History of the Pearce Family Cemetery

Section 07 - Township 24 - Range 20

As this small one-acre family cemetery sits off the beaten path, eluding historians. It holds a large amount history buried along with those who lie at rest here. In 1854 Samuel Jonathan Pearce brought his family and settled atop the same hill the cemetery now sits on. Samuel had served as a Florida Legislator in Tallahassee in the years prior and on 15 March 1854 Samuel was deeded the piece of property where the cemetery is located. Samuel built his family a home on his newly acquired property not far from the protection of the area's nearby forts. On 14 May 1856 Samuel's nearby neighbors, the Bradley's, were attacked by a group of Seminole Indians and two of the Bradley children lost their lives. This and several other events lead to the start of the Third Seminole Indian War, that same year Samuel was mustered in and served as a private. In the year 1857 after the close of the Third Seminole Indian War, Samuel and his wife Mary Hancock Pearce were expecting a child. It was not uncommon, during this time, for children and sometimes the mother to lose their lives during the birthing process. Due to these unfortunate circumstances Samuel and Mary lost their child during the first day of its life. The family buried the small child on the hillside where they had made their residence, making the 1 day-old baby the first burial in the Pearce Family Cemetery. The small headstone, for which the family marked their child's grave with, lies in several pieces with the inscription "To the Sacred Memory" and "J & M Pearce Born 1857 age 1 day" visible on the scattered pieces that remain.

Life for Mary and Samuel carried on after their child's death. Samuel began to make use of his previous political career and became involved with politics in Hernando County. Just prior to the start of the Civil War in the fall of 1863 Samuel was elected the probate judge of Hernando County. He served for a short time, and then on March 14th he resigned his position. Samuel went home and said bye to his wife and two children, packed up and headed out to Fort Myers. There he enlisted and served in the Civil War as Quartermaster Sergeant with the newly formed 2nd Florida Calvary, which was comprised of Union Volunteers from throughout the state. The 2nd FL Calvary was involved in numerous skirmishes across the state including involvement at Bayport. On 06 March 1865 the 2nd FL. Calvary was involved in one of their biggest skirmishes at the Battle of Natural Bridge near St. Marks, FL. The Union troops had received word that a group of Confederate forces, which they had engaged a few months prior in Cedar Key, were stationed near the St. Marks River. The Union troops started advancing on the Confederates. When the Union members reached the St. Marks River they realized the bridge, crossing the river, had been destroyed and they could not reach the Confederates on the other side. Before dawn on the morning of March 6th the Union forces attempted to cross the river at a "natural bridge". Union troops initially pushed Rebel forces back but not away from the bridge. The battle at Natural Bridge lasted most of the day but the Confederate troops stood their ground and the Union forces were unable to take the bridge. Unable to advance and gain ground the Union troops retreated to protection resulting in a Confederate victory. There were 148 Union and 26 Confederate lives lost during the battle. On 29 November 1865, soon after the Battle of Natural Bridge, the 2nd FL Calvary was muster out of service.

After his Civil War service Samuel returned to his quiet life style back at his home in what would later become Pasco County. Once again he turned to politics as a career. During 1867-68 Samuel was delegate over the 16th Election District, which consisted of Sumter and Hernando Counties. In 1869 Samuel once again became Judge Samuel J. Pearce when he was elected Judge of Hernando County. During the summer of 1870 Samuel Pearce acted as the Assistant Marshall during the 1870 U.S. Federal Census enumeration of Hernando County. Samuel and his family were included in the census count on 23 August 1870 by this time Samuel and Mary had 5 children. The Pearce Family was well known and had a large circle of friends, many of which held political offices; this would soon benefit the Pearce Family. On 31 May 1871, one year after his census work, Samuel J. Pearce passed away at the age of 47 and he became the second member of the Pearce family to be interred atop the hillside where he had built the family's home. His widow Mary and their five children Allen, Caroline, George, Mary and Samuel Jr. went on to live in that home.

