David G. Pierce
David G. Pierce was born on December 12, 1830, in Sullivan County, New York. He eventually moved to Leroy, Pennsylvania. He married a woman named Nancy, and they had at least six children: Leslie, born around 1856; Minnie, born around 1859; Bessie, born around 1865; Lorena, born around 1868; Daisy, born around 1877; and Guy, born around 1879. He worked as a farmer and carpenter, and by 1860, he owned $100 of personal property.
He enlisted in the Union army on February 23, 1864, and he mustered in as a private in Company B of the 50th New York Engineers later that day. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 5 ½ inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The regiment took part in the Overland Campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. He confessed that “I wish that this war would close so that we could go home to our familys…but it has got to be fought out now & the sooner it is ended the better.” He added that “I had rather it would be me than for my boy ever to have to go for it is a hard place.” At some point during the war, he received a head wound from an artillery shell. He mustered out on June 13, 1865.
He returned to Leroy after the war and resumed his work as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $700 of real estate and $400 of personal property. He moved to McNett, Pennsylvania, in the 1870s, and he worked as a laborer there. By 1890, he was suffering from catarrh. He applied for a federal pension in September 1890 and eventually received one. His wife died in the late 1800s, and by 1900, he was living in Canton, Pennsylvania, with his daughters and granddaughters. He died on June 7, 1901.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (3524) | Pierce, David G. | 1830-12-12 | 1901-06-07 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Private
- Rank out: Private
- Rank highest: Private
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 9
- (9580) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 3 November 1864
- (9583) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 26 November 1864
- (9588) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 6 October 1864
- (9589) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 1864
- (9590) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 10 September 1864
- (9591) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 28 December 1864
- (9593) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 23 July 1865
- (9594) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 24 May 1865
- (9605) [writer] ~ David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, 31 January 1865
People - Records: 1
- (3524) Pierce, David G. is the [friend of] (3482) Shibley, Mary C.
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 1
- (116) [enlisted] ~ 50th New York Engineers
SOURCES
1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1890 Veterans Census, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900, available from Fold3.com; Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-2012, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com; David G. Pierce to Mary C. Shibley, undated, DL1594.132, Nau Collection
