My Genealogy Hound

John L. Pierce is worthy in every way of being classed among the successful agriculturists of this region, for by his own industry he has become the owner of 320 acres of land, about seventy of which are in a high state of cultivation, and 100 acres of land he has cleared himself. His birth occurred in McMinn County, Tenn., January 11, 1838, and he was educated near Athens, and, after attaining manhood, was married there to Miss Lucie Herod, who was a native of the State. Of eight sons and three daughters born to them, eight of the family are still living, and one is at home with his parents, helping to till the farm. Mr. Pierce is a Mason, a member of the Agricultural Wheel, in which organization he has held the office of vice-president, and he and wife, for a number of years, have been earnest and consistent members of the Baptist Church. The manner in which Mr. Pierce has acquired his present estate denotes him to be an energetic, successful agriculturist, and the secret of his success, perhaps, lies in the fact that he was reared from earliest boyhood on a farm and inherited some of the sterling qualities of his Scotch ancestors. His parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Wyatt) Pierce, were born in Tennessee and Virginia, respectively, and became the parents of two sons and nine daughters, five of the family surviving: Sarah, Ursulia, Lina M., David and John. The father died in 1868, followed by his wife in 1872, she having been a member of the Lutheran Church for many years. The paternal grandfather was a Scotchman, who came to America many years ago.