William B. Pierce ------------------------------------------------------------------------ History of Delaware County VOL II, Biographical by Frank D. Hambaugh Originally Published in 1924, by Historical Publishing Co., Indianapolis William B. Pierce, former justice of the peace in and for Salem Township, formerly and for years engaged in the blacksmith business at Cross Roads, a former drainage commissioner for Delaware County and now engaged in farming, proprietor of a well improved farm in Salem Township, residing on rural route No. 1 out of Daleville; is a native son of Delaware County, a member of one of the real pioneer families here, and has lived here all his life. Mr. Pierce was born on a farm in the Cross Roads neighborhood in Salem township, June 9, 1861, and is a son of Calaway and Ruanna (Goodpasture) Pierce; the latter of whom was born in Warren County, Ohio, a daughter of Solomon and Sally Goodpasture, and died at her home in this county in 1879. The late Calaway Pierce, who lived to be ninety-five years of age, was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, September 17, 1822, and was a son of Thomas and Susanna (Thompson) Pierce, both also native Virginians, the latter a daughter of John Thompson, a native of Scotland. Thomas Pierce, who was a soldier of the War of 1812, was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1796, a son of Richard and Peggy (Knight) Pierce, who had come to this country in colonial days from England and the former of whom had served the colonists as a soldier of the Revolution. Though but sixteen years of age when the War of 1812 came on, Thomas Pierce succeeded in enlisting his services in behalf of the army in that struggle, and for this service received from the government a land warrant. After his marriage he made his home in Montgomery County, in that part of the Old Dominion now located in West Virginia, and remained there until in 1827, when he moved with his family to Warren County, Ohio, making his home there until in 1832, when he came over here into Indiana with his family and established his home on an uncleared tract of land in section 9 of Salem Township, this county, where he developed a farm and where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1859. His wifehad preceded him to the grave nearly twenty years, her death having occurred in 1840. Of the eleven children born to them eight grew to maturity, Calaway Pierce and his seven sisters, Malinda, Rebecca, Arminta, Amanda, Jane, Susanna and Eliza. As will be noted by a comparison of above dates, Calaway Pierce was but five years of age when his parents left Virginia for Ohio and he was ten when they left the latter state and came over here into the New Purchase and settled in Salem Township, in this county. Here he grew to manhood, early learning the carpenter's trade, and for twenty years or more followed that vocation, his building operations being carried on over a wide area throughout the region in which he lived. He then, in 1859, bought the old Pierce home place of 120 acres and began farming, later moving into Mt. Pleasant Township, but in 1867 moved back to Salem Township and continued farming there until his retirement in 1891 and removal to Daleville, where his last days were spent, his death occurring in 1917, he then being thought to be the oldest man in Delaware County. Calaway Pierce was twice married. By his first wife, Ruanna Goodpasture, to whom he was married on June 11, 1849, he was the father of eight children, of whom but three are now living, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, Thomas and Calvin Pierce; Another brother, the late Walter Pierce, died in 1914. There were two other brothers, John, who met death in an accident when twelve years of age, and James, who died at the age of forty. There were two sisters, Mrs. Florence Dietrich, who died in 1888, and Mrs. Martha Bowers, who died in 1884. The mother of these children died in 1879 and in 1883 Calaway Pierce married Mrs. Matilda(Luce) McAllister, a native of Miami County, Ohio, daughter of Benjamin and Ann Ohio (Girrard) Luce and widow of Andrew McAllister, a pioneer of Delaware County. This second wife died in 1912. Calaway Pierce was a Republican, a Freemason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. William B. Pierce grew up on the home farm in Salem Township and received his schooling in the Cross Roads School (district No. 10). Until he was twenty-six years of age he continued working with his father on the farm and then, in 1887, set up a blacksmith shop at Cross Roads and started in business there, a vocation he followed for seventeen years, or until in 1904, when he bought a farm of fifty-five acres, the place on which he is now living in Salem Township, and has since been engaged in farming, meanwhile having increased his land holdings until now he is the owner of a well kept farm of 180 acres. Mr. Pierce is a Democrat. For three years he rendered public service as drainage commissioner for Delaware County and for eight years he served as justice of the peace in and for his home township. In 1881 William B. Pierce married Mary L. McLain, daughter of William and Johanna (Clevenger) McLain, of Monroe Township, and to this union eight children have been born, all of whom are living save one daughter, Ethel, the others being Earl, Fred, Kenneth, Carl, Lulu, Eva and Bertha, all of whom are married. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have eleven grand children. Earl Pierce married Laura Davis and has one child, Marion. Fred Pierce married Daisy Heath. Kenneth Pierce married Bertha Hofherr, who died on April 2, 1924, and has three children: Freda, Edith and John Wm. Carl Pierce married Leda Minnick and has one child, Frances. Lulu Pierce married Homer Schafer and has one child, Mary Ann. Eva Pierce married Jesse Ross and has three children, Donald, Harry B. and Robert, and Bertha Pierce married Harry Fehrman and has two children, Boyce and Nina. -- Jeffery G. Scism, IBSSG ~~ "Proponents of each side are vying with determination to prove their ignorance is greater than the other." 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