USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. II > Part 26
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bury was a gentleman of tall and dignified pres- ence, with a fine benignant countenance, and the courteous manners of the old school. He was a great favorite with young and old, while he ex- emplified the family record for integrity and high moral aims. He first married, November 23. 1843, Matilda Nevius, of New Jersey, who died July 9, 1847, leaving an infant daughter, Mary Matilda, born October 12, 1844. The latter married, in 1873. Jonathan S. Eveleth, of Beverly, Massachusetts, and died June 27, 1875. Their only child, Oliver Pills- bury, born Februry 5, 1875, died on May 4 of that year. Mr. Pillsbury was married the second time, on December 24, 1850, to Sarah Wilkins, daughter of James and Sarah (Fulton) Wilkins, of Hen- niker (see Wilkins VIII). Mrs. Sarah (Wilkins) Pillsbury was born in Deering, New Hampshire, January 6, 1829. She was cducated at thic academies In Henniker and Francestown, New Hampshire. Like her husband, Mrs. Pillsbury has always been an active upholder of all good causes, which she has since maintained with the courage of her con- victions. From ISSo to 1890 she hield the responsi- ble position of treasurer of the Concord Female Charitable Society, which was founded in 1812. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury were members of the Concord Book Club, and the Warwick Shakespeare Club, two of the oldest literary societies in town. Hon. Oliver Pillsbury died at his home in Concord, New Hampshire, February 22, 1888.
This well-known New Hampshire fam- PIERCE ily not only possesses an honorable Colonial record, but figured prominently in the war for national independence, and is espe- cially distinguished as having furnished the four- teenth president of the United States.
(I) The original American ancestor of the fam- ily was Thomas Pierce, who was born in England in 1583-84, emigrated to Massachusetts Bay in 1633-34, accompanied by his wife (Elizabeth) and several children, settling in Charlestown. He was admitted a freeman May 6, 1635. His wife became a mem- ber of the church at Charlestown, January 10, 1634- 35, and he united with that body February 21. 1634- 35. In an act of the great and general court passed September 27, 1642, he was named as one of twenty- one commissioners appointed "to sce that saltpetre heaps were made by all of the farmers in the col- ony." He died in Charlestown, October 7. 1666. His cight children were: John, Samuel, Thomas, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, Persis and Abigail.
(11) Thomas (2), third son and child of Thomas (I) and Elizabeth Pierce, was born in Eng- land in 1618. He was admitted to the church at Charlestown in 1634. He became a resident of Charlestown Village (now Woburn) as early as 1643, was assessed there in 1645, served as a select- man in 1660 and was a member of the committee having charge of the division of the common lands. March 28, 1667, he was chosen one of the "Rights proprictors" by the town, and in the following year was appointed by the general court a member of a committee formulated for the same purpose. He is frequently referred to in the carly records of Woburn as Sergcant Pierce. His death occurred November 6, 1683. On May 6, 1635, he married Elizabeth Cole, who died March 5, 1688. Their children were: Abigail (who died young). John, Thomas, Elizabeth. Joseph (died young), another Joseph. Stephen, Samuel (died young), a second Samuel, William, James, Abigail and Benjamin.
(III) Stephen (1). fifth son and seventh child of Sergeant Thomas and Elizabeth (Cole) Pierce, was born in Woburn, July 16, 1651. He settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and died in that town June 10, 1733. In his will, which was dated June 7, 1732, and proved July 23. 1733, he left no land to his son Jacob, giving as a reason that "because lie went away when he was young and learned a trade, so was not profitable to the estate." Stephen Pierce was married November 18, 1676, to Tabitha Parker, and was the father of Stephen, Benjamin, Sary (Sarah), Tabitha and Jacob. The mother of these children died January 31, 1742.
(IV) Stephen (2) , eldest son and child of Stephen and Tabitha (Parker) Pierce, was born at Chelmsford in 1679. He was an industrious tiller of the soil in his native town, and died there Septem- ber 9. 1749. January 5, 1707, he married Esther Fletcher, who was born in 1681. She bore him ten children, namely: Robert, Oliver, Esther, William, Stephen, Tabitha, Remembrance, Sarah, Mary and Benjamin.
