James BEARSE, Jr.

Family/Spouse: Abiah FORD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Austin BEARSE was born on 16 Jul 1714 in Plympton, Massachusetts; died on 3 May 1764 in Halifax, Massachusetts.

James married Experience HOWLAND about 1683. Experience (daughter of John Joseph HOWLAND and Mary LEE) was born on 28 Jul 1668. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
The descent of Lucy Bearse (Austin, James, Experience Howland, John, John) from John Howland does not appear in the Elizabeth Pearson White's 'John Howland of the Mayflower, Volume 2', as there was a disagreement at the time as to whether Experience Howland was a man or a women. E.P. White wrote that "There is no proof that she married James Bearse of Barnstable, who moved to Halifax, Massachusetts. experience was considered a man until 1930(sic) when the Bearse Genealogy suggested that this Experience might have been a woman who could then have married James Bearse. No proof has been found for such a marriage.

In recent years, evidence has been found to that shows Experience Howland was indeed the wife of James Bearse. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants now accepts applications through James and Experience (Howland) Bearse and has accepted at least one through their son James Bearse Jr. and his wife Abiah Ford.

The purpose of this article is to partially fill the gap left by Elizabeth Pearson White's omission of the descendants from Experience Howland by providing the "Mayflower" descent of her great-granddaughter, Lucy (Bearse) Bryant, wife of Ezekiel Bryant of Halifax. The article also identifies Lucy and Ezekiel's three children who were mentioned, but not named, in the will of their grandfather Nathaniel Bryant.