Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/34

12 ing them with his conversation just before the acci- ] dent. The rar was thrown from the track and ( dashed agair.st the rocks, and the lad met his j death instantly. Both parents were long deeply affected by the shock of the accident, and Mrs. Pierce never recovered from it. The sudden be- reavement shattered the small remnant of her remaining health, yet she performed her task at the White House nobly, and sustained the dig- nit v of her husband's office. Mrs. Robert K. Lrr wrote in a private letter : " I have known many of the ladies of the White House, none more truly excellent than the afflicted wife of President Pierce. Her health was a bar to any great effort on her part to meet the expectations of the pub- lic in her high position, but she was a refined, extremely religious, and well-educated lady." She was buried by the side of her children, in the cemetery at Concord, X. II., where also the re- mains of Gen. Pierce now rest.

PIERCE, Frederick Clifton (purse), author, b. in Worcester county. Muss., 30 July, 1850. He received an academic education, was connected with the press in Massachusetts, and in isso re- moved to Illinois. He has served in the Illinois militia, and he also held the rank of colonel on the staff of Gov. Richard J. Oglesby. Mr. Pierce is a member of the principal historical societies in this country, and is the author of " Pierce History and Genealogy" (Boston, 1ST!)); "The Harwood Genealogy" (1879); "History of Barre, Mass." (1880); "'History of Graft on, 'Mass." (Woree-ter, 1880); "Peirce" History and Genealogy" (1880); " History of Rockford. 111." (Rockford, 1886); and " Pearce and Pearse Genealogy " (1888).

PIERCE, Georare Edmund, educator, b. in Southbury, Conn., 9 Sept., 1794; d. in Hudson, Ohio, 28 May, 1871. He was graduated at Yale in 1816 and at Andover theological seminary in 1821, was principal of Fairfield academy in 1816-'18, and ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Harwinton in 1822. Dr. Pierce was president of Western Reserve college in 1834-'55. Under his administration were erected an observatory and three college buildings. In 1838 Middlebury col- lege gave him the degree of D. D.

PIERCE, Henry Lillie, member of congress, b. in Stonghton, Mass., 23 Aug., 1825; d. in Boston, 17 Dec., 1896. He engaged in manufacturing, and as early as 1848 took an active part in organizing the &ldquo;Free-soil&rdquo; party in Massachusetts. He was a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1860-'6, and in 1860 was instrumental in getting a bill passed by both branches of the legislature removing the statutory prohibition upon the formation of militia companies composed of colored men. He was elected to congress as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Whiting, was re-elected for the next congressional term, and served from 1 Dec., 1873, till 3 March, 1877, when he declined a renomination. In the presidential election of 1884 he was prominent in organizing an independent movement in support of Cleveland, and had since taken a leading part in the effort to revise the tariff legislation and reduce the taxes on imports. He was mayor of Boston in 1872, and again in 1878. More than half a million of his large fortune was left for public objects and institutions and $200,000 presented to a poet and his family. &mdash; His brother, Edward Lillie, author, b. in Stoughton, Mass., 29 March, 1829; d. in Paris, France, 6 Sept., 1897, was graduated at Brown and at Harvard law-school, receiving the degree of LL. D. from Brown. He was a delegate to the National Republican convention in

1860. At the beginning of the civil war he enlisted as a private in the 3d Massachusetts regiment, and served till July, 1861, when he was detailed to collect the negroes at Hampton and set them to work on the intrenchments of that town. This was the beginning of the employment of negroes on U. S. military works. In December, 1861, the secretary of the treasury despatched Mr. Pierce to Port Royal to examine into the condition of the negroes on the sea islands. In February, 1862, he returned to Washington and reported to the government, and in March was given charge of the freedmen and plantations on those islands. He took with him nearly sixty teachers and superintendents, established schools, and suggested the formation of freedmen's aid societies, by means of which great good was accomplished. In June, 1862, Mr. Pierce made his second report to the government setting forth what he had done. These reports were afterward reprinted in the &ldquo;Rebellion Record,&rdquo; and were favorably reviewed both in Europe and the United States. The care of the negroes on the islands having been transferred to the war department, he was asked to continue in charge under its authority, but declined. He was offered the military governorship of South Carolina, but was not confirmed. He was collector of internal revenue for the 3d Massachusetts district from October, 1863, till May, 1866, district attorney in 1866-'9, secretary of the board of state charities in 1869-'74, and a member of the legislature in 1875-'6. He was a member of the Republican national conventions of 1876 and 1884, and in December, 1878, was appointed by President Hayes assistant treasurer of the United States, but declined. In 1883 he gave to the white and colored people of St. Helena island, the scene of his former labors, a library of 800 volumes. He also originated the public library of Milton, Mass., where he had resided, and had been a trustee since its organization. He had been a lecturer at the Boston law-school since its foundation. Mr. Pierce visited Europe several times. His second visit was for the inspection of European prisons, reformatories and asylums, and the result is given in his report for 1873 as secretary of the board of state charities. Mr. Pierce was a frequent contributor to newspapers and periodicals, and published numerous articles and addresses, and &ldquo;American Railroad Law&rdquo; (New York, 1857); &ldquo;Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner&rdquo; (4 vols., Boston, 1877-'93), and &ldquo;The Law of Railroads&rdquo; (Boston). He also edited &ldquo;Walter's American Law&rdquo; (1860), and compiled &ldquo;Index of the Special Railroad Laws of Massachusetts.&rdquo; (1874).

PIERCE, Henry Niles, P. E. bishop, b. in Paw- tucket, R. I., 19 Oct., 1820; d. in Fayetteville. Ark., 5 Sept., 1899. He was graduated at Brown in 1842, was ordained deacon in April, 1843, bv Bishop Freeman, and priest, in the same church, 3 Jan. 1849, by the same bishop. He spent the early years of his ministry in missionary work in Washington county. Tex., held charges in New Orleans and in Rahway, N. J., in 1854-'7, and became red or of St. John's church, Mobile, Ala., in 1857. He removed to Illinois in 1868 and accepted the rectorship of St. Paul's church, Springfield. He received the degree of D. D. from the University of Alabama in 1862. and that of LL. D. from William and Margin 1869. He was elected missionary bishop of Arkansas and Indian territory, and was consecrated in Christ church. Mobile. 25 Jan., 1870. The next year Arkansas was erected into a diocese, of which Bishop Pierce became diocesan, still retaining charge of the Indian territory mission. Bishop Pierce has published numerous occasional sermons,