Hayward Peirce, Esq. is buried in the Peirce family plot in Groveland Cemetery beside his wife Judith Bailey. The carving at the top of their respective headstones – a finger pointing upward towards heaven – caught my eye. The Peirce family figures prominently in Scituate history, with a road being named after Captain Michael Peirce – but that’s a story for another day.

Hayward Peirce was born on June 22, 1753 in Scituate. “Hayward” is sometimes recorded as “Howard” and the family name is frequently misspelled as “Pierce,” but he was quite clear on the correct spelling in the end. Hayward served as a captain in the Revolutionary War:

He found time during the war to marry Judith Bailey, on June 2, 1777 at the First Parish Church. They went on to have Waldo (b. 1778), Hayward (b. 1782), Becky (b.1785), Bailey (b. 1787), Elijah (b. 1789), Silas (b. 1793) and Betsey (b. 1795).

In the book Old Scituate, he is mentioned thus:

Capt. Hayward and his son, Elijah Peirce, kept a tavern in Capt. Michael’s old house, that stood across the street from the present one.

And again, he turns up as the Justice of the Peace signing off on an affidavit given by Charles Turner, Jr, of Scituate in August of 1812.

He preceded his wife Judith in death by ten years. Their graves are in fairly good condition and Hayward’s resting place bears an American flag and the marker of an American Revolutionary War veteran. It is hard to imagine the changes he saw in his lifetime. What would he think of this place now? It would be scarcely recognizable to Hayward.

This is my contribution to Taphophile Tuesday.

Prints are available at Ali Crehan Photography.