William B. Pierce
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History of Delaware County VOL II, Biographical by Frank D. Hambaugh
Originally Published in 1924, by Historical Publishing Co., Indianapolis
William B. Pierce, former justice of the peace in and for Salem
Township, formerly and for years engaged in the blacksmith business at
Cross Roads, a former drainage commissioner for Delaware County and now
engaged in farming, proprietor of a well improved farm in Salem
Township, residing on rural route No. 1 out of Daleville; is a native
son of Delaware County, a member of one of the real pioneer families
here, and has lived here all his life. Mr. Pierce was born on a farm in
the Cross Roads neighborhood in
son of Calaway and Ruanna (Goodpasture) Pierce; the latter of whom was
born in Warren County, Ohio, a daughter of Solomon and Sally
Goodpasture, and died at her home in this county in
1879. The late
Calaway Pierce, who lived to be ninety-five years of
age, was born in
Montgomery County, Virginia, September 17, 1822, and was a son of Thomas
and Susanna (Thompson) Pierce, both also native Virginians, the latter a
daughter of John Thompson, a native of Scotland. Thomas Pierce, who was
a soldier of the War of 1812, was born in
1796, a son of Richard and Peggy (Knight) Pierce, who had come to this
country in colonial days from
the colonists as a soldier of the Revolution. Though but sixteen years
of age when the War of 1812 came on, Thomas Pierce succeeded in
enlisting his services in behalf of the army in that struggle, and for
this service received from the government a land warrant. After his
marriage he made his home in Montgomery County, in that part of the Old
Dominion now located in West Virginia, and remained there until in 1827,
when he moved with his family to Warren County, Ohio, making his home
there until in 1832, when he came over here into Indiana with his family
and established his home on an uncleared tract of
land in section 9 of
Salem Township, this county, where he developed a farm and where he
spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1859. His
wifehad preceded him to the grave nearly twenty
years, her death having
occurred in 1840. Of the eleven children born to them eight grew to
maturity, Calaway Pierce and his seven sisters,
Malinda, Rebecca,
Arminta, Amanda, Jane, Susanna and Eliza. As will be
noted by a
comparison of above dates, Calaway Pierce was but
five years of age when
his parents left
latter state and came over here into the New Purchase and settled in
the carpenter's trade, and for twenty years or more followed that
vocation, his building operations being carried on over a wide area
throughout the region in which he lived. He then, in 1859, bought the
old Pierce home place of 120 acres and began farming, later moving into
Mt. Pleasant Township, but in 1867 moved back to Salem Township and
continued farming there until his retirement in 1891 and removal to
Daleville, where his last days were spent, his death occurring in 1917,
he then being thought to be the oldest man in Delaware County. Calaway
Pierce was twice married. By his first wife, Ruanna Goodpasture, to whom
he was married on June 11, 1849, he was the father of eight children, of
whom but three are now living, the subject of this sketch having two
brothers, Thomas and Calvin Pierce; Another brother, the late Walter
Pierce, died in 1914. There were two other brothers, John, who met death
in an accident when twelve years of age, and James, who died at the age
of forty. There were two sisters, Mrs. Florence Dietrich, who died in
1888, and Mrs. Martha Bowers, who died in 1884. The mother of these
children died in 1879 and in 1883 Calaway Pierce married
Mrs.
Matilda(Luce) McAllister, a native of
Benjamin and Ann Ohio (Girrard) Luce and widow of
Andrew McAllister, a
pioneer of
Pierce was a Republican, a Freemason and a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. William B. Pierce grew up on the home farm in
No. 10). Until he was twenty-six years of age he continued working with
his father on the farm and then, in 1887, set up a blacksmith shop at
Cross Roads and started in business there, a vocation he followed for
seventeen years, or until in 1904, when he bought a farm of fifty-five
acres, the place on which he is now living in Salem Township, and has
since been engaged in farming, meanwhile having increased his land
holdings until now he is the owner of a well kept farm of 180 acres. Mr.
Pierce is a Democrat. For three years he rendered public service as
drainage commissioner for
as justice of the peace in and for his home township. In 1881 William B.
Pierce married Mary L. McLain, daughter of William and Johanna
(Clevenger) McLain, of Monroe Township, and to this union eight children
have been born, all of whom are living save one daughter, Ethel, the
others being Earl, Fred, Kenneth, Carl, Lulu, Eva and Bertha, all of
whom are married. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have eleven grand children. Earl
Pierce married Laura Davis and has one child, Marion. Fred Pierce
married Daisy Heath. Kenneth Pierce married Bertha Hofherr,
who died on
April 2, 1924, and has three children: Freda, Edith and John Wm. Carl
Pierce married Leda Minnick and has one child, Frances. Lulu Pierce
married Homer Schafer and has one child, Mary Ann. Eva Pierce married
Jesse Ross and has three children, Donald, Harry B. and Robert, and
Bertha Pierce married Harry Fehrman and has two
children, Boyce and Nina.
--
Jeffery G. Scism, IBSSG
~~