SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

Charles W. Pierce, Page 424

CHARLES W. PIERCE owns a valuable farm on section 30, Sheboygan Township.  Being a native-born citizen of the county, he needs no special introduction to our readers.  His birth occurred August 5, 1848, his parents being William J. and Mary A. (Roberts) Pierce.  He is one of six children, four sons and two daughters.  The former are yet living, namely:  W. L., who is married, and is a capitalist in Michigan; Clarence S., who is married, lives in Milwaukee, and is General land Agent for the Lake Shore Railroad; and Elbert E., who is superintendent of the Water Works at Ironwood, Mich.  The two sisters are deceased.

    Our subject's father, a native of Merry England, was a man of good education and followed agricultural pursuits.  He came to the United States a single man and almost entirely without capital.  He arrived in this county in 1844, before Wisconsin was admitted to the Union.  Sheboygan was a mere hamlet, and he witnessed the entire development of the county.  He passed from this life in February, 1887.  His wife is a native of the Pine Tree State, and now resides in Milwaukee.  She has reached the age of sixty-seven years, and is still hale and hearty.  She spends much of her time in travel, and in her declining years is surrounded with many of the comforts of life.

    Charles W. Pierce grew to manhood on his father's farm, and acquired his education in the common schools.  Desiring to further fit himself for the practical duties of life, he took a full course of study in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College of Chicago, from which he was graduated.  His first business venture was when he entered a store at Sheboygan Falls, and there he remained doing business under the firm name of Harriman & Pierce for four years.  He next became a manufacturer of cheese in the same village, and was successfully engaged in that pursuit for nine years.  He came to his present farm in 1883, and since that time has devoted himself to agricultural pursuits.

    Our subject chose for his wife Miss Alice Cary, with whom he was united in marriage October 5, 1871.  She was born January 27, 1853, being the eldest in a family of three children born to William P. and Alvira (Burch) Cary.  The parents were both natives of New York, and the father is still living, but now retired from business, and is a man of municipal importance in Oswego Falls, N. Y.  He is a Republican, and has been prominent in local affairs.  His wife, who died on the 28th of March, 1866, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mr. Cary still belongs.  He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  In 1856, he emigrated to Wisconsin, settling in Fond du Lac County, and after a residence of twenty-eight years returned to the Empire State.

    Mr. and Mrs. Pierce are the parents of four children:  William C., Otis C., Clara and Carrie, twins.  The mother was educated in the Sheboygan Falls High School, from which she graduated in 1870, and afterward was a successful teacher in the same school for two years.  Her brother, Erwin, a commercial man in New York, is married and has two children.  Her other brother, Charles E., a business man in Manitowoc, Wis., is also married and has two children.

    The Democratic party receives the support of our subject, but he cast his first presidential vote for Gen. U. S. Grant.  He advocates the best of schools and competent teachers, and is highly in favor of the education of the masses.  Socially, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Sheboygan Falls, and is active in benevolent work.  He and his wife are respecters of the Christian faith, and are in favor of whatever pertains to the elevation of mankind.  The farm now carried on by our subject comprises one hundred and forty acres, and is about three and a-half miles from the limits of Sheboygan and extends to the eastern line of Sheboygan Falls.  This property is valued at $250 an acre.  The family has a pleasant and desirable home, and its members are classed among the most prominent citizens of this part of the county.  It is therefore with pleasure that we give them a well-deserved place in this volume.