John Frederick Pierson

John Frederick Pierson (February 25, 1839 – December 20, 1932) was an American soldier, business executive, and society leader who was prominent in New York during the Gilded Age.[1]

John Frederick Pierson
Born(1839-02-25)February 25, 1839
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 20, 1932(1932-12-20) (aged 93)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1869; died 1929)​
Parent(s)Henry Lewis Pierson
Helen Maria Pierson
RelativesJeremiah H. Pierson (grandfather)

Early life

Pierson was born on February 25, 1839, in New York City. He was the son of Henry Lewis Pierson (1807–1893) and Helen Maria (née Pierson) Pierson (1807–1845), who were cousins. Among his siblings was Helen Maria Pierson, who married William Gaston Hamilton (son of John Church Hamilton and grandson of first U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton), and was the grandmother of Helen Morgan Hamilton, Pierpont Morgan Hamilton, and Alexander Morgan Hamilton.[2]

Fred, as he was known, was seventh in descent from Abraham Pierson, the first president of Yale University beginning in 1701. The first American Pierson, Abraham Pierson the Elder, came to Boston in 1639 from Yorkshire, England and helped found Southampton, New York, Stamford, Connecticut, and Newark, New Jersey.[3] His paternal grandparents were U.S. Representative from New York Jeremiah Halsey Pierson and Sarah (née Colt) Pierson.[4] His maternal grandparents were Isaac Pierson and Helen (née Fort) Pierson.[5]

Career

In 1857, he enlisted as a private in Company K of the 7th Regiment of the New York National Guard,[6] and was attached to the staff of Brig. Gen. William Hall.[1] At the start of the American Civil War, Pierson helped organize the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was appointed captain in May 1861. He was promoted several times and assumed command of the regiment on October 9, 1862, with the rank of colonel.[1] Attached to the 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac, he led the 1st New York in actions at the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas and the Battle of Fredericksburg. After the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Colonel Pierson was honorably discharged and mustered out on May 25, 1863. For distinguished service, he was brevetted brigadier general of the United States Volunteers for "gallant and meritorious services."[1]

Later career

After the War ended, Pierson took up a business career, including the family business, Pierson & Co.[7] He also served as president of the Ramapo Foundry and Wheel Works, the Ramapo Hunting and Villa Park Association, the Ramapo Manufacturing Company, the New York Association for the Protection of Game, the New York City Marble Cemetery, the A. and N. Realty Company, and the New York Stamping Company.[1]

He also served as a trustee of the East River Savings Bank and was vice president of the Northern Dispensary.[1]

Society life

In 1892, Pierson, his wife Susan, and their eldest daughter were all included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[8][9] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[10] Pierson was a member of the Union Club of the City of New York, the New York Yacht Club, the Tuxedo Club, and the Army and Navy Club.[1]

The Pierson's home in Newport, Roselawn, was built by her his father-in-law, James Rhodes, in 1854.[11] In 1929, the Piersons entertained at their home in New York by giving musicale featuring Abby Morrison Ricker, a soprano, accompanied by Mrs. Harrison Irvine.[12]

Personal life

On December 16, 1869, Pierson was married to Susan Augusta Rhodes (1844–1929)[13] in Providence, Rhode Island.[14] Together, they lived at 20 West 52nd Street[14] and were the parents of:[15]

  • Marguerite "Daisy" Pierson (1870–1964),[16] who married George Huntington Hull Jr.[17] in 1910.[18]
  • John Fred Pierson Jr. (1872–1951),[3][19] who first married Suzanne Miles. They divorced in 1928 and he married Virginia (née Land) Blanchard, granddaughter of Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Thomas Land, in 1929.[20][21]
  • James Rhodes Pierson (1873–1959), a Harvard graduate and president of the Ramapo Land Company and proprietor of the Pierson estate.[22]
  • Harold Pierson (1875–1879), who died young.
  • Adeline Chandler Pierson (1876–1933),[23] who married Edward Walker Scott Jr.[24]

Pierson worked up to four days before his death at age 93 in New York City on December 20, 1932, at which point he was the oldest general of the Union Army in the civil war.[1]

See also

References
  1. "GEN. FRED PIERSON DEAD AT AGE OF 93 | Oldest General of Federal Army in Civil War--Victim of Heart Attack After Day's Illness | AT WORK FOUR DAYS AGO | President of Several Corporations, Including Ramapo Foundry--Cited for Gallantry in '61" (PDF). The New York Times. December 21, 1932. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  2. Whittemore, Henry (1909). Fulfilment of Three Remarkable Prophecies in the History of the Great Empire State Relating to the Development of Steamboat Navigation and Railroad Transportation, 1808–1908. p. 68. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  3. "JOHN F. PIERSON, 79, A RETIRED BROKER; Son of Civil War General Dies --Founder of Wall St. Firm Active in Patriotic Groups" (PDF). The New York Times. June 11, 1951. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  4. Dexter, Franklin Bowditch (1913). Biographical Notices of Graduates of Yale College: Including Those Graduated in Classes Later Than 1815, who are Not Commemorated in the Annual Obituary Records. Yale College. p. 63. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  5. Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1431. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  6. "Spurs: pair". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  7. States, Association of Centenary Firms and Corporations of the United (1916). Association of Centenary Firms and Corporations of the United States. Christopher Cower Company. p. 82. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  8. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  9. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 217. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  10. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  11. Bulkeley, William M. (May 30, 1997). "Newport Cottages Offer Bargain-Basement Prices". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  12. "J. Fred Piersons Give a Musicale" (PDF). The New York Times. March 11, 1929. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  13. "Mrs. John Fred Pierson" (PDF). The New York Times. October 8, 1929. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  14. Who's Who in New York City and State. L.R. Hamersly Company. 1909. p. 1043. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  15. Genealogical Record of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1916. p. 40. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  16. "MRS. GEORGE H. HULL" (PDF). The New York Times. September 3, 1964. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  17. Pierson, John Frederick; Scott, Alfred; Scott, Elizabeth (2002). Ramapo to Chancellorsville and beyond. A. Scott. pp. Foreward, 194. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  18. "MISS PIERSON WEDS GEORGE H. HULL, JR. Ceremony Held at the Home of the Bride's Parents, Gen. and Mrs. J. Fred Pierson. CAPT. HOBSON BEST MAN Many Out-of-Town Guests at the Reception—Couple Take a House at Short Hills, N. J." (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1910. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  19. "PIERSON--J. Fred" (PDF). The New York Times. June 12, 1951. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  20. "PIERSON WEDDING TUESDAY; J. Fred Pierson Jr. to Marry Mrs. Virginia Blanchard" (PDF). The New York Times. February 16, 1929. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  21. "MRS. BLANCHARD WED IN GREENWICH; Widow of Physician Becomes the Bride of J. Fred Pierson Jr. of This City. EVENT A CIVIL CEREMONY Reception Follows at New York Home of S. Stanwood Menkens" (PDF). The New York Times. February 20, 1929. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  22. "JAMES R. PIERSON, ESTATE MANAGER" (PDF). The New York Times. May 4, 1959. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  23. "MRS. E. W. SCOTT JR" (PDF). The New York Times. October 28, 1933. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  24. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. New York: J. T. White & Company. 1891. p. 30. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
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