Representative Isaac Pierson

Isaac Pierson (August 15, 1770 – September 22, 1833) was an American physician and Anti-Jacksonian politician who represented New Jersey’s at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1827 to 1831. His service in Congress spanned two terms during a significant period in early American political history, when emerging party alignments and debates over federal power, internal improvements, and economic policy were reshaping the national landscape.

Pierson was born on August 15, 1770, in Orange in the Province of New Jersey, then a part of British North America. He was the third child of Dr. Matthias Pierson and Phebe (née Nutman) Pierson. Through his family, he descended from an early colonial immigrant, Thomas Pierson Sr., the brother of the Reverend Abraham Pierson, who was one of the founders of Newark, New Jersey. This lineage placed him within a long-established New Jersey family with deep roots in the civic and religious life of the region.

Pierson attended private schools in his youth and pursued higher education at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), from which he graduated in 1789. He subsequently studied medicine and completed his medical training at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York City. After receiving his medical degree, he returned to his native Orange, where he commenced the practice of medicine. Over time, he became a respected physician in his community and was active in professional medical circles, culminating in his election as president of the Medical Society of New Jersey in 1827.

Alongside his medical career, Pierson entered public service at the local and county levels. He was elected assessor of Orange on April 13, 1807, serving in that capacity for one year. That same year he began service as sheriff of Essex County, New Jersey, a post he held from 1807 to 1809. These early offices reflected his growing prominence in local affairs and provided him with administrative and legal experience that would later inform his work as a legislator.

Pierson’s national political career began when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as an Adams candidate to the Twentieth Congress. He was subsequently reelected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress, representing New Jersey’s at-large congressional district from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1831. As a member of what contemporary sources identify as the Adams and then Anti-Jacksonian factions—opponents of Andrew Jackson and allies of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay—he participated in the legislative process during two terms in office. In this capacity, he took part in the democratic process at a time of intense national debate over issues such as the role of the federal government in economic development and the direction of the young republic, representing the interests of his New Jersey constituents within the broader realignment that would give rise to the Whig and Democratic parties. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress.

In his personal life, Pierson married Nancy Crane (1775–1841), the daughter of Aaron Crane. Together they were the parents of ten children, several of whom achieved distinction in professional and religious vocations. Their son William Pierson (1796–1882) became a physician and married Margaret Riker Hillyer (1797–1853). Another son, Albert Pierson (1798–1864), entered the ministry and married Jane Armstrong. Their daughter Phebe Stockton Pierson (1801–1877) married Stephen Condit (1791–1855). A further son, George Pierson (1805–1880), also became a clergyman and married Eliza Day, and after her death, Caroline Stall. Edward Pierson (1808–1866) married Phebe Rebecca Baldwin (1809–1889), and Aaron Howell Pierson (1811–1863) married Mary Caroline Ogden (1813–1873). Through these children, the Pierson family continued to play a role in the civic, religious, and professional life of New Jersey and beyond.

Isaac Pierson died in Orange, New Jersey, on September 22, 1833. He was originally buried in the Old Burying Ground in Orange. In 1840, his remains were reinterred in Rosedale Cemetery, also in Orange, reflecting the community’s continued recognition of his contributions as a physician, local official, and member of Congress.