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Richard Sears

Richard Sears

Male 1590 - 1676  (86 years)


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  • Name Richard Sears  [1, 2, 3] 
    Birth 1 Jan 1590  England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] 
    Gender Male 
    FSID G5NX-81J  [4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22] 
    Immigration 1630  Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation Husbandman 
    Burial Aug 1676  Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3] 

    • Ancient Cemetery, Yarmouth Port
    Death 26 Aug 1676  Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3, 23] 
    Person ID I37779  footsteps
    Last Modified 1 Jul 2025 

    Father John Bouchier Sears,   b. 1558, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1629, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 71 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Marie Lamoral Van Egmond,   b. 1563, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1595, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 32 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Marriage 8 May 1585  Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F2991  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Dorothy Thatcher Jones,   b. Abt 1608, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Mar 1678, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 70 years) 
    Marriage 1632  Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Paul Sears, Captain ,   b. 20 Feb 1638, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Feb 1708, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 70 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
    +2. Deborah Sears,   b. 16 Sep 1639, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 17 Aug 1732, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 92 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
    Family ID F18910  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 1 Jul 2025 

  • Notes 


    • Early in the 19th century the name Sears was pronounced by the family as Say-ers, thus leading to confusion about how it was spelled.[3] He appeared in the records sometimes as Seeres, Seer, Saeres, Sares.

      There is no evidence he came to Plymouth in 1630 nor had any connection to the migrants from Leyden. "Richard Seer" is first seen in Plymouth Colony records in the tax list of 25 Mar 1633, when he was 44, in a list of 86 persons assessed 9 shillings in corn, at 6 shillings per bushel, upon one poll. He does not appear in the 1634 tax list or the 1633 list of freemen.

      He was in Marblehead (then part of Salem) in 1637, and in 1639 is in Yarmouth as one of its' founders. In 1643 he is shown in the list of Yarmouth citizens "liable to bear arms".

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Sears_(pilgrim)_

  • Sources 
    1. [S288] FamilySearch.org, Find a Grave Index, "Find a Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVKJ-6JRF : 24 May 2022), Richard Sears, ; Burial, , ; citing record ID 45611900, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
      The cenotaph mentioned above was erected in 19th century, and is based on an early family history that has since been debunked.

    2. [S288] FamilySearch.org, Find a Grave Index, "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVN-NYGP : Fri Apr 04 03:01:25 UTC 2025), Entry for Richard Sears.
      https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVN-NYGP

    3. [S288] FamilySearch.org, Find a Grave Index, "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVK2-PNRT : Wed Apr 02 18:09:08 UTC 2025), Entry for Richard Sears.
      https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48961743/richard-sears
      Richard Sears
      BIRTH 1590 England
      DEATH 26 Aug 1676 (aged 85–86) Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA
      CENOTAPH Ancient Cemetery
      Yarmouth Port, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA
      MEMORIAL ID 48961743
      Spouse: Dorothy Jones Sears 1603–1678 (m. 1632)
      Parents: John Bourchier Sayres (1558–1629) & Marie Lamoral Egmont Sayer (1563–1595)

    4. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 07 March 2025, 19:56), entry for John Smith V (PID https://ark.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:G72P-5H4 ); contributed by various users.
      https://ark.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:G72P-5H4

    5. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700.
      https://search.ancestry.com/collections/3824/records/181319

    6. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Written by May, Samuel Pearce, b. 1828.
      http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idurl/1/803963

    7. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, https://archive.org/details/historyofoldyarm00swif/page/90/mode/2up History of Old Yarmouth- p. 91.
      A- To ye ____h Howland and [aſsistants] now aſſembled
      B- in Court att [Plimouth]

      1-[Now] ye ____h of ye Church of Christ in yarmouth whoſe names
      2-are [hereunto] affixeth [----strikeout] understanding yt Nicolas Nickerſon
      3-of __ ____ hath upon [orration] of a sermon (___ we ___) yt ____Mr Thornton
      4-____ ____ from ye ____ ____ hath ___ ___ ___
      5-tending to ye defamation & slander of Mr Thornton and ye [dev__]
      6-__h_ he hath your ___ __aging him from [talking]
      7-amongst us do signified yt we know nor heard any thing ____
      8-by him in yt sermon our ___ that was not according to ____h_
      9-taken in ye ___ he laid it ; according to is at best judgment
      10-and we a [just] of diſerning god hath [given] us. Thus ___h_ we _h__
      11-younger it of duty to witness by of _____ whom we have [defend]
      12- to speak further unto an oration may be ministered humbly
      13- ____ ____ [worthy] to ___ ___ __ men may go on in [surhwind]
      14- & [raff___] a [minist__] & [dispouses] of ye word & ye ____ ___
      15- deliver in [yoso] [derlining] ____ _____ [w'hout] [discountenanst] yt ____ ____
      16-will ____ ____
      17- yarmouth 30.4[June].67 18 ___________ _________ __________
      19 be rewarded
      20 Antony Thacher
      21 Edmond Howes
      22 William Lumpkin
      23 James Mathews
      24 James [K______]
      25 John Crow
      26 ____
      27 William Eldred
      28 Joseph Howes
      29 Tho: Howes
      30 Jeremiah Howes
      31 John Thacher
      32 Richard Sares
      33 John Miller
      34 __enry _toholding____

    8. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Read the this Source again!.
      From this Source--Pedigree Stated in Sears' genealogy Shown to be Mythical. Read that again!!

