Daily AncestorTierce
A tierce was a cask between a barrel and a hogshead in size, usually holding 42 wine gallons, used to ship rice, salt meat, sugar and similar goods.
The name comes from the French for a third, since a tierce was a third of a pipe of wine. By about 1700 the 42 gallon tierce was a standard shipping cask in the English colonies for fish, molasses, wine and other goods.
Webster's 1913 dictionary describes it as larger than a barrel and smaller than a hogshead, used for salt provisions and rice. In accounts and shipping records a tierce is both the cask and its standard contents.
As seen in a recordPlantation account book, South Carolina, 1800s
24 tierces of rice shipped to Charleston
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Tierce." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/tierce. Last checked 2026-10-03.