The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Pierce Family possessions find permanent home at museum
By Janet Ogle-Mater, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2008
The Chelsea Historical Museum is revealing a new display, The Pierce Pioneers, as a tribute to one of Chelsea's earliest pioneering families.
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The items on display include a wooden dresser set, jewelry, glassware, an 1877 autograph book, and paintings by Alma J. Pierce.
Also on display is an 1878 diary, an antique dictionary with a February 1853 inscription from Nathan Pierce, and the "Manual of the Legislature of the State of Michigan 1840," which was presented to Hiram Pierce by his father.
A set of Native American arrowheads found on the Pierce family farm in the 1920s is also part of the collection.
Shirley Walker and Lois Lantis, daughters of Paul and Ivy Pierce, and the great-great-granddaughters of Nathan and Amy Pierce, donated the items to the Chelsea Area Historical Society, which maintains the museum.
"My family had fortunately been pack rats," said Walker. "I look forward to seeing the collection on display."
Nathan Pierce and his brother, Darius, arrived in the Michigan Territory in 1831 and established settlements in Washtenaw County.
Darius founded Kedron, at the northern end of present-day Chelsea, and Nathan founded Pierceville, the original name of the area near Old US-12 and Manchester Road.
Nathan Pierce's property included 400 acres, which was a land grant deeded by President Andrew Jackson in 1833. Nathan and his wife, Amy, raised seven children in a spacious house built in 1831.
Nathan Pierce was the first supervisor of Sylvan Township and was elected to the Michigan Legislature in 1846, when the state capital was still in Detroit.
"I think my favorite piece is the dictionary that belonged to Nathan Pierce," said Walker. "Seeing his signature and inscription is quite something."
Walker, of Mount Pleasant, also expresses fondness for the painting "Cows in Meadow" done by her great-aunt Alma J. Pierce.
"There is something about it that is so poignant and meaningful," she said.
Alma Jane Pierce, granddaughter of Nathