My Genealogy Hound

LEVI J. PIERCE, the well-known dealer in agricultural machinery, residing at Forestville, is a son of Levi H. and Electa (Ingells) Pierce, and was born in the village of Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, October 3, 1830, and is now in his sixty-first year. The parents of Mr. Pierce were both New England emigrants, the father having come from the Granite State, and the mother from Connecticut. Levi H. Pierce came to Otsego county and was engaged in the business of distilling. The name was originally Pers, which is from the English. Grandfather, Stephen Ingells, served with bravery and valor in the Revolutionary war, and was honorably discharged at its close.

The condition of his parents being humble, Levi J. Pierce was early taught habits of industry, and passed his boyhood and youth in his native county. He was sent to the public schools and acquired such education as the fountain afforded. When a young man he secured a clerkship in a store at Cooperstown, and remained there until 1852, when he came to Forestville and engaged in business with J. G. Hopkins and N. B. Brown, and the firm remained intact for twelve years. About the date of the close of the war, Mr. Hopkins dropped out, and Messrs. Pierce & Brown continued the business for seven years longer, when they dissolved partnership. Mr. Pierce then opened a hardware store, which he conducted until 1889, and since that time he has been handling all kinds of farming machinery and implements.

On Jan. 17, 1860, he married Frances Hopkins, a daughter of Joseph G. Hopkins, the latter being one of the early settlers and business men of Villanova, this county, over fifty years ago. He was a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and died in 1876, aged sixty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have been blessed with a family of four children: Charles H., resides in Oregon; Albert L., is in the lumber business at Irvona, Clearfield county, Pa.; Joseph G., lives in Madford, Oregon, also engaged in the lumber business; and Ophelia.

Levi J. Pierce is the owner of considerable valuable property in Forestville, and Mrs. Pierce owns two farms within a couple of miles of the village. They have a pleasant and happy home, and by their business ability and good management have risen to the position of respect and comfort they now occupy.