Representative Charles Wilson Pierce

Charles Wilson Pierce (October 7, 1823 – February 18, 1907) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama and a Republican officeholder whose public career spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the settlement era in the American West. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives during the Fortieth Congress, representing Alabama at a pivotal moment in the state’s political reintegration into the Union.

Pierce was born on October 7, 1823, in Benton, Yates County, New York, where he completed his preparatory studies. In 1829 he moved with his father to Sandusky, Ohio, part of the broader westward migration of the period. He later relocated within the state to Huntsville, Ohio, in 1847. Continuing this pattern of movement toward developing frontier communities, Pierce moved again in 1855 to Havana, Illinois, a town on the Illinois River that was then emerging as a regional commercial center. These early relocations placed him in growing Midwestern communities and helped shape the practical experience he later brought to military and political service.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Pierce entered the Union Army from Illinois. He enlisted in Company B of the 85th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was elected first lieutenant, reflecting the confidence of his fellow soldiers in his leadership. On June 14, 1864, he was appointed quartermaster, a position that entrusted him with the critical responsibility of overseeing supplies and logistics for his unit. In 1865 he was commissioned a major, marking the culmination of his wartime advancement. His Civil War service provided him with administrative and organizational experience that would inform his subsequent public career in the Reconstruction South and on the Great Plains.

After the war, Pierce settled in Demopolis, Alabama, a Black Belt community that became a center of Reconstruction-era political activity. In Alabama he held various public offices during the early years of Reconstruction, participating in the reestablishment of loyal state government under federal policies. Upon the readmission of Alabama to representation in Congress following the Civil War, Pierce was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress. He served as a U.S. Representative from July 21, 1868, to March 3, 1869, completing one full term in office. As a member of the Republican Party representing Alabama, he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents in a state undergoing profound political and social transformation. He declined to be a candidate for renomination at the close of his term.

In 1872 Pierce left Alabama and moved to Nebraska, joining the wave of postwar migration into the Great Plains. Establishing himself as a farmer near Waverly, he quickly became involved in the political development of his adopted state. He served as a member of the Nebraska state constitutional convention in 1875, helping to shape the framework of state government during a formative period in Nebraska’s history. Building on this role, Pierce was elected to the Nebraska State Senate in 1877 and was reelected in 1880, reflecting sustained support from his constituents and continued engagement with legislative affairs at the state level.

Pierce resigned from the Nebraska State Senate in 1881 to accept a federal appointment as register of the United States land office, a position of considerable importance in a rapidly settling region. As register, he was responsible for overseeing the administration and recording of public land transactions, a key function in the distribution and regulation of federal lands in Nebraska. He held this office until May 1886, after which he returned to his farm near Waverly, Nebraska. In his later years he withdrew from active political life and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and local affairs.

Charles Wilson Pierce died in Hastings, Florida, on February 18, 1907. His remains were returned to Nebraska, and he was interred in the family plot on the home farm near Waverly. His life and career, spanning New York, Ohio, Illinois, Alabama, Nebraska, and Florida, reflected the geographic mobility and political transformations of nineteenth-century America, from the antebellum era through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the settlement of the western frontier.