Austin Eugene Pearl, (1851 – 1927) (father)
Mary Weeks Pearl, (1857 – 1923) (mother)
CHILDREN:
Eva Marie Pearl, 1876 – 1901
Arthur Eugene Pearl, 1878 – 1967
William Austin Pearl, 1880 – 1971
Reuben Everett Pearl, 1885 – 1957
Mary Almeda (Pearl) Emmons, 1888 – 1948
Florence (Flora) Belle Pearl 1891 – 1947: Never married.
Evelyn Martha (Pearl) Estabrooks, 1899 – 1977
Who said our forefathers & foremothers did not have a sense of humor!
Secretary’s notes 1961: “The twenty-third annual Jewett Family Reunion was held at “Our Acre”, Hampton; the home of Jos. and Evelyn Estabrooks on Sunday, August 20th with a picnic dinner served at 1:00 PM.
“A surprise feature after the dinner was a birthday cake provided by Marion Emmons for Jos. Estabrooks, Pearl and Philip Scarpino whose birthdays all occur on August 24th.
“While the children played games in the front yard, our president Viola J. Clapp called the meeting to order. The secretary’s report was read and approved. The treasurer’s report was also read and approved.
“The next item of business was the election of officers for the next two year period. Viola J. Clapp, President and Carl Jewett, Vice President were re-elected. The incumbent Secretary & Treasurer declined the honor, however; so the President requested various members on the distaff side of the family to take the job. It appeared though that all of the girls already had more work than they could handle, so ye scribe volunteered to try it, thus completing the slate of officers.
“Either because your Secretary was new at the job, or because your President was exhausted after trying to pick a new Secretary, there is nothing in the record indicating that any committees were named for the next year. However, the Secretary is of the opinion that it was more or less left to the President to pick committees and a location for the next reunion at a later date.
“The meeting adjourned at approximately 2:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Ulmer M. Jewett, Secretary. There were 61 in attendance.”
**************
Secretary’s notes 1962: “The twenty-fourth annual Jewett Family Reunion was again held at the home of Jos. & Evelyn Estabrooks on Sunday, July 29th at Hampton, Conn. The clan began to gather shortly after 12:00 noon, and before the day was over, some 51 members had put in their appearance.
“The first matter to be taken care of was pictures by a staff photographer, the most publicized being one of Mary Jewett holding Kevin Pearl. This was of the oldest and youngest member in attendance.
“A bounteous collection of food having arrived, a buffet dinner was served at 1:20 P.M., preceded by the saying of Grace by Annie Edmonds.
“Near the end of the dinner period, a large triple decker layer cake appeared from out of the no-where and was placed in front of Madam President. With the arrival of the cake, an original poem written by Evelyn Estabrook s and read by Bertha Greer, indicated that this was the 15th wedding anniversary of the Leon Clapp’s. At about this time, Susan Griggs appeared with a large cake with “Jewett Reunion” spelled out on it. From this point on we became an assembly of cake eaters.
“The meeting was finally called to order and the Secretary’s report was read and approved. The treasurer’s report was next read and approved. While the treasurer was counting the collection and striking a new balance, the President read the minutes of the 1st Jewett Reunion held in 1935. A show of hands indicated that there were 20 present today who had been at the first reunion.
“A rising vote of thanks was given to Evelyn & Jos Estabrooks for having us with them again. It was then suggested that our 25th reunion next year be held at the Elmer C. Jewett homestead at Clarks Corner, where the 1st one was held. The present occupant, Faun Jewett Gordon being agreeable, all present were in favor of this location.
“Members were again requested to report all births, marriages and deaths to our historian, Susan Griggs in Abington.
“The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:30 P.M. and was followed by a social hour and more cake. Respectfully submitted, Ulmer M. Jewett, Secretary”
A photo taken on the steps of the Hampton Congregational Church, from the June 9, 1929 wedding of Lewis Reginald and Beatrice (Pearl) Thayer.
Children in front – Left to Right: Arthur Pearl, Jr., Margaret Pearl, Jean Marsh, Austin Emmons
Adults- Left to Right: William Austin Pearl; Eleanor Pearl; Gerald Thayer; Dorothy Pearl; Joseph Estabrooks; the bride, Beatrice Thayer; Rev. Mutart; the groom; Lewis Reginald Thayer; Rudolph Thayer; Arthur Hall; Ruth Topliff Crook; William Waite Pearl.
Elisabeth’s original stone was set into a granite marker at some point. The original inscription reads “Here lies buried the body of Mrs Elisabeth Pearl. Died March 26, 1744, in ye 82nd year of her age.” On the granite below, a note has been added about her husband: “1650 John Pearl 1710”. (The information we have states that John Pearl was born in 1645 or 1646 in Beverley, England and died in 1720 in Boxford, MA.)
Numerous other Pearl stones are in the Mt. Vernon Cemetery, including quite a few from the recent past.
