Richard Pierce/Pearce, a printer from Boston, married Sarah Cotton, daughter of well-known Hampton minister, Seaborn Cotton, on Aug 27, 1680 in Hampton, NH. Sarah died Aug 2, 1690. I am seeking any information about their children, Richard's parentage, and what happened to Richard? Richard has been described as one of the important, early printers. He is mentioned for printing Cotton Mather's work on witchcraft which is credited with helping to ignite the Salem Witchhunt in 1692. But, most important, Richard is credited with printing "Publick Occurrences", the very first newspaper in the colonies, on 9/26/1690. He did this without the permission of the church or Massachusetts colony leaders, and copies were confiscated and burned. There appears to be only one remaining copy, and that is in the Archives in England. I have been trying to obtain a reproduction of the paper without any luck. Any thoughts? The Massachusetts courts took action against him--I have been unable to find what action was taken--It is believed that the church also took action, which may explain why so little information is available for such an important early Pearce/Pierce I believe my ancestor, Richard Pearce, who was married in 1708 in Hatfield, MA, to have been the son of Richard and Sarah, born between 1680 and 1690. Can anyone provide any possible leads? This is indeed a fascinating family. Sarah Cotton's grandfather was Gov. Simon Bradstreet, her grandmother Anne Dudley Bradstreet, a well known poetess. There is some suggestion that Richard is a descendant of Capt. William Pearce, who sailed the Mayflower, and also compiled the first book published in colonies--an almanac published in 1639. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Basil R. Percy