a (Paul's birth), 18–19 (births of the children), Elizabeth's marariage (144), Ann's marriage (145), Hannah and Thomas's marriage (148), Paul's death (156, 157).

3. "Paul Sears," webpage, FindaGrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39171148/paul-sears), epigraph from photograph.

4. David Hamlin, "First Settlers of Eastham, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6 (1852): 41–46.

Last revised: 17-Jul-2023