The
Pierce Family - -The growth of Sharpsville was brought about by the
furnaces which the canal made possible. The leading figure in the iron
furnace industry was General James Pierce, who came to Sharpsville
before 1860.
Evidence of Mr. Pierce’s success is the mansion
which he built, which was the most impressive house in town. It was
built on an attractive five acres of ground. The building, completed in
1874 was of brick three stories high and about 50 by 150 feet: the
wrought iron work, the tower and the tall pillars were characteristic
of the period in which the house was built. There were 30 rooms, a
basement and three finished stories in the mansion. These rooms were
large, having brick walls, frescoed ceilings and woodwork of heavy oak.
This
wasn’t the only Pierce residence in Sharpsville, there were at least
three other homes built by Mr. Pierce. One of these was occupied
by the Eckles family and more recently by Mr. and Mrs. Francis
O'Donnell and another by Dr. Walter Alexander and now by Mr. and Mrs.
George Stahl. The oldest home in Sharpsville was known for more than a
half century as the Pierce House. It was built for General Pierce but
when he erected another house it was used as a hotel, formerly known as
the Park Way Apartments, located near the Pennsylvania Depot.
General
Pierce was born on September 24, 1810, in Swanzey, Cheshire County, New
Hampshire. He worked on his father’s farm until he was 21 years of age;
he worked in the lumber business for two years and went into the
business for himself, manufacturing staves for sugar barrels. In 1839
he married Miss Chloe Holbrook, also a native of New Hampshire.
Besides
taking an interest in the lumber business, he took up farming. He and a
cousin, Jervis Bates, came to Erie County. Pennsylvania in 1844,
bringing with them cotton and woolen cloth. The bought horses with the
proceeds and made the journey back with wagons and sleighs. Mr. Pierce
returned to Erie County in the winter selling clocks. There was very
little money in this section at time and his profit of one thousand
dollars consisted wholly of Beaver and Erie Canal bonds. He was
unable to obtain the interest on the bonds at Erie so he sold them for
stoves. He sold his property in New Hampshire and moved to Cranesvil,
Erie County, Pennsylvania. In 1847, he came to
Clarksville.
The first businesses in which he was
engaged in Mercer County were mining and shipping coal in the vicinity
of Clarksville. The coal was shipped to Erie by the Beaver and Erie
Canal. The business was still in its infancy in the Shenango Valley and
was only moderately successful. The mines soon became exhausted and he
then opened new mines at Mt. Hickory near Hermitage, Hickory Township.
These mines were very valuable and laid the foundation for a successful
business career. He constructed a tram-road operated by
horsepower which conveyed the coal from the mines. This was
considered a wonderful achievement and proved to be successful until it
was superseded by the Sharpsville and Oakland Railroad. Mr. Pierce took
a great interest in railroads and was a stockholder in both. He was one
of the first to engage in the coal business in Mercer County. Until the
day of death he was one of the most prominent and successful operators
in Mercer and Lawrence Counties.
In 1859 he became the owner of
the Sharpsville furnace and started to work on the Jackson iron ore of
Lake Superior: it was then that the blast furnaces of the Shenango and
Mahoning Valleys were revived. In 1868 Mr. Pierce and William L.
Scott of Erie built the two-stack Douglas furnace. money invested in
seven of the nine furnaces located in Sharpsville and had large
investments in the iron mines at Lake Superior. These comprise his
mining, manufacturing and railroad enterprise, but he was also
president and principal owner of the Iron Banking Company of
Sharpsville and a stockholder in the Sharon Banking Company. His
farming operations were conducted on an extensive scale. Mt. Hickory
was a model farm and was equal to any of its kind and perhaps was not
surpassed by any in western Pennsylvania.
Despite his many
business activities, he had an active interest in the community. He
took a interest in education and was for a number of years a school
director. He made liberal contributions and and money for the erection
of school houses. One of his contributions of $10,000 was made in his
wife’s name toward the female professorship at Buchtel College, Akron,
Ohio. It was to be called the Chloe Pierce Professorship.
Several of the churches in Sharpsville received generous donations and
private and public enterprises were greatly aided by his contributions.
The Baptist Church was built in 1872 on lots which he donated.
Mr. Pierce, himself, however, was a Universalist and built a brick
church and a frame parsonage on his estate facing Mercer
Avenue.
General Pierce died at Mt. Hickory on
December 2, 1874 after an illness caused by a fall. His wife survived
him 12 years and died on August 16, 1886. His sons, Jonas J., Walter,
Wallace, Frank and James B. Pierce were all engaged in large business
enterprises and were prominent men in this portion of the state. One of
these, James B. Pierce, was burgess of Sharpsville from 1922 until
1926. Frank and Wallace were affiliated with the Sharpsville schools as
members of the board of directors. Walter Pierce established the
first Sharpsville newspaper, “The Advertiser”, in 1870.
Now,
however, the Pierce family have all left Sharpsville, and the mansion
has been torn down to make room for public housing, the house being too
large for a residence by modern standards. Suggestions had been made
for using it as a hospital or some other public building, but none of
these were carried out.
In looking at the life of General Pierce
one could rightfully say perhaps Sharpsville should have been called
"Pierceville" in 1874. When General Pierce came here the community had
about 12 dwellings. It was his genius that stimulated the coal,
iron, railroad and banking industries to support this community. He,
too, concerned himself with public education and donated the land and
much money for the Deeter school.
His untimely death was a
mortal blow to our then developing complimentary industries. The area
was fast becoming the Iron Capital of the World. The role that iron
played in winning the Civil War was enormous but can hardly be told
here. General Pierce was a pioneer in these then fledging without peer.
Source: (Sharpsville Centennial Commemorative Booklet, 1874-1974, by the Sharpsville Centennial Committee, 1974, pgs 17-19)
|
|