Was Molly Brown (b. before 1732 and died between 1762 and 1786) the daughter of the Rev. John Pierson (1689-1770)? Does any lister have a copy of the abstracts of NJ wills and could check for John Pierson’s will? He died in Hanover in 1770, but had lived in Mendham and Woodbridge (as well as Long Island)? I have for decades been trying to find out two things (1) which of my Brown or allied ancestors lived in Mendham (between Chester and Mendham on Rt. 24) and had a barn set back from the road so the Indians wouldn’t steal the horses. (Which suggests things were early); and (2) who Joel Brown (d. 1786 in Essex) married. Joel died intestate, and his wife at the time was Hannah, but in 1762 he deeded property to Samuel Pierson, and his wife at the time was Molly (who would be my ancestor). I’ve been looking for an unattached Margaret for some years. Now I see a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that just might fit. (Of course, it might not. I haven’t looked at it closely enough yet.) The name Joel Brown turns up in Mendham on tax records from about 1800, and it could be a son of Joel Brown (d. 1786). I have securely identified only three of his children -- Nathaniel, Stephen (1759-1823), and James (age 20 in 1786); they clearly inherited land in Connecticut Farms (Union) along Lightning Brook. The Piersons and the Browns were connected through friendship and marriage. John Brown, Jr. accompanied Abraham Pierson, Jr. to Connecticut when he left Newark, and John Brown’s sister Mary married Thomas Pierson, Abraham, Jr.’s sister. Joel was a grandnephew through Joseph Brown, another sibling. There are several other Brown-Pierson marriages. Recently, a contact sent me a list of names, supposedly John’s children that included Mary Brown, but Pierson and Pierson (Pierson Millennium) do not list a Mary, so I am wondering if it might be a grandchild rather than the married name of a duaghter -- logically a child of Joel Brown. It is also possible that Joel’s second wife, Hannah, is the younger sister of Margaret. John Pierson’s epitaph describes him as “a peculiar economist” (by which was meant an excellent speaker, careful in his choice of words), but, since I am an economist, and perhaps a peculiar one at that, it would be fun to have an ancestor so described. Help, even help that shows that Margaret wasn't married to Joel Brown, appreciated.