William Pierce (politician)

William Pierce Jr. (1753 – December 10, 1789) was a Founding Father of the United States, military officer during the Revolutionary War, member of the Continental Congress, merchant, and planter and slave owner. As a delegate representing Georgia at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he left before he could sign the U.S. Constitution.

Early life

William Pierce was born in York County, Virginia in 1753, the third and youngest son of Matthew and Elizabeth Pierce.[1] As a young man, he studied art under Charles Willson Peale in Maryland.[2]

Military service

After returning to Virginia from Maryland in the summer of 1775, Pierce accepted a commission in the Continental Army. As tensions with Great Britain turned into armed conflict, he participated in the fighting at Hampton, Virginia, in September 1775. Pierce was commissioned a Captain in the 1st Continental Regiment of Artillery the following year as the new country organized its forces for war.[3] After months of guarding against British incursions in the Hampton Roads area, the First Regiment of Continental Artillery was ordered to join the Main Army at Valley Forge in the Spring of 1778.[4]

After his regiment arrived at Valley Forge, Pierce's battery was then detached to Major General John Sullivan's command in Rhode Island.[5] Suffering from poor health, Pierce voluntarily suspended his company command and accepted a position as an aide-de-camp to General Sullivan in early 1779. He attended his commander in the punitive expedition in Upstate New York to subdue the British-aligned Iroquois during the summer.[6]

Returning to Williamsburg, Virginia on furlough in early 1780, Pierce evidently studied at the College of William & Mary and was accepted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[7] As the War for American Independence shifted to the southern states, Pierce was again invited to become an aide-de-camp to a general officer in December 1780, this time to Major General Nathanael Greene. Pierce accepted the assignment and joined his new corps on its fighting retreat in North Carolina in early February 1781.[8]

Pierce proved himself valuable to Greene over the course of the next two years, not only in his secretarial duties but as a military officer. For example, he assisted in the rallying a contingent of Virginia troops at a critical moment during the Battle of Hobkirk Hill and was also Greene's selection to carry news of the Battle of Eutaw Springs to the Continental Congress.[9]

Merchant, planter, and politician

With the end of the war, Pierce established himself as a merchant and planter, marrying the daughter of a wealthy South Carolinian.[10] Conditions for business were dim during the nation's Confederation period, so Pierce sought political office with the hope of improving his prospects. He was elected to represent Chatham County in Georgia's General Assembly on February 1, 1786.[11] The state legislature promptly elected him to the Confederation Congress, as well as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

In January 1787, he attended Congress in New York, the nation's temporary capital, and in May traveled to Philadelphia for the convention.[12] Pierce attended the proceedings and spoke on a number of points. He also recorded a series of "Character Sketches", providing a narrative on the personalities of the convention's delegates.[13]

Although he agreed with the end result of the proceedings, Pierce did not sign the Constitution, having left at the end of June to attend to "a piece of business so necessary that it became unavoidable." The business was a duel with merchant John Auldjo, after tempers had flared over mishandled "mercantile dealings." Ironically, Auldjo's second, Alexander Hamilton, intervened and prevented the contest.[14] Returning to Georgia, Pierce continued in the state legislature and, in 1789, received a respectable number of votes for Governor.[15]

Death

Pierce died at his plantation near Savannah on December 10, 1789 after a lingering illness.[16]

References
  1. York County, Virginia Records Project, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
  2. Miller, Lillian B., ed. Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale: Vol. 1, Charles Willson Peale, Artist in Revolutionary America, 1735-1791. (New Haven: Published for the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, by Yale University Press, 1983), p. 135 & Purdie, Virginia Gazette Postscript, Aug. 11, 1775, p. 2.
  3. Pinkney's, Virginia Gazette, Nov. 9, 1775, p. 3 & Ford, Worthington C., ed Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789: Vol. VI, 1776. (Washington, [D.C.], Government Printing Office, 1906), p. 995
  4. Henry Laurens, March 14, 1778, to George Washington. Hoth, David R., ed. Papers of George Washington: Revolutionary War Series; Vol. XIV, 1 March-30 April 1778. (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2004), p. 176
  5. Sep. 28, 1778, Major David Bradish Orderly Book, William L. Clements Library
  6. General Orders, May 26, 1779, Edward Hand Papers, Vol. 1, p. 86, Historical Society of Pennsylvania & William Pierce, July 4, 1779, to Dwight Foster, Ch.E.7.49 Boston Public Library
  7. Phi Beta Kappa Minute Book, 177-1781, E. G. Swem Library, College of William & Mary
  8. Nathanael Greene, 4 Dec. 1780, to William Pierce. Showman, Richard K., ed. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene: Vol. VI, 1 June-25 Dec. 1780. (Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991), pp. 522-523 & Nathanael Greene, 4 Dec. 1780, to William Pierce. Showman, Richard K., ed. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene: Vol. VI, 1 June-25 Dec. 1780. (Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991), pp. 522-523
  9. Nathanael Greene, 28 Apr. 1781, to Henry Lee. Conrad, Dennis M., ed. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene: Vol. VIII, 30 Mar.-10 July 1781. (Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995), pp. 168-169 & Nathanael Greene, 11 Sep. 1781, to Thomas McKean. Conrad, Dennis M., ed. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene: Vol. IX, 11 July-2 Dec. 1781. (Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997), p. 333
  10. Gazette of the State of Georgia June 12, 1783 & "Marriages & Death Notices from the SC Weekly Gazette," South Carolina Historical & Genealogical Magazine 18, p. 145
  11. Columbian Herald, Feb. 9, 1786
  12. Smith, Paul H., ed. Letters of Delegates to Congress: Vol. 24, Nov. 6, 1786-Feb. 29, 1788. (Washington, [D.C.,]: Library of Congress, 1996), p. xx & James Madison, 6 June 1787, to Thomas Jefferson. Julian P. Boyd, ed. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. XI. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955), p. 401.
  13. Leffler, Richard, John P. Kaminski, and Samuel K. Fore, eds. William Pierce on the Constitutional Convention and the Constitution. Dallas, Tex: Harlan Crow Library, 2012.
  14. Alexander Hamilton, [20-26 July 1787], to William Pierce. Syrett, Harold C., ed. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton: Vol. IV, January 1787 – May 1788. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1962), pp. 227-228 & Alexander Hamilton, 26 July 1787, to John Auldjo. Syrett, Harold C., ed. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton: Vol. IV, January 1787 – May 1788. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1962), pp. 233-234
  15. Otho Holland Williams, 14 July 1789, to President George Washington. Item 488, Otho Holland Williams Papers, Maryland Historical Society
  16. Georgia Gazette, Decr 17 & 24, 1789
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