Hello, I have just joined this list. I am stuck at my 3g-grandfather, William Willis Pearce, Sr. (b. NJ ca. 1764-5-66 or maybe earlier) and his brother, Jonathan (b. ca. 1762). They resided along the Orange Co., line and on Mount Pochuck, Wantage/Vernon Twp., Sussex Co., NJ at least in the 1780s and left about 1802 for the Finger Lakes. Their neighbor on Mount Pochuck was James Jacobus. Some Jacobusses went to Lake Seneca, and some to Lake Keuka. I believe the Pearces were also neighbors with Deckers and Shepards. The Jonathan Paers of Minisink, married to Blandina Terwilliger, may be the Jonathan Pearce who died at the Battle of Minisink, 1779, along with two Shepard males and others. He may also be the father of these two brothers. Don't know. This couple baptised a Sarah at about that time, witnessed by a John Wallis (Willis? Wallace?) and Gertje Van Inegen (sp?) at the Machemeck church, that being Port Jervis. My Jacobus-Pearce gg-grandmother reportedly had ties to Port Jervis as well, probably through the Decker family, but mainly the Jacobusses are found in Bergen Co., NJ. I believe that this father of the two brothers may have been married to a female "Willis" as that name picks up with Wm. Willis and repeats for genearations, and is used in his brother Jonathan's line as well. In the Willis family, many descendants were named the two names together, "William Willis," regardless of whether they were a Willis son, or son of a Willis female. I believe there is an Ellis connection further back. If not English, or Dutch, they may have been Welsh, given the Welsh names in the line. The names William and Jonathan repeat, as does Ellis. On the famale side, Wm. Willis Pearce named his two daughters Clarinda and Elizabeth. His brother, Jonathan, had a daughter, Sarah (John) Willett. There is probably a mother's or grandmother's name in their somewhere, as they were pretty faithful in how they named sons. I have found a list of Paerses married between 16_- and 1800 in NY but I do not know how they link with Jonathan Paers, who may or may not be the father of Willis and Jonathan Pearce mentioned above. I was told their father was a William Ellis, or Ellis Pearce, but that might just as well have been a Jonathan Ellis Pearce rather than Wm. Ellis Pearce. I do not know of other children of Jonathan and Blandina. I would appreciate any information anyone might come across or have. Sharon Pearce --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.