On 26 July 1881 Mary Hancock Pearce widow of Samuel was struck and killed by lightning. On July 30th the Sunland Tribune carried the story, which reported her death. Mary was the third member of the of the Pearce family to become interred atop the hillside of the family's homestead. I'm not sure it was planned more then it was common practice but the family was now forming their own cemetery with the addition Mary's interment. Many cemeteries, county wide, were created in the same manner however this cemetery remained private. The children grew and married forming their own families yet they still retained the family's original homestead. Allen O. Pearce continued to live at the home his father had built and then at the turn of the century he moved to the Fivay Junction area where he served as Pasco County surveyor.

The Peace family at the turn of the century started becoming a family name associated with murderous scandals. Allen Jr., Fred and Grace Pearce all children of Allen O. were implemented in connection with a 1912 murder at Fivay Junction, none of them were convicted. Thomas Pearce also a son of Allen O. was mentioned in numerous killings in the early history of Pasco County. Thomas followed the career path of his father and became a Pasco County surveyor. On 30 September 1908 Thomas was elected the Assessor for the Town of Fivay when it became incorporated. Working as the Assessor Thomas had control over all the properties owned by the Aripeka Sawmill Co. and would direct the lumber crews to certain areas to log timbers from. As many crimes as Thomas was mentioned in he was never convicted in any of them and perhaps this was due to the large political circle of friends the family knew. On 26 March 1916 Thomas Pearce met the same death in which he had been implemented in so many times before, somewhat ironic. Thomas had been recently accepted into the San Antonio chapter of the Woodsman of the World Organization and was getting ready to attend an evening meeting. As Thomas stepped onto the front porch of his home, to hitch his horse, he was shot in an ambush. Months prior, Thomas had been mentioned in connection with the murder of a local man who died in the same manner and style, it was believed this was the motive behind the killing of Thomas Pearce according to a March 1916 article in the Dade City Banner. No one was ever convicted or connected to his death. Thomas was interred in the family cemetery on the same hillside as his grandfather, Samuel J., who he never met.

Thomas was laid to rest in a beautiful above ground crypt marked with the distinct Woodsman of the World headstone. Like most area cemeteries the Pearce Cemetery has experienced the cruelty of vandals. Not only was the oldest headstone of Baby Pearce broken but also the above ground crypt, which held the remains of Thomas Pearce, was breached. The vandals not only broke the crypt open but they robbed all the remains of Thomas Pearce and only a few scattered bones remain today. The crypt still sits broken into several pieces with the headstone toppled over. Other then the apparent signs of damage the overall maintenance of this cemetery is something of awe. After visiting cemetery after cemetery where no or little maintenance has been done, then to visit this country cemetery which lies in the middle of a cow pasture and to see how well maintained it is was shocking.

There are no names listed, as the owner of the cemetery, in the Pasco County Property Appraiser's information and the mailing address provided is factious. The address given is US Hwy 41 and nothing else, not really an address, so the true owners remain a mystery until I pull the deed. A woman in New Jersey owns the cow pasture surrounding the cemetery. It has been reported to me that some years back there was a man who was trying to collect fees for those wishing to visit the cemetery, including family. No one knew who he was and no one knows what ever came of it.

As I sat in the cemetery and looked around at how manicured the hundred year-old ornamental palms that decorate the graves of the Pearce Family were, I thought to myself I need to track down who ever it was who was doing all this work and commend them on a great job. I placed a few phone calls to some of the locals and I was surprised to find out the work had been done by one man. He was not the owner of the property however, he was a descendant of Samuel J. Pearce and his name was John. John and I discussed some of those who are buried at the family cemetery and how deep his family's history is in Pasco County. He also told me it took him a total of 18 day last year for the cemetery to look the way it does proving it's not a major undertaking to achieve a beautiful cemetery. There aren't any excuses for some of the cemeteries in Pasco County and they way they look!

Not every member of the Pearce Family is buried at this cemetery. Others chose to be buried in other local cemeteries. There are some buried in the Pearce Cemetery who do not carry the Pearce name but are related to the family. The following names and dates were taken from the headstones of those who are interred in cemetery:

This article and the photographs were contributed by Jeff Cannon. It was last revised on Aug. 5, 2005.