Last Updated 9/1/00

Luther Merit PIERCE
b. 11 Jun 1868 in Wyanet, Bureau Co., IL, the son of William and Lucretia (STILES) PIERCE
m. 26 Oct 1892 in Wyanet
d. May 1956 in Wyanet; bur. in Forest Hills Cemetery, Wyanet

Fannie Elizabeth VAUGHN
b. 20 Nov 1874 in Wyanet, IL, the daughter of Thomas and Lydia (HOLLINGSHEAD) VAUGHN
d. 9 Mar 1963 in Wyanet; bur. in Forest Hills Cemetery

Luther Pierce was born into one of the pioneer families of Bureau Co., the fifth of six children. He was raised on a farm north of Wyanet, near the Walnut area.

Lizzie Vaughn was a daughter of Thomas Vaughn, one of the most prominent businessmen and farmers of the Wyanet area at that time. She was the eighth of twelve children. According to several accounts, Lizzie held a favored position in her father's eye. Upon their marriage, Luther and Lizzie established a farm across the road from her father's house. They lived in this same house the rest of their lives.

According to those that remember them, Lizzie always carried herself in a manner one would associate with a prominent family, with a concern for propriety and appearance. This is despite the fact that family fortunes declined with the death of Thomas Vaughn in 1899 and the scattering of his heirs throughout the midwest. On the other hand, Luther is remembered as being friendly to a fault, always with a kind word for a stranger or a child.

Luther and Lizzie had one child, Roland - the story goes that, after his birth, Lizzie declared that the pain of child birth was so great, there would never be another. When Roland married Mae Thompson, the daughter of a railroad laborer, Lizzie refused to bless the marriage, as she felt that Roland had married beneath himself. She continued to shun Mae through her life.

In 1998, I found a small date book for 1963, kept by Mae Pierce, Luther and Lizzie's daughter-in-law. Mae used it as a diary of sorts. The first two months of the book were dominated with the illness and impending death of Lizzie. You can read the diary here.

Child of Luthor and Lizzie Pierce (b. Wyanet):

1. Roland L. Pierce, b. 7 Sep 1898.

Luther as a boy with his family, circa 1885
Luther, Lizzie, and family on their 60th anniversary, 1952
Newspaper account of the 60th anniversary open house

From Forest Hills Cemetery, Wyanet:
    Luther and Lizzie's gravestone

Luther's obituary

Five-Generation Pedigree Chart
 

Genealogy of Stephen R. Moore - Family Page of Luther Pierce and Elizabeth Vaughn © 2000 Stephen R. Moore, 8504 Enochs Dr., Lorton, VA 22079