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Hiram L. Pierce, pioneer farmer, soldier, politician and town builder passed away this week in his ninety-second year. His funeral took place today in the town of Broken Arrow, Okla., which he helped build.

Lincoln relatives received the delayed telegram announcing his death too late to attend the funeral. A grand-daughter, Mrs. Alonzo Larison, resides in Lincoln. She made frequent visits to Oklahoma in recent years.

Hiram L. Pierce was born in Chattaraugus county, New York, August 7, 1834. He came to Lincoln as a young man, becoming a farmer and stock raiser. He owned and farmed for many years the ground now occupied by Owen Beaver, as his home farm, five miles west of Lincoln.

Mr. Pierce served through the greater part of the Civil war. He enlisted as a private and was brevetted a lieutenant at the close of his service. Returning at once to Lincoln where he had established himself. Mr. Pierce became a leading figure in West Lincoln. He was a member of the board of supervisors from his township for a number of years and was a leader in progressive moments.

One of the incidents of those years recalled by a citizen today was the successful effort to get rid of hitch racks around the court house. Mr. Pierce had a friend on the board propose that racks be abolished. A majority, including Pierce, voted "No." At the next session several "hitchrack supervisors" absented themselves and Mr. Pierce took advantage of his negative vote to secure a reconsideration. The hitchracks were voted out and they never came back.

Mr. Pierce was sheriff of Logan county during the years 1870-1872 at the time the Zura Burns case was a national topic. A man suspected and tried for the crime was acquitted and Mr. Pierce headed a group of fifty citizens who called upon the suspect and ordered him to leave the county in 24 hours. This he did. The gentleman who comprised the "committee" bought the sheriff a gold-headed cane as a memento of the occasion.

Mr. Pierce who never learned to read or write until after he came out of the army was honored by his neighbors with a term in the state legislature serving through the sessions (hard to read, ??? looks like) 1880 to 1882 He participated in the struggle against alien land ownership in Illinois, a measure aimed at "Lord Scully" who became a citizen of the United States to protect his holdings.

Financial (unable to read bad print / reverses?) in the nineties caused Mr. Pierce to give up farming and he moved to Texas, but after two years went to Indian Territory where he helped build the little settlement Broken Arrow into a town with a municipal government and a school district. He acted a judge, sheriff and police (unable to read) in the pioneer days of his new community administering justice and preserving peace between the whites and the Indians of his section. During "dull" times he operated a general store.

Mr. Pierce was married three times, the third wife, surviving his death. Mr. Pierce had three children by his first wife and five by the second. Most of his children are deceased. A number of grandchildren are living.

Mr. Pierce became converted while living in Saginaw, Texas, and at once united with a Christian church. He became an active church worker and for many years was superintendent of a Sunday school. He was also a thirty-third degree Mason, affiliating with the Masonic bodies while a resident of Lincoln.

This page is "Hiram Pierce Obituary" on the Logan County, Illinois, ILGenWeb site. The address of this page is http://logan.illinoisgenweb.org/piercehiram.htm..