Charles Theodore Pierson was born on September 6, 1837, in New York City, New York, to Henry Lewis Pierson and Helen Maria Pierson. His father was a merchant who owned $50,000 of real estate and $200,000 of personal property by 1860. His mother died around 1845. He grew up and attended school in Ramapo, New York. In May 1863, he received an appointment as a local postmaster. He married Charlotte Jeffrey on June 7, 1866, and the couple had no children. They lived in Ramapo, and he worked as a manufacturer. By 1870, he owned $10,500 of personal property. A local writer described him as a “man of unusual business ability and energy, with marked mechanical talent and taste.” He was “largely interested in and did much to develop many useful inventions.” He supported the Republican Party, and he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1880. He died of pneumonia in New York City on February 23, 1888.

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