Joseph H. Pierce, one of the most successful and independently situated farmers of Stephenson County, is the subject of this sketch, and resides on section 30, Florence Township. Among those who early concluded to try their fortunes in the West was Mr. Pierce. In the spring of 1854 he turned his back upon his home in Mercer County, Pa., and set out for Illinois, locating in Lancaster Township, this county. There he resided for three years, at the end of which time he concluded to go further West, and for two years prospected in the States of Minnesota and Iowa, but finding no better place than Stephenson County he returned in 1859 and settled in Florence Township, and has since been an honored and successful member of that community.
Our subject was born in what was then known as Armstrong County, Pa., but which has been designated on the map of the State as Clarion County, Sept. 13, 1830. Having in view the welfare of their son, and believing that every man ought to have a "trade to fall back on," his parents indentured him for a term of three and one-half years to a carriage maker. After serving a full apprenticeship and becoming skilled even beyond the efficiency attained in those primitive days of carriage-building, he concluded to follow the vocation which he had so successfully mastered, and did so for nearly four years. After that he was agent of the Ohio Stage Company for one and one-half years, at the end of which time he came to Stephenson County. Having a natural taste for agriculture he concluded to gratify it to the fullest extent on the broad acres of Illinois. From the day he took possession of the farm which was to be his future home, he has constantly expended effort to beautify it by good and substantial buildings and forest and fruit trees of many varieties. His landed estate in Florence Township consists of 240 acres of the most valuable land in the county, all of which is under a high state of cultivation and yields good crops.
In November, 1861, Mr. Pierce, like many young men of that as well as of this period, met his fate, in the person of Miss Nancy J. McKee, of Freeport, Ill., and in that month they were married. The contract then and there made has never been regretted by either party. The household consists of Mr. and Mrs. P. and two children -- Harry C. and Myrtle A., who are aged respectively seven and nine years.
In politics Mr. Pierce has always been a consistent yet conservative Democrat, who believes that politics may be pure, and that office does not always mean spoils. For these reasons and because of the upright life he has lived among his neighbors, the electors of Florence Township have for eight consecutive years chosen him as the Supervisor of that township, a position in the county government of Illinois which is equivalent and similar to the position of County Commissioner in Indiana, Pennsylvania and other States. It is the province of the Board of Superivsors to control the financial transactions of the county, and to provide for the care and protection of the unfortunate poor and indigent people who have no visible means of support. Mr. Pierce's long term of service in this office is of itself a sufficient acknowledgement of the regard of his neighbors.
Contributed by Karen Hammer
Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Illinois Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888 p. 501
