Jonathan W. Pearce

The Early R.I. Toolmakers & Tradesmen site would like to thank Suzanne L. Bacheller of Plainville, MA. for sharing with us her research on Jonathan W. Pearce. Sue's timeline gives us a window into the life of an important early toolmaker. What follows is based on our own research. Our research builds on Sue Bacheller's timeline, but the ideas expressed are our own.

Jonathan W. Pearce was four years old in 1820 when his father died. From 1820 to 1831, Jonathan's affairs were managed by his uncle and legal guardian, Nathaniel Pearce. Acting as guardian, Nathaniel in 1822 paid Nathan Bowen of Rehoboth for providing the young Jonathan with "boarding, clothing, & schooling." In 1831, Lyndall Bowen of Rehoboth replaced Nathaniel Pearce as Jonathan's guardian. Jonathan Pearce in 1831 turned sixteen years old and would have been on his way to learning a trade. We believe that he learned his trade in Rehoboth. His parents, his guardians,his teachers were all Rehoboth people and the Rehoboth neighborhhood he grew up in was but two miles from where Ezekiel Smith had his toolmaking and planemaking shop.

Ezekiel Smith worked as a planemaker in Rehoboth from 1823 when he took over his father's workshop until 1849 when he moved to Smithfield, R.I. In addition to toolmaking, Ezekiel for ten years owned a 7/16 share in the Peck sawmill and gristmill in Rehoboth. Smith's neighbor, Otis Peck, also owned a 7/16 share. Otis Peck's daughter, Grace C. Peck, in 1835 married Jonathan W. Pearce. Jonathan was twenty when he married in 1835 and had probably completed an apprenticeship. We believe that Jonathan apprenticed as a toolmaker to Ezekiel Smith. After completing his apprenticeship Pearce may have worked as a journeyman planemaker for Ezekiel Smith. Ezekiel had three sons who would become planemakers, but in 1835 the oldest son was just ten years old. A June 17, 1844 land deed shows that Jonathan Pearce was calling himself a planemaker in 1844 and that he was still living in Rehoboth. The births of his first two children and his second marriage all took place in Rehoboth and it is reasonable to think that he spent many if not all of the years between 1835 and 1845 living and working in Rehoboth. There is a "J.W. PIRCE" plow plane that is date stamped on the toe " 1840". This plane is evidence that Pearce was working on his own before moving to Fall River in 1845. There is no location imprint on his earliest planes, but we believe that at least some of the planes stamped "J.W. PIRCE" "WARRANTED" were made in Rehoboth before 1845.

Jonathan W. Pearce worked as a planemaker in Fall River, MA from 1845 to 1853 and in Providence, R.I. from 1854 to 1879. He stamped his planes with an interesting array of name and location imprints. The planes that he made are themselves interesting for a variety of reasons; the high quality of his work, the choice of woods that he used, and his concentration on plow planes and bench planes during his Providence years. We will leave these subjects for another time and look at how Pearce's planes show the influence of Ezekiel Smith. The shape of the wedge finial on the molding planes with the earliest imprint "J.W. PIRCE" is similar to Ezekiel Smith's wedge finial. Also similar is the decorative cutout at the throat opening in the metal fence on plow and grooving planes. Both men used woods such as mahogany and boxwood in their planemaking. Pearce is justly famous for making planes using many different kinds of wood, but he may have learned from Ezekiel Smith who also experimented with woods other than beech. Another point of comparison is the plow plane fence profile. A cross section of the fence on their plow planes shows that both men used the same decorative pattern. Lastly, both men used "WARRANTED" after their name stamp. Most Southeastern New England planemakers did not use the "warranted" imprint. Aaron Smith did, as did his sons Ezekiel and Aaron Mason Smith. The planemaker N.L. Barrus, used a " warranted" imprint and he also apprenticed to Ezekiel Smith.

Sue Bachellor's timeline follows the twists and turns of the life of Jonathan W. Pearce. Beyond the timeline, much of what happened in Pearce's life we may never know, much less understand. But one thing is obvious. His life was given strong direction by the trade he learned as a young man in Rehoboth. Jonathan W. Pearce died in 1881. In 1879, at the age of sixty four, he was still working as a planemaker on the west side of Providence.