J. J. Piersol, ex-Sheriff, and at present Alderman of the First Ward of Freeport, and Deputy Sheriff of Stephenson County, is a native of the State of New Jersey, and was born in Hunterdon County, on the 8th of August, 1819. His father was Andrew D. Piersol, and his mother was Hester Taylor. They moved from the State of New Jersey to Pennsylvania when the subject of this sketch was but two years of age, settling in Northampton County. His father was a school teacher, following that profession for a period of twenty-five years. Both the father and mother died in Northampton County. They were the parents of five children, of whom J. J. Piersol was the oldest. He was educated under the tutelage of his father, and attended the Easton Academy. He afterward assisted his father in the schoolroom. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and while in the service contracted a severe cough from which he never fully recovered. The grandfather on the paternal side was Mordicai Piersol, a native of Wales, and his grandmother, formerly a Miss Douglas, was of English ancestry. The grandfather on the maternal side of the house was George Taylor, a distant relative of Gen. Taylor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
J. J. Piersol, having attained the age of fourteen, learned the trade of a blacksmith and machinist, at which he worked for twenty-six years. In 1841 he was married, at Easton, Pa., to Miss Elizabeth A. Lattig, who was born in Pennsylvania. After marriage, Mr. Piersol settled at Easton, where he worked a part of the time as a blacksmith and machinist. In the fall of 1851 he moved with his family to Stephenson County, locating at Cedarville, where he remained until 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Co. G, 93d Ill. Vol. Inf. On the organization of the company he was elected Second Lieutenant in August, and in the January following was promoted First Lieutenant, in which rank he served until he was discharged. The 93d was one of the Illinois regiments that were in Grant's army, and participated in all the movements in the front and rear of Vicksburg, beginning at Milliken's Bend in April, and closing with the surrender of Vicksburg on the 4th of July, 1863. He participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson and Champion Hills, where he was wounded by a grape shot in the left shoulder, and by a minie ball, which he still carries. It is a matter of record, considering the number of men engaged, that the latter was the bloodiest battle of the war. From 7 o'clock in the morning until between 4 and 5 in the evening, the entire army of Pemberton, numbering 40,000 men, was confronted by only about 10,000 Union troops, and yet, when reinforcements arrived in the evening, they had defeated Pemberton's army and put it to flight.

Mr. Piersol received his wound on the 16th of May, 1863, and was discharged on the 5th of January, 1864, at Memphis, Tenn. He then came home, and in the fall of that year was nominated by the Republican party for Sheriff of Stephenson County, and was elected. He assumed the duties of that office in December following, and served for two years, and as he could not legally be his own successor, he retired from the office. In 1872 he was again elected to the office of Sheriff, and was re-elected in 1874, thus serving in that capacity altogether for six years. After he retired from the office of Sheriff, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff under W. W. Robey, and was then Deputy four years under Sheriff Hayes, under Sheriff William Stuart six years, and is now Deputy under Sheriff B. F. Timms. As Sheriff and Deputy he has served eighteen years. He was elected Alderman for the First Ward of Freeport in the spring of 1885, and was re-elected in 1887.

Mr. and Mrs. Piersol are the parents of thirteen children, six of whom are living: Augustus R., Frank; Levinia W. married Charles R. Haws; Emma married John Hinline; Cora married Daniel O. Weaver; Evans P., who is the oldest, lives at home. Mr. Piersol is a member of John A. Davis Post No. 98, G. A. R.

Contributed by Carol Parrish from Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888), p. 606