William Leigh Pierce

Background

He was born probably in 1740 in Georgia, United States. Nothing is known of his parents and his early life.

Education

There is no information about his education.

Career

During the war, William Pierce - as he is known in contemporary documents - served as aide-de-camp to General Greene, and for his conduct at the battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781, received the thanks of Congress and was presented with a sword.

He left the army as a brevet major in 1783, and engaged in business in Savannah, Georgia, as the head of the house of William Pierce & Company. In 1786 he was elected to the Continental Congress, took his seat in January 1787, and attended the sessions until late in May. His chief claim to remembrance, however, is as a member of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia. He was elected one of Georgia's delegates in the early spring of 1787 and took his place on May 31, six days after the opening session. Although he played no conspicuous role in the proceedings of the Convention, he was not without influence.

He took part in the debates on three different occasions, speaking once in favor of the election of the first branch of a federal legislature by the people and of the second branch by the states; he spoke again favoring a three-year term instead of a seven-year term for the second branch; and finally, he recommended the strengthening of the federal government as against the state governments. In a letter to St. George Tucker, of Virginia, he registered his general impressions of the Convention and his approval of the new Constitution. Parts of this letter appeared in the Georgia Gazette, March 20, 1788. He left the Convention in the midst of the proceedings and did not return to sign the finished document. Business misfortunes and the subsequent failure of his firm probably account for his absence.

Pierce's notes on the Convention debates add little to the information contained in the notes of Madison, Yates, and King. They were first published in the Savannah Georgian in 1828, known as "Pierce's Reliques. "

Pierce died at his plantation near Savannah on December 10, 1789 after a lingering illness.

Achievements

• William Pierce served with distinction at the battle of Eutaw Springs (1781) and was promoted to the rank of brevet major. He also assisted in the rallying a contingent of Virginia troops at a critical moment during the Battle of Hobkirk Hill. Elected to the Continental Congress, he recorded a series of "Pierce's Reliques", where even more valuable than the descriptions of leaders such as Madison and Franklin were his observations on less prominent delegates, who, without Pierce's comments, would be little more than names.

Works

• book

  • Oration on American Independence delivered in the Presbyterian Church, Savannah, Geo: On the Fourth of July, 1812, by appointment of the Savannah Volunteer Guards, and published at their request

Connections

About 1783 he married Charlotte, daughter of Edward Fenwick, of South Carolina. One of their two sons died as a child and the other was William Leigh Pierce, author of a volume of verse, The Year, published in 1813.

Spouse:

Charlotte Fenwick

Son:

William Leigh Pierce