MONTREVILLE PIERCE is a prominent representative of the early pioneers
of Delaware county. He
belongs to that intelligent and enterprising class of men who, from the first,
evidently "came to stay," and at once identified themselves with the
interests and progress of this section of the country. They brought with them
their capital and their families, and have formed the bone and sinew which
have, amid dangers and difficulties, set in motion the car of progress and
insured the prosperity of one of the most valuable tracts of country on the
Western continent.
Mr. Pierce
belongs to the type of genuine New Englanders who have done so much towards
the growth and development of the grand Western country. He was born in Mount Holly, Rutland county, Vt., October
28, 1822.
His father, Alva Pierce, was of English descent and a native also of the "Green Mountain" State, born near the famous
city of Brattleborough, December 8,
1797. He
was a carpenter by trade and a much esteemed citizen. He served two terms in
the Vermont legislature, filled various local offices with distinction,
and was postmaster at Mount Holly for fifteen years. He died July
6, 1866, at
the good old age of nearly three score years and ten. The mother of our
subject bore the maiden name of Lydia Todd, and she, too, was a native of Vermont, born March 6, 1805. She was a zealous Christian woman and
an active member of the Baptist church for many years. Her long and useful life
came to an end in 1878.
Montreville
Pierce, the subject of this sketch, is the eldest of a family of nine children,
six boys and three girls, only one of whom, besides himself,
is now living. He was reared on a farm, and, being the eldest of the boys, the
management of the old homestead was largely entrusted to his supervision. His
educational advantages were limited to the common district schools, which he
attended during the winter months.
When our
subject was twenty years old he concluded to strike out for himself and paddle
his own canoe through life. He journeyed to Cattaraugus county,
N. Y., where he performed manual labor on a farm for one year. At the expiration of this time he returned to the scenes of his boyhood
days and engaged in the carpenter's trade for several months. He subsequently
returned to York State and accepted a position as a clerk
in a general mercantile establishment. Three years afterwards he was compelled
to give up this position on account of failing health. Returning to Mount Holly, he again resumed work at the
carpenter's trade, which he had very nearly mastered by this time.
In 1854 Mr.
Pierce moved to Kane county, Ill., and two years later to Delaware county, Iowa, where he has since lived. He found the country new and undeveloped, and
land held at exorbitant prices by speculators. He paid $700 for eighty acres in
Oneida township,
which he immediately began to cultivate and improve. There were no railroads
at that time, and Delhi was the only village in the county. In 1861 he
exchanged forty acres for eighty acres adjoining the present corporation of
the thriving little town of Delaware, where he has since made his home.
Mr. Pierce
was married July 28, 1855, taking, to share his life's fortunes, Miss Barbara Garfield, a native of Vermont, and born in Mount Holly March 3, 1827. She is a daughter of Timothy
Garfield, a New Englander by birth.
The progenitors of the Garfield
family were
early settlers in Massachusetts in
its pioneer history as a colony of Great Britain.
The first of the immediate ancestors that came to America was named Edward Garfield, who was born in the
town of
Chester, England.
He left his native
country in 1680,
immigrating to the new world with Governor Winthrop's
colony, and was known to
have resided at Watertown, Mass., in 1635. The descent of Mrs. (Garfield) Pierce is
traced as follows: Edward, the first pioneer, was the father of Edward, Jr., who was the father of
Lieutenant Thomas Garfield, who was a
direct ancestor of the martyred president, James A. Garfield.
Lieutenant
Thomas Garfield was the father of Samuel, a resident of Waltham, Mass.,
who was the father of Samuel,
Jr., who was the father of Enoch, who was the father of Timothy P., who was the
father of Mrs. Pierce. Timothy P.
Garfield came to Kane
county, Ill., in
1837, on a
prospecting tour seeking a location
for a home; he returned the same year to Mount Holly, Vt., where he then resided. The beautiful and
fertile country that
he had seen in the valley of the Fox river had, however, made such an
impression on his mind, that, in 1841, with his wife, Harriet (Frost) Garfield
and their family of four boys and four girls, he migrated to Kane county. He
conducted a hotel for many years and was known as an enterprising and
substantial man in that county. He was a practical surveyor, and filled many
offices with credit. At his death, which occurred March 27,
1859, he
left an estate of five hundred and ten acres of land.
The
congenial union of Mr. and Mrs. Pierce has resulted in the birth of seven
children, as follows : Hattie, born August 20, 1856,
died March 24,1881; Clarence A., born January 3, 1858, married to Medie Millen; Lillie, born December 12, 1861; Robert, born
March 1, 1863; Edna, born April 4, 1865; Jennie, born October 11,1868, and
Julia, born May 3, 1871.
jMr. Pierce is an intelligent man possessed of good business
tact and sound common sense, which make him a most valuable member of this
community. He has the courage of his convictions and does what he believes to
be right at all times and under all circumstances. In politics he takes no
part, but casts his vote with the Republican party,
supporting the principles of that organization with all the fervor of his
conviction.
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