………….Allen Vander Meulen III
The people in this photo are as follows:
Standing (Rear, L to R) Dorothy Pearl, Mabel Waite Pearl, Beatrice Pearl, William Austin Pearl, Gertrude Pearl, Edith Pearl, Reuben Pearl, Estella “Stella” Pearl, Arthur Pearl Sr, Arthur Pearl Jr (in arms), Mary (Pearl) Emmons (standing in front of baby Arthur), Austin Emmons (in arms), Ernest Emmons, Austin Pearl, Eleanor Pearl.
Seated (middle) Joseph and Evelyn Estabrooks, Flora Belle Pearl.
Front (on ground) William Waite Pearl, Mary Pearl Emmons, Mary Elizabeth Pearl, Idamay Pearl, Alice Pearl, Florence Pearl.
(…from the February 2008 Newsletter)
The following story is from a letter that Pearl Scarpino (Mary Pearl (Emmons) Scarpino) wrote several years ago to Dot Vander Meulen, remembering the William Austin Pearl farm on Hammond Hill Rd. in Hampton. The farmhouse still stands across the road from Jim and Joyce (Pearl) Rodriguez’s house and it is where Joyce grew up. William A. Pearl was known as “Will”.
Pearl was curious about the farm and who owned it before Will purchased it in 1906. She did some research at the Hampton Town Hall and found out that the original purchase was for about 2 acres of land with a dwelling house thereon. The deed was signed by Frank Everett Pearl as Administrator of the estate of Charles Alworth Pearl. For this land, with house, Will paid $500. There were several more purchases of land listed for the next couple of decades which increased the size of the farm.
Further Notes about the Will Pearl Farm from Dot Vander Meulen…
Eleanor (Pearl) Moon told me about those sweet summer days when Aunt Stella and Uncle Arthur Pearl came down to their farm and they would make homemade ice cream with the children taking turns at turning the crank. They used ice from the ice house, cream from their cows, eggs from their hens and home grown fruits from the farm for flavor: peaches, strawberries, or huckleberries were some of the possibilities. Arthur and Stella had 6 children, the youngest, James, was born in 1925 and died at age 1 ½ years. The others were Edith, Florence, Alice, Idamay and Arthur. Will and Mabel had 4 children. They were Bea, the oldest, Dorothy, Eleanor and Bill. Dorothy, and Edith, both born in 1908, went to nursing school at Grace Hospital in New Haven, CT at the same time in the 1920’s.
Eleanor thought that her Dad, Will, learned to drive when he got his first car, but she was not sure just when that was. She said, “We lived at the foot of the hill and lots of times Pa didn’t have enough gas to make it to the top. He’d get halfway up and have to stop, turn around in the ditch so the fuel could drain into the carburetor and then he’d back up the hill.” Those cars of long ago had carburetors that were gravity fed, before the invention of the fuel pump. Backing up the hill made it possible for the gasoline to get to the engine and avoided the car stalling on the steep slope. Will’s cars were Fords and most had 2 seats, although Eleanor thought that he might have had a one seater (a bench seat) for his postal route at one time. Will had an uncanny ability to know exactly how fast his car was traveling without looking at the speedometer…a skill which fascinated his grandchildren, one of whom was me!
(Originally posted 3/11/2008)
Marion R. Emmons donated a large framed picture of Sylvanus Decatur Weeks to the Family at the 2007 Reunion. She is desirous that the picture remains in the family and that a record is kept of who has possession of it. Right now, it is in the possession of Dorothy Vander Meulen. Photos have been taken of the portrait and placed in the Family Scrapbook for those who would like to have a visual connection with an ancestor. Sylvanus D. Weeks married Minerva Maria Snow. He and Minerva are the parents of Mary Emma Weeks, born 27 June 1857. Mary Emma Weeks married Austin Eugene Pearl 25 July 1875. Mary died 15 Nov. 1923 and Austin died 3 Feb. 1927.
Our Hampton Pearl family is descended from John Pearle who came to the New World from England with his brother Nicholas in the late 17th century. He was the son of Nicholas and Alice (Proudfellow) Pearle, and was born in Beverley, Yorkshire, England.* It is not known exacty when he arrived on these shores, nor do we know which ship carried him here. His date of arrival was between 1670 – 1675. He settled first in Marblehead or Ipswich, MA and later in Boxford or Bradford. He was officially listed as an inhabitant of Ipswich in 1678.We do not know why John and his brother, Nicholas, emigrated from England to come to the New England colonies. Their mother, Alice, had died in England in 1669 and John Pearle’s period of indenture in Beverley had ended in Nov. 1668. These things would have freed him to go where he wished. We do know that the area in which John and Nicholas lived was suffering from a great deal of political and religious unrest, with the inhabitants of the Yorkshire area being heavily taxed, to support both the royalist and Puritan armies at different times.
