71st Pearl Family Reunion

The Pearl Family Reunion, July 25, 2010 — The Pearl Clan in front of the "Little River Grange" built by Austin Eugene Pearl and Arthur Eugene Pearl

This year the Pearl family held its reunion at site of the former Little River Grange Hall, now the Hampton Community Center in Hampton, CT. It was a day of celebration of family, and of remembering the two Pearl men who constructed this building over 100 years ago. Austin Eugene Pearl and his son, Arthur Eugene Pearl, built this hall which served the Little River Grange # 36 until recently, when dwindling membership forced its closing and the building was taken over and then renovated by the town of Hampton for a community center. As a Grange Hall and now as a community center, this building continues to serve its town well.

Some 55 ‘cousins’ attended this year. The ages of those present ranged from 5 1/2 months to 91 years. Some traveled from as far as Florida and Illinois to be here with us.

With plates full of good, filling and delicious food, most of our family enjoyed the pot luck lunch outside under the big trees surrounding the Hall while a few stayed inside to eat and visit in the quieter environs of the renovated dining room. There was much visiting and sharing of family news and enjoying each others company, renewing friendships and getting to know each other better. A brief business meeting followed the dinner. There it was voted to hold next year’s reunion in the same place.

Pearl Settlement in the West

I am fortunate to have recently been loaned the Pearl genealogy/history written by Marian Arlene Pearl. It has been generously shared with me by Marion Emmons who is now in possession of this history of our family. In the process of copying this record I have come across many interesting tales, learned more about the history of our family from the time of John the immigrant,and I have been blessed with more insight into the lives and times of our ancestors. One of the insights I have come to appreciate is the story of the journey of Laura Shellenbarger’s family from Connecticut to the wilds of Ohio. This courageous act typifies the determination and toughness of those who choose to undertake such a dangerous journey.

Laura contacted me after discovering our blog. Her family is descended from Capt. Timothy Pearl, a son of Timothy from whom our Hampton Pearls are descended, and a half brother of James Pearl, our direct ancestor.

Linda Shellenbarger’s great-great-great grandpa, Oliver Pearl, born in Willington, CT in 1788, left Connecticut to pursue opportunities in the west. He had married Mary Sexton in 1811. Oliver was a farmer and he and Mary lived in Ellington, CT for 8 years after their marriage before “trading his farm for 100 acres of heavily timbered land in what is now Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio. He also acquired 40 acres at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, now a part of Cleveland. With true pioneer courage, this family now consisting of a wife and 4 small children, piled their household furniture and farm equipment into wagons, leaving Connecticut in 1819 for weeks of hazardous traveling. When they reached the pioneer farm at Cuyahoga River, malarial conditions forced them to continue on to their tract of land in Berlin. This was through a wilderness so dense that Mr. Pearl had to cut a road through to enable the teams to haul the wagons. According to history they passed through a Huron Indian village, now the site of the city of Milan, some 8 miles from his homestead. Fortunately, the Indians were friendly at that time to white settlers. Mr. Pearl first erected a cabin of round logs, later replacing it with a more spacious home of hewn logs. This couple was known for their kindness and good works. They helped to organize a Methodist church and were regular in attendance. Ten children were born to this union.”

Some of the information that Marian Arlene Pearl found was in Hewson L. Peeke’s “A Standard History of Erie Co. in 2 vols published in 1916., and The Firelands Historical Soc. Norwalk, Ohio Vol. 111 pg 26 Fireland Pioneers. and Huron Co. D.A.R. records Vol. 2 1812-1939 and Pearl/ History from E. Eldridge, Pearl family Bible.

