Hello Family Members! I've been watching the discussion LD started about Bishop Pierce and have spent the last few days trying to get info together before I wrote the list. I have a book entitled "THE PIERCES AND THEIR POSTERITY" which follows the family line from Phillip Pierce through the Bishop and into the 20th century. The author makes some good, logical connections between Phillip and the Pierces that she believes he descended from but had not found absolute physical proof of this connection. I am not sure how much info LD or any of you other members have on the Bishop's lineage and I'm not sure where your search is going. This book has so much info that I can't put it all down here and I don't know where to start! The one question I can almost positively answer is that Pierce's Chapel, Tx was named for Bishop George Foster Wells Pierce. My book says that after he was selected Bishop in 1854, he spent 1855-1859 traveling through Ga, Al, Mo, Ks, La, Indian Terr.(Ok), and TEXAS. On these trips, which were traveled almost exclusively on foot and by horseback, he opened churches, sought converts, and conducted conferences. During the Civil War, he was forced to remain at home in Ga., but starting in 1866, he turned his attention back to the West, where he believed the future of the country and the Methodist church lay. Over the next dozen years he made several trips back through the states he had previously visited including Texas. After reading the latest posting to the list, I took a quick look through the book to see if I could find a connection between Hugh and Phillip but didn't find one. I'll keep looking. Let me know what information I might be able to help with. By the way, as far as we know, this is not our line of Pierces but maybe the connection has just not been made yet! After all, our line comes from the Nc area and went to Ga, Ms, Al, Ar, and Texas. I have a website listing my Pierce line as far back as I have found. Please feel free to stop by and take a look at it. The link to it is below my signature. Let me know what you think and if you have any more info I could add to it or questions, I'll be happy to here from you! Sincerely, Michael S. Pierce http://community.webtv.net/Cobalt_Rage/MICHAELSPIERCES