We know little of the religious sympathies of the Pearle family in England. We do know that John Pearle and most of his siblings were baptized in St. John’s (Anglican) Church in Beverley. John was baptized at St. John’s Feb. 8, 1645/6. Pearle family records are found in the St. John and St. Mary Anglican churches in the area. The Puritans and Quakers were very active in the area at the time. The main parish churches of England were obligated to follow the religious affiliation of the Monarchy. Massachusetts, where John and Nicholas settled was strongly Puritan and John’s children were members of the Puritan (later Congregational) church.John Pearle was a miller, having completed his apprenticeship in England not long before he immigrated to Massachusetts. An early record of John Pearl appears in New England when he was granted mill privileges in 1671 in Marblehead, MA. At this time his brother, Nicholas, was apprenticed to John for a total period of 7 years. John married Elizabeth Holmes in 1682 in Rowley, MA. She was born in 1662 in Rowley. She was the daughter of Richard R. and Alice (Northend) Holmes. Elizabeth’s father, Richard Holmes, was a miller in Bradford and a landowner in Rowley. When John and Elizabeth married, Richard Holmes paid John Pearl’s debts to get him out of prison where he had been incarcerated for a short while for those debts. In 1684, the town of Bradford granted John and his father-in law, Richard, the rights to erect a mill on a local brook. John and Elizabeth’s home was nearby where they and John’s in-laws apparently lived together.
John and Elizabeth began their family in 1683 and produced 8 children. John died in 1720 in Bradford, his burial location unknown. Elizabeth died at age 82 in 1744 and is buried in West Boxford. They probably spent the last years of their lives in the Pearl homestead in Boxford, possibly beginning as early as 1705. Cornelius Brown had built the original house about 1704 and the Browns lived in it for many years. For some time the Pearls lived in one side of the house and the Browns in the other. It was known at this time as the Brown-Pearl house. In 1925 the house was acquired by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The living room and what the family knew as the fore room are on display at the museum and the exhibit is known as the Brown/Pearl Hall and the Brown/Pearl Harbor.**
** The above information on John Pearl was taken from the Family Tree of John Pearl(e) compiled by Norton Lee Bretz, Sept. 2003.
* Other, perhaps less reliable, sources have given Skidby, England as his birthplace. In any event, Skidby is very close to Beverley.
The above photo is of the 2006 Pearl Family Reunion.
The first Jewett Reunion was held July 28, 1935 at the home of Elmer C. Jewett at Clark’s Corner, Hampton, CT. Elmer Jewett was voted to be the first President of the Reunion and Viola Jewett Clapp was elected to serve as Secretary and Treasurer. During the WWII years, 1942-1945, the Reunion was not held. The Pearl family was always present at these reunions as members of the Jewett family through their descent from Maria Jennings Jewett who married John Porter Pearl in 1847. For many years the Pearls also held their own separate family reunions.
Looking back at the secretary minutes of the Jewett Reunion, it can be seen that the Jewetts held most of the reunion offices for all those early years. By the 1950’s more and more Pearl names were in evidence as officers and the reunions were mainly being held at either the Hampton Congregational Church Parish House, or at the homes of Pearl family members. It was the 44th reunion in 1982 at the home of Austin and Marion Emmons in Columbia, CT that the joint use of the names Jewett and Pearl was used for the annual joint meeting of the two families. However, the official vote to carry the name Jewett/Pearl Reunion was not taken until the 46th reunion in 1984, 2 years later. Since then fewer and fewer Jewetts have attended our reunions. None have come in the past few years. At our 2006 reunion, it was voted to rename our annual gathering the Pearl Reunion deleting the Jewett name altogether.
It should be noted here that the feeling of the members of the Pearl family is that the Jewetts are part of our family and will be heartily welcomed.
— All of us would dearly love to have Jewett ‘cousins’ attending our reunions again!!
Timothy Pearl, the 7th child of John and Elizabeth (Holmes) Pearl, born 23 Feb. 1694/95 in Boxford, MA, moved to eastern Connecticut about 1720. He was a tanner by trade. He bought 100 acres of land on Appaquage Hill in Windham County, Connecticut from Ebenezer Jennings for a sum of 45 pounds. This area was then known as Canada Parish. It is now called Hampton Hill. In 1724 he joined the Congregational Church which met in the first meeting house planned in 1717. Around 1753 a new meeting house was built and in 1762 Timothy was one of twenty five who purchased a pew in the church for his family. *
Timothy had 2 wives. The first was Elizabeth Stevens with whom he had six children. Elizabeth died in 1736 and she is buried in North Cemetery in Hampton. His second marriage was 15 Nov. 1737 to Mary Leach, born in 1709. Timothy and Mary had 9 children. The first was James Pearle, born 24 March 1739 or 1738. It is from James that our Hampton Pearl family is descended. Mary Leach Pearl died 27 Feb. 1790 and Timothy died 9, Oct. 1773. They are both buried in North Cemetery. **
* This information on Timothy Pearle and his settlement in Hampton is from The Family Tree of John Pearl(e) by Norton Lee Bretz.
**This information of Timothy Pearle’s family is from The Pearl & Jewett Family Genealogy & History, 2003 by Dorothy Vander Meulen.
The Pearls of Hampton 