The Fire Lands resource interested me. In looking up what this referred to, I found the following. The Firelands tract was located at the western end of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now the state of Ohio. This land was set aside for people who lived in those Connecticut towns who had lost their homes when the British had burned them during the Revolutionary War. The towns affected were Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, New London, New Haven, Norwalk and Ridgefield. Eventually about 30 towns were established in the Firelands on the southern shore area of Lake Erie. But, apparently not too many people from the above Connecticut towns took advantage of this opportunity, probably because of Indian hostilities around the War of 1812 and the thickly forested land, that was hard to clear for farming. A number of members of Oliver Pearl’s family did move from northeastern Connecticut to this area of Ohio.

Dorothy Vander Meulen, Pearl Family Historian

1938 Hurricane – Letter from Elizabeth Pearl to her stepdaughters

A personal perspective of Elizabeth Pearl….

(My father, Earl Overbaugh, removing apple trees knocked down by the 1938 Hurricane on the Pearl family farm in Hampton, CT.)

Elizabeth was the 2nd wife of William Austin Pearl. She and Will did not have any children together, but Elizabeth was a loving stepmother, close to Will’s children, Beatrice, Dorothy, Eleanor and William Waite Pearl. She was my grandmother and it was not until I was a teen ager that I learned she was really a stepgrandmother. I loved her.

Grandma and Grandpa Pearl lived on Hampton Hill, on Main ST (the old Rt.6). In 1938, Rt. 6 was the main road between Hartford, CT and Providence, RI. Will and Elizabeth had a large house, newly built sometime in the early 1930’s I believe, and it was painted white with green trim. The house is situated still at the curve in old Rt. 6 where it turns sharply to the north to follow Main Street for a short way before turning sharply to the east dropping down a steep hill into the Little River Valley and from there on to Providence. Directly in front of their house, where the road turned to the north, stood a maple tree. This tree was in the middle of the intersection where Main St. and Rt. 6 joined and it is still there today protecting the house from careless drivers going too fast to make the curve. From the back of the house, Elizabeth and Will had a commanding view of the valley.

In 1938 an intense hurricane hit the New England states. The following letter was written by Elizabeth one week and a day after the storm and it is obvious from the penciled scrawl and difficulty in understanding the cramped, poorly constructed sentences and misspellings that she was still under considerable stress and exhaustion even though 8 days had passed. The letter mentions William (Bill, brother of Bea, Dorothy and Eleanor), Bert (William’s hired farmhand), Mildred (William’s wife and the mother of Joyce Rodriguez) and Maurice (Elizabeth’s son-in law from her first marriage. He lived in NY State). At the time, the town was serviced by the railroad and had its own railroad station.

It is this quiet and lovely community that the storm descended upon without warning and caused such devastation. Elizabeth’s letter is the relating of events to family living in other parts of Connecticut on how Hampton fared, and specifically how my grandparents had fared. It gives us a glimpse of the terror of this storm and how it affected the people of Hampton. No one expected it, no one had prepared for it. And, because there was no possibility of being designated as a federal disaster area at that time, these folks faced the monumental task of cleaning up from the debris and repairing the fabric of their lives on their own.

The hurricane hit on Wed. Sept. 21, 1938. This letter is dated Thurs. AM Sept. 29th and is addressed to Mrs. Eleanor P. Hall 650 Main Street, Hartford, Conn. c/o Shepard & Co. It is from Mrs. W. A., Pearl, Hampton,, Conn. It has here been edited only enough to make it more easily understood.

The Letter:

Dear Eleanor: Was glad to receive yours, and Dot’s and Bea’s letters yesterday. First mail since last Wed. Will Jewett goes to Willi [Willimantic] after it, as mail train isn’t running yet. Since this one track has been repaired [it] has been given over to food and freight for Boston. Yesterday was first train in here for week. Hampton was pretty badly hit (awful we thot till we saw Brooklyn. That is as far that way as we have been and that was terrible). No one killed or injured in our town was a wonder too. Everybody has crawled out from under and frantically working to repair roofs where it is possible to get materials which has been a big hindrance.

The roof over our bedroom, a corner off the main roof, and chimney came crashing down at once [and] blew in attic window. Some of the splintered glass Will found stuck in the attic door [some 12 to 14 feet from the window] and water poured in every where. Our hall paper, both up [stairs] and down is streaked.

Nothing but good workmanship kept this house together as it was rocked so the clock stopped twice. I thot our time had surely come when I saw Borgers porches both go, Miss Waters porch went right over the house and landed up to firehouse. One of our garage doors laid in by [our] back door [and] the cover over our well blew in front bay window and broke one glass [pane] as I was looking out. Fragments blew clear in the dining room. [The bay window was in the living room on the south side of the house and the glass would have blown clear across that room to the dining room on the north side of the house.]

Both of Mr. Fitts barn roofs and most of hay [and] part of house roof and many windows panes [blew away] which we don’t even mention now. Ford house roof and barn is a mess.

Our beautiful church steeple and belfry are in a heap between chapel and church. Parsonage chimneys and roof gone and tree on side porch. Can’t begin to tell you of everything, but our beautiful trees thru town was piled in every direction mostly in street and of course they took wires and poles also. Wed. night was like living in back woods no cars no lights. Next day the street was full of people wandering around so much to do no one seemed to know where to begin we were all in a daze. No phone to call for help. No way to get materials if we could. A temporary bridge which was only completed late Sat night into Willi. The enormous light pole by our place is still in a heap in our yard haven’t any idea when we will get juice as the Dyer Dam went out Sat which supplies power for Danielson so all workmen are laying a temporary line to Montville and after that we get fixed up. Can you imagine what that means to us. No electricity is a calamity to us no heat no anything and only water as Will dips and carrys up a pailful is so little. The porch and windows are like the road [a mess]. We can’t do cleaning till we get back to normal. We have a little hand lamp and borrowed Stella’s (Elizabeth’s sister-in law] oil stove to cook on as she was using her range [a wood stove]. Have been very thankful for the sunshine and that helps keep our spirits up and can work out side much faster if it doesn’t rain.

William and Mildred went out to Maurice’s [in NY State] Tues 4 PM [the day before the hurricane hit] with the truck to attend an auction of pure blood cows at Earlville 75 miles further on. He did and got one staid until Sat AM [when] they got over their radio the conditions this way. They had some [of the storm and rain] out there. Imagine our surprise to go down [Hammond Hill Rd to William’s farm] Wed AM and Bert told us [where William and Mildred were]. Tues night had a cloud burst here and took out most of small bridges and plenty of roads in town. Six big trees blocked William’s [road down the] hill. Will knew side roads would be left so he frantically set to work chopping and sawing and for three days to repair roofs and try and save William’s chickens. (126 drowned first night in open shelters.) Bert had dysentery so bad could hardly move so Fri and Sat Will bro’t him up here to eat. The maple in yard and ash across the road, apple tree, pear tree and lower ash are down also others on farm. Send this on to Dot as now we know they are all right will not be [down there] right away. If nice we may come out to Bea’s since you can let them know or read this. Love Mother.

…………….Dorothy Vander Meulen

PearlHomeMainStreetHampton

William and Elizabeth Pearl’s home, photo taken sometime in the 1930’s.

The Jewetts and the Pearls

Ever since Hampton was a fledgling community, forming out of the wilderness of northeastern Connecticut, the Pearl and Jewett families have figured prominently. For years families with those last names participated in the life of the community in many capacities, their talents and hard work contributing to the well being and quality of life in the town. No longer are the Pearl and Jewett names prominent here. Families have moved away, children have married and taken on new surnames, old people have died so that gradually the names have disappeared from the consciousness of many now living in Hampton. I suggest that those who are interested take a stroll through the North and South cemetaries. There you will find many stones marking the spot where many with these names slumber beneath the sod.

There are many descendants of these families still living in this area, though their names are no longer Pearl or Jewett. Pride of family is evidenced each year as the Pearl family continues to celebrate its history and its uniqueness by coming together for their annual reunion.

The Jewett and the Pearl families joined together with the marriage of John Porter Pearl to Maria Jennings Jewett in 1847 in Hampton. John Porter Pearl was the great great grandson of John Pearl the immigrant. One of John Porter and Maria Pearl’s 8 children was my great grandfather, Austin Eugene Pearl, born in 1851. Austin and his wife, Mary Weeks Pearl owned a farm across from and a little south of where the Hampton Elementary School is now situated on present day Rte. 97. Their house still sits beside the road.

The first “Hampton” Pearl was Timothy Pearl, born in 1695 in Boxford, MA. He was the son of John Pearl the immigrant. Timothy was a tanner by trade. Sometime around the year 1716, as a bachelor, he moved to Connecticut and bought 100 acres from Ebenezer Jennings on what was then known as Appaquage Hill. That piece of land was near what is now Lewis Rd. in Hampton. His first wife, Elizabeth Stevens from Massachusetts died after giving him 6 children. His second wife, Mary Leach, also from Mass. gave him 9 more. Amazing for the time, all 15 children lived to adulthood.

Austin Pearl was not only a farmer, but also a carpenter, a home builder and a postmaster in Hampton. The Hampton Post Office during Austin Pearl’s tenure as postmaster (1913 – 1921) was located on the east side of Main St., just north of the intersection of Hammond Hill Rd. After he retired, the Post Office moved to the center of town into an addition built onto the Hampton Hill Store. The Pearls found the U.S. Post Office a good source of employment it seems. Besides Austin, his daughter, Evelyn (Pearl) Estabrooks, was the Hampton Postmaster from 1936 to 1964. His sons, Reuben and William Pearl, were mail carriers on Hampton’s rural routes; William serving for 40 years and Reuben for 45. Other family members who worked at the Hampton Post Office, in various capacities and at various times were: Eleanor (Pearl) Moon, Mary (Pearl) Stone, Mary (Pearl) Emmons, Gertrude Pearl, Stella Pearl, Helen Pearl, Will Jewett and Vincent Scarpino. These names will be familiar to many long time Hampton residents.

Austin was a staunch Democrat who served as state representative from 1901 -1902, serving under then Governor, George P. McLean. He was chairman of the Hampton Democratic Party for years and was also a town selectman for 13 years. The fact that my great granddad was a Democrat fascinated me because most of his descendants in my parent’s generation of whom I was aware were avid Republicans. I enjoyed teasing my mother about her ‘Democratic’ roots. She took refuge in denial.

Austin and his son, Arthur E. Pearl, built many structures still standing in Hampton. One was the Grange Hall. One of the ones that Arthur built was the home that my parents, Earl and Dorothy (Pearl) Overbaugh bought on Parsonage Rd. when they retired and moved to town in 1963. That house is a low, one story structure. It was originally built for the Peabodys as a summer home. The land on which it stands was called Petticoat Pastures. I was told that it was modeled after the Little White House of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Warm Springs, GA. Don’t look for a similarity today, though. The house has much changed over the years. If anybody can tell me of other structures that Austin and Arthur built in Hampton and environs, I would be most grateful.

Chester Jewett, Mrs. Allen Jewett, M. Louise Jewett were among the first officers of Hampton’s Little River Grange #36 when it was organized in 1885. Mrs. Chester (Mary) Jewett was an original charter member and was a member for over 77 years. William W. Pearl was not only Past Master of the Little River Grange and of the Quinebaug Pomona Grange, but also Past Master of the Conn. State Grange. Many Pearls and Jewetts were long time members of the Hampton Grange, holding offices and actively participating in that organization until it closed it doors in 2002.

Dorothy Vander Meulen, Family Historian

American Origins of the Pearl Family

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.

A History of the Pearl-Jewett Family Reunions

PearlFamilyReunion2006

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!!

The Pearl Settlement of Hampton, Connecticut

Hampton Congregational Church, Hampton, CT

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.