(V) Benjamin, youngest child of Stephen and Esther (Fletcher) Pierce, was born in Chelmsford, November 25. 1726. He was a lifelong resident of Chelmsford, and his death, which was untimely, oc- curred June 16, 1764. His wife, who was Elizabeth (Merrill) Pierce, of Methuen, Massachusetts, born February 22, 1728, survived him and married for her second husband a Mr. Bowers. Benjamin Pierce was the father of nine children, namely: Rebecca, Jesse and Phebe (twins), Lydia, Leafcy, Susanna, Benjamin, Esther and Merrill.
(VI) General Benjamin (2), son of Benjamin (1) and Elizabeth (Merrill) Pierce, was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, December 25, 1757. He spent his early life in his native town, was an indus- trious and thrifty farmer, and trained his children in his own simple and laborious habits. According to the Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls, 'immed- iately after the battle of Lexington, the news of which stirred the New England colonies to an inten- ser patriotism than ever before, he enlisted in Cap- tain John Ford's company. Colonel Ebenezer Bridge's Twenty-seventh regiment, and served for three months and fourteen days. The list of officers of the First Massachusetts Brigade, given probably in 1782 or .1783, gives the date of his commission as lieutenant in Colonel Joseph Vose's First regiment as July 7. 1782. He was reported in command at West Point from August 1, 1782, and was also lieutenant and paymaster of the same regiment. In the returns of effectives between September 6 and September 20, 1782, dated at Camp Verplanck's Point and Camp West Point, also in the returns between July 11 and July IS, 1783, and between July 25 and August 22, 1783. dated Camp Philadelphia, he was reported on command at West Point. From other sources we are told he served in the patriot army more or less of the time from his first enlistment till it was disbanded in 1784, attaining to the rank of captain and brevet major.
Shortly after leaving the service he removed to Ilillsborough, New Hampshire, where he ever after resided. Ile had intense political convictions, rep- resenting the school of Jefferson, and was an ardent admirer of Jackson, and a leader of his party in New Ilampshire. That he was a man of great prom- inence in his town is shown by the fact that he was chosen to represent it in the legislature successively from 1789 to 1801. Ile was on the governor's coun- cil continuously from 1803 to 1800, and served as
Pinto D. Pierce
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sheriff of Hillsborough county from 1809 to 1813. Afterwards for many years he was the sheriff of the county or a member of the governor's council. As an evidence of his popularity with his party and his satisfactory filling of the various offices to which he had been so often chosen while his party was domi- nant in the administration of affairs he was elected governor in 1827 and again in 1829. The coat and cocked hat that he wore when inaugurated are still in the possession of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
He married (first), May 24, 1787, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Andrews. who died August 3, 1788, aged twenty-one, leaving Frances (another authority gives her name as Elizabeth), who became the wife of General John McNeil. He married (second) Anna, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Harris) Kendrick, of Amherst, New Hampshire (see Ken- drick, IV), by whom he had three daughters and five sons. One of his daughters died before reach- ing womanhood. The eldest married General Solo- mon McNeil, and the youngest Hugh Lawrence, Esq., of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Both died in 1837. leaving families. The sons were Benjamin U .. John Sullivan, who died young, Charles S., who also died young, Franklin and Henry D. Benjamin U. Pierce, the eldest son, was a student in Dart- mouth College, 1807-09, leaving at the end of his third year and began reading law. When the War of 1812 broke out he entered as lieutenant the Third Regiment of Artillery and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the regular army, and so continued till his death in 1850. He was distinguished for his bravery. He was married three times and left three daughters. Benjamin Pierce died in Hillsborough. April 1, 1839. His second wife was born October 30, 1768, and died December 7. 1838.
(VII) Franklin, fourth son of Benjamin and Anna (Kendrick) Pierce, was born in Hillsborough. November 23, 1804. His preparatory studies were taken in the Hancock, Francestown and Phillips Exeter academies. fitting himself for college. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1824, ranking third in his class. In the early years of his college life he gave much attention to military tactics which served him well later. He also taught school win- ters. Immediately after graduating he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Levi Woodbury. After spending a year there he attended for a couple of years a law school at Northampton, Massachu- setts, and in the office of Judge Edmund Parker at Amherst, New Hampshire. He was admitted to the bar in 1827 and began practice in his native town. His first effort before a jury in the court- lionse at Amherst was a failure, but in no wise de- spondent. he said to a friend, "I will try 999 cases. if clients continue to trust me, and if I fail just as I have to-day I will try the thousandth. I shall live to argue cases in this court-house in a manner that will mortify neither myself nor my friends."