    9. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Place: Plymouth, Massachusetts; Year: 1633; Page Number: 1642.
      https://search.ancestry.com/collections/7486/records/3500289

    10. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Ancestry.com. American Marriages Before 1699 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.
      Name: Richard Sears
      Spouse: Dorothy Thacher
      Marriage Date: 1632
      Marriage Place: Plymouth, Massachusetts

    11. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Sears genealogical catalogueStatement of Responsibility: edited by L. Ray Sears IIIAuthors: Sears, L. Ray (Leslie Ray), 1952- (Added Author) May, Samuel Pearce, b. 1828 (Added Author)Format: Books/Monographs/Book with FilmLanguage: EnglishPublication: Duncan, Oklahoma : L.R. Sears, c1992Physical: [7], 789 p. in various paginations : ill., geneal. tables, maps, port.Subject Class: 929.273 Se17.

    12. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Sears genealogy, 1636-1888 : the descendents of Richard Sares or Sears of Yarmouth, Mass., with an appendix containing some notices of other families of the name of SearsAuthors: May, Samuel Pearce, b. 1828 (Main Author)Format: Manuscript/Manuscript on FilmLanguage: EnglishPublication: Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1981Physical: on 1 microfilm reel ; 16 mm. SLC, UT Family History Library United States & Canada Film 1307506 Item 45.

    13. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, The descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1628-1888 : with an appendix containing some notices of other families by the name of SearsStatement of Responsibility: by Samuel P. MayAuthors: May, Samuel Pearce, b. 1828 (Main Author) Sears, Fredrick Rufus, 1908-. Supplement ... of the James Sears family, 8th generation .. (Name/Title Added Entry)Format: Books/Monographs/Book on FilmLanguage: EnglishPublication: Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1978Physical: on 1 microfilm reel : port. ; 35 mm.Title Also Known As: Sears genealogy, 1638-1888 SLC, UT Family History Library United States & Canada Film 1036751 Item 1.
      47737186

    14. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Plymouth Colony Records Vol III, wills, folios 53, 54, 55.
      Richard Sears will dated 10 of 3rd month 1667; wife Dorothy, youngerst son Silas Sares, son in law Zachery Padduck and his wife Deborah, elder son Paul Sares, brother Thacher, Ichabod Padduck, wit Anthony Thacker and Anthony Frey. Codicil 3 Feb 1675/76. Testified to on 2 March 1676 by John Thacher and Judah Thacher brothers. Inventory 8 Oct 1676

    15. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700.
      http://search.ancestry.com/collections/3824/records/66551

    16. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, page 153.
      Shows Deborah being a daughter of Richard and Dorothy Sears...

    17. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, pages 1642-4.
      Page 1642 Richard Sears arrived in Plymouth 1633, moved to Marblehead 1637, moved to Yarmouth 1639, will dated 10 May 1667 had codicil added 3 Feb 1675-6
      page 1643 codicil witnessed 5 March 1675-6, inventory taken 6 Oct 1676; presented to court 15 Nov 1676 by wife and son, Paul; birth 1595; death 5 September 1676; married Dorothy Jones by 1637; three children listed

    18. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the ..., Volume 4 edited by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adamspages 2596-7.
      NOTE: Richard Sears is technically the last in line, this parentage is not proven in any fashion as of yet.

    19. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Sears_(pilgrim).
      Richard Sears (about 1595 - 5 September 1676) was an early settler of New England who lived in both the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony.
      The earliest record of Richard Sears is the 1633 Plymouth tax list. By 1637, by which time he had removed from Plymouth to Marblehead, he had married Dorothy Jones, daughter of George and Agnes Jones of Dinder, Somerset, England. She was the sister of Richard Jones of Dorchester and of Elizabeth (Jones) Thatcher of Yarmouth. Dorothy survived Richard, and was buried 19 March 1678-9 at Yarmouth.
      Their children were Paul, Deborah, and Silas Sears.
      Richard died at Yarmouth 5 September 1676 at the age of 81 years and 4 months.
      Sears Fraud Lineage: Horatio Gates Somerby, the fraudulent genealogist who lived in the 19th century and made money making up lineages for wealthy patrons, such as the Sears family. Another fraudulent genealogist was Gustav Anjou: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Fraudulent_Genealogies I was fooled at first by the glamorous family trees I saw on various sites.

    20. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, The New England historical and genealogical register, Vol 40Format: Bound VolumeLanguage: EnglishPublication: 1905Subject Class: 974 B2ne.

    21. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Sears genealogy, 1636-1888 : the descendents of Richard Sares or Sears of Yarmouth, Mass., with an appendix containing some notices of other families of the name of SearsAuthors: May, Samuel Pearce, b. 1828 (Main Author)Format: Manuscript/Manuscript on FilmLanguage: EnglishPublication: Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1981Physical: on 1 microfilm reel ; 16 mm.United States & Canada Film 1307506 Item 45.

    22. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Genealogies and biographical sketches of the ancestry and descendants of Richard Sears, the pilgrimStatement of Responsibility: by Edmund H. SearsAuthors: Sears, Edmund H. (Edmund Hamilton) (Main Author)Format: Books/Monographs/Book with FilmLanguage: EnglishPublication: Boston, Massachusetts : Crosby, Nichols, 1857Physical: 96 p. : port.Subject Class: 929.273 Se17.

    23. [S273] FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch FamilyTree, Book Title: Willard memoir : or, life and times of Major Simon Willard [Ancestry]page 104 [image 120].
      page 104 [image 120] Deborah Willard baptized 14 Sep 1645; married Paul Sears of Yarmouth son of Richard Sears
      page 105-6
      Name: Richard Sears see page 106 [image 122]
      Gender: Male
      Death Date: 1676
      Death Place: Yarmouth
      Father: John Bourchier Sears
      Mother: Marie L van Egmont
      Spouse: Dorothy Thacher
      Child: Paul Sears


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