Pearce: All Signs Point to Oswego, Illinois

Lately, I have been working on my Pearce family line...and decided to take a trip home to delve a little deeper.

It is not my hometown, but it was for many, many years for the Pearce family. My 3x-great grandfather, Daniel Pearce, settled here with three of his siblings in 1833. They were the first permanent settlers in the area. 

I have heard rumors that a good portion of this large town is built on land that once belonged to Daniel, or his siblings (Rebecca Wilson, John & Walter Pearce).

But, I am not sure... 

I am not seeing any signs that this is true. LOL

What do you think?

This is a restaurant, along with a golf course,
that sits on Daniel Pearce's land. 

All joking aside, it was wonderful seeing all this Pearce history all around me. I met with my 1st cousins on the Pearce side while in the neighborhood, and I enjoyed telling them about what I had discovered. My seventeen-year-old cousin lives here and even learned a few things from me.

I made a point to stop in at both the Oswego and Yorkville public libraries to see what I could uncover. Let's just say, I spent a small fortune on copies! Lol

I have fallen down the rabbit hole!!

Next stop was to the Kendall County Courthouse, where I was able to retrieve my mother's birth certificate, my grandfather's birth certificate, and my great-grandfather's death certificate. 

If you have been reading my posts recently, you know that I have discovered a 3rd Pearce cousin on a FB group a fews years ago. Cousin Pearce has helped me tremendously, but we hadn't been able to meet up yet.

No photos to show, as I would like to protect her privacy. But we had a very enjoyable visit, comparing notes and just getting to know more about our our families.

As I am attempting to join the DAR eventually through Daniel's father (also a Daniel), Cousin Pearce has said that I can join through her. I would only have to prove to where our families converged, and then her application proved back to Revolutionary War veteran, Daniel Pearce.

I have my birth certificate, my mother's, and my grandfather's, all in my possession, but I still needed to prove my great-grandfather, Orson Seth Pearce, was the son of John Pearce.

Sometimes, you find help in unexpected places! I stopped in the Little White School Museum on their "Research in the Archives" day, hoping I might find a thing or two.

The Little White School Museum 

The staff there were wonderful! They were able to find 1842 and 1870 plat maps, obituaries, newspaper articles and so much more. Also, this museum had been a Methodist church first, before it was used as a schoolhouse. I discovered that it happened to be the church were Daniel, John and Orson Seth would have worshipped during their lifetime!

While they found so much for me, I was still on the trail of something that would prove Orson Seth Pearce was John Pearce's son. Bingo!!!  I discovered a will for Orson Seth's sister, which listed all the children (and a few grandchildren) of John Pearce.

So, with this piece of the puzzle, I can now prove that I am a descendent of the Daniel Pearce, a Revolutionary War veteran, and start my application process with the DAR.

What a wonderful vacation!  Over the course of a week, I was able to visit with 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, and a newly-found 3rd cousin! I visited the Pearce Cemetery, and paid my respects to my grandparents.

I found the missing puzzle piece for my DAR paperwork and got a tremendous amount of research done. I was able to walk on their land, and walk into the same church building that they had once walked, too.

What a remarkable week! How was yours?