He was early active in politics, espousing the cause of General Jackson with ardor. He became popular with his party and was elected to the legis- lature in 1829, the last years of his father's service as governor. He served four years, the last two as speaker. In 1833 he was elected representative to congress, and was honored with a place on the judi- ciary and other important committees. After serving four years in 1837 he was elected to the United States senate, and was its youngest member, having barely reached the legal age entitling him to a seat in that body. While in congress he was noted for
his opposition to various bills which failed to meet his convictions of what was best for the public wel- fare. In 1842 he resigned his seat in the senate and returned to the practice of law in Concord, New Hampshire, whither he had removed his family in 1838, and ever afterward remained a resident. In 1845 he declined the tender of the governor to fill the vacancy in the United States senate occasioned bv the appointment of Hon. Levi Woodbury to the United States supreme bench; also the nomination for governor tendered him by the Democratic state convention, and as well the office of United States attorney-general tendered by President Polk.
Of a martial spirit from his college days, when the war with Mexico began in 1846 he enrolled him- self as a private in a volunteer Concord company and began studying military tactics and drilling in ranks, and was soon after appointed colonel of the Ninth Regiment of Infantry. On March 3, 1847, he received from President Polk the commission of brigadier-general of the volunteer army, and on March 27 embarked at Newport, Rhode Island, for Vera Cruz to join the army of General Scott, and was at the front in the battle of Contreras, August 19, when he was seriously injured in the knee by the accidental fall of his horse, but though suffering greatly and urged to withdraw by the surgeon, re- mained in the saddle till eleven o'clock at night, and again the next morning, remaining on the ground under fire till the enemy were routed. General Santa Anna desiring more time for preparation sought a meeting under flag of truce to agree on terms of armistice, and General Pierce was appointed by General Scott one of the commissioners for that purpose.
After the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapul- tepec, and the capitulation of the City of Mexico. the war was virtually over and General Pierce returned to his law practice at Concord, continuing from December, 1847, till 1852. It has been said that he has never been surpassed, if equalled, at the New Hampshire bar.
In 1850 he was elected to represent Concord in the state constitutional convention, and on the as- sembling of that convention was chosen its president. At the meeting of the Democratic National Conven- tion held at Baltimore, Maryland, June 12, IS52, lie was nominated on the forty-ninth ballot for the pres- idency of the United States, and in November was elected, receiving two hundred and fifty-four of the two hundred and ninety-six votes of the states. In his inaugural. March 4, 1853. he maintained the con- stitutionality of the fugitive slave law and denounced slavery agitation. His policy on the slave question evoked an extraordinary amount of popular excite- ment throughout the country, and led, as time showed, to tremendous and lasting results. He signed the bill to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, permitting slavery north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes which had been excluded by the Missouri compromise of 1820, thereby giving a victory for slavery than which there never was a more costly one. The remainder of his administration was embittered by a civil war in Kansas and disasters to his party in the free states.
At the expiration of his term of office in March, 1857, he returned to Concord. Afterwards he vis- ited Madeira, Great Britain, and the continent of Europe, returning in 1860. His letter to Jefferson Davis dated January 6, 1860, in which in the event of a civil war he predicted "bloodshed within our
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own borders and in our own streets." was a mistake and unfortunate though he may have been sincere in the utterance. It should be said, however, that after the breaking out of the Civil war by the attack on Fort Sumter, at a Union mass-meeting held in Con- cord, he urged the people to sustain the government against the Southern Confederacy. Afterwards Gen- eral Pierce lived in comparative retirement in Con- cord till his death, October 8, 1869.
He married Elizabeth Means, daughter of Rev. Jesse and Elizabeth (Means) Appleton, in Hamp- ton, New Hampshire. She was born in Hampton, March 12, 1806, and died in Andover, Massachusetts. December 2, 1863. Their children were three sons, two of whom died in early youth, and the youngest Benjamin, was killed in a railroad accident on the Boston and Maine railroad, between Andover and Lawrence, Massachusetts, January 6, 1853, at the age ot thirteen. The whole family are buried in the Minot enclosure of the Old North cemetery, Con- cord.
PIERCE This is a good old English name, dat- ing from a remote period, is widely distributed throughout the United States, and there is some reason for believing that some of its bearers, if not all of them, derive their origin from the ancient Percy family of North- umberland (the Hotspurs of the North ).
(I) The Pierces of Chesterfield and Keene, now before us, are the descendants of Benjamin Pierce, of Smithfield, Rhode Island, a Quaker. Information gathered from the records of that town states that he lived and died there, but fails to mention his antecedents, and in the absence of any further clue the writer is unable to identify the immigrant or obtain any account of the family's carlier ancestors. Benjamin Pierce's wife was Abigail Buffum, a sister of Joseph Buffum, of Windham, and he reared five children, whose names, with the excep- tion of the next in line of descent, are not at hand. (II) George Pierce, son of Benjamin and Abi- gail (Buffum) Pierce. was a native of Smithfield, born 1793, and went from that town to Chesterfield, New Hampshire, for the first time about the year 1816, locating in the eastern portion of the township For reasons not stated he shortly afterward returned to Smithfield, but a few years later settled per- manently in Chesterfield and resided there for the remainder of his life, which terminated August 14, 1876, at the age of about cighty-three years. July 4, 1810, he married Sophronia Mann, who survived him, and her death occurred in 1887. She was born in 1785, and lacked but one month of one hundred and two years of age a the time of her deccase. She was the mother of eleven children, namely : Adeline. Gilbert, Benjamin, George, Diana, Marshall M., Mary F., John H., Joseph W., Louisa A., and Hannah Maria.
(I]I) Benjamin (2), second son and third child of George and Sophronia (Mann) Pierce, was born in Smithfield, February 26, 1814. He was a bright. intelligent youth, and having made good use of his educational opportunities he was able when a young man to engage in teaching school. His inclination was, however, toward a business life, which he began as a traveling salesman, dealing in bits and augers. and lic was unusually success- full. About the year 1853 he engaged in the manu- facture of the above-named articles at Factory Vil- lage, and for the succeeding thirty years carried on an extensive and profitable business. During
that time he was for some thirteen years actively interested in a chisel factory at Hinsdale, having a general supervision of its affairs and disposing of its products, and he also manufactured wheelheads on a large scale. In 1882 he disposed of his business to Messrs. Currier Brothers and spent the remain- der of his life in retirement. Though not an as- pirant for public office he did not seek to evade his civic duties and when called upon in 1850 to serve as a selectman he cheerfully responded. His busi- ness ability and progressive ideas were extremely beneficial to the town, and his death, which occurred June 27, 1899, at the ripe old age of eighty-five years, was universally regretted. November II, 1842, he married Caroline A. Gale, daughter of Jesse Gale, of Petersham. Massachusetts. She be- came the mother of five children. namely: Frederick B., who will be again referred to; Carrie M .. born October 17, 1850, married J. Lyman Bliss, and re- sides in Atchison, Kansas; Nellie K., born January 25, 1853; Grace M., born December 30, 1854; died October 3, 1873; Alice.
(IV) Frederick Benjamin, eldest child and only son of Benjamin and Caroline (Gale) Pierce, was born in Chesterfield, April 20, 1845. He studied preliminarily in the public schools, from which he went to the Kimball Union Academy, Meridan, and he concluded his education at the Fort Edward Academy. He then entered the employ of his fa- ther in Chesterfield, and for a number of years was engaged in manufacturing bits on contract. In 1875 he established a brush manufactory at Chesterfield, and from 1882 to the present time he has been en- gaged exclusively in that business, The Fred. B. Pierce Company. Some six years ago he removed his business to South Keene, where much better fa- cilities were available, and his annual output has therefore greatly increased. He established also what subsequently became the Keene Chair Com- pany and is president of that enterprise. Mr. Pierce is actively interested in agriculture and spends much time at his valuable stock farm in Westmoreland. containing eight hundred acres. He is a Mason and a Knight Templar, belonging to Hugh DePayen Commandery. In politics he is a Republican and has given liberally of his time, talent and means towards the advancement of his party's interests in town, county and state. He was for a number of years moderator, served in the legislature as repre- sentative from Chesterfield in 1891-92 and in the state senate from the fourteenth district in 1889. Since being a resident of Keene he has represented Ward 3 in the legislature in 1905. Ilis religious affiliations are with the Congregational Church.
He married Emma F. Cook, who was born in Alstead. New Hampshire, April 1, 1849, daughter of Josiah W. and Rosette M. (Harrington) Cook. MFr. and Mrs. Pierce have had two children, one who died in infancy and Maude E., who married Harry D. Hopkins, one of the owners and manager of the Pierce Company of South Keenc. Their chil- fren are: Benjamin Pierce. Marion and Mar- guerite.
Carlton K. Pierce was born in Ver- PIERCE mont. He owned a farm in Goffstown, New Hampshire, and was a farmer and stone mason in Goffstown and Dunbarton for sixty years. In politics he was a Democrat. At different times he attended the Methodist and Uni- versalist church. Hle married Eliza Jones, daughter of Eliphalet Jones, of Goffstown. She was educated
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Adams Jane Peirce
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in the district schools, and attended the Universalist Church. They had children: Franklin P., Hum- phrey C. P., Oliver Bailey, mentioned below; El- mira, Eliza, Andrew and Jackson (twins), Carlton K .. James B., lives in New Boston, New Hampshire ; Henry, lives in Nashua, New Hampshire; Emma, married Charles Richards; Josephine, died in in- fancy. Mrs. Eliza (Jones) Pierce died and Mr. Pierce married for his sesond wife, Mrs. King.
(II) Oliver Bailey, third son and child of Carl- ton K. and Eliza (Jones) Pierce, was born in Goffs- town, New Hampshire, October 28, 1842. He owns a farm and has been in the lumber business for forty years. He liandles real estate, and managed a cider mill for fifteen years. He owns a circular saw, and does considerable work in that line. He bought his present place in 1902, and put up new buildings. He sold the saw mill and cider mill in Goffstown. In politics he is a Republican. He attends the Con- gregational Church. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias. and has been an Odd Fellow for many years. He was on the school board for six years. He married Eveline G. Wheeler, daughter of Rob- ert and Sarah G. Wheeler, of Dunbarton. New Hampshire. She was educated in the district schools. is a member of the Congregational Church, and belongs to the Daughters of Rebekah. They have two children: Lottie E. and Arlie L., who died young.
PIERCE The Pierce name under the different
spellings Pierce, Pairce, and Pearce, is very numerous in this country. The original form was Pers, supposed to be derived from the English Percy. Several genealogies have been written about the different American branches of the family, but it has been impossible to connect the present line with any of them.
(I) Leonidas, son of George Pierce. was born at Lexington, Massachusetts. He came to Brook- line, New Hampshire, in 1840, and took up farming. He married Susan E., daughter of Peter Warren Gould, of Maine. They had eight children, four of whom are living in 1907: Emily, a trained nurse in Boston, Massachusetts; Laura, married Roswell Lawson; George W., Perley Leonidas, whose sketch follows.
(II) Perley Leonidas, son of Leonidas and Susan E. (Gould) Pierce. was born September 20, 1847, at Brookline, New Hampshire. He lives in Brook- line, where he owns a farm and conducts a saw mill, devoting most of his time to the latter work. In 1867 he married Mary Anna Wood, daughter of Ambrose Wood, of Hollis. They had three children : Alice, who married George Kendall, of Townsend, Massachusetts; Lucretia, who married John Martin, of Brookline; Susan E., who died in infancy. He married (second) Martha William- son, 1903.
There are many distinct families bear- PEIRCE ing this name in this country, and sev- eral distinct spellings are employed. In the early Colonial records of Massachusetts, the name of the same individual is found under nu- merous spellings. The founder of the family herein treated is referred to in records of the same town as Pearse and Pierce.
(I) Abraham Peirce (or Pearce) is early found in Plymouth county, Massachusetts. He was in Plymouth as early as 1623, and is found on record ii-12
as a purchaser of lands in 1663. We do not find a record of his marriage or death.
(II) Abraham (2). son of Abraham (1) Peirce, was born in 1638, in Plymouth, and resided in Dux- bury, Massachusetts, where he died in 1718.
(III) Samuel son of Abraham (2) Peirce, re- moved from Duxbury to Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he passed his life and died. He married, Jan- uary 18, 1703, in Duxbury. Sarah Saunders, and re- moved to Gloucester immediately thereafter. He had sons born in Gloucester, namely: David, Jona- than and Joseph.
(IV) David, eldest son of Samuel and Saralı (Saunders) Pierce, was born in 1713, in Gloucester and died in that town in 1759. He married, in 1736, Susanna Stevens, and they were the parents of several daughters and three sons. The sons were: David, Joseph and William.
(V) William, third son of David and Susanna (Stevens) Peirce, was known by the title of colonel, and was three times married and had a large fam- ily of children. Among them were sons, William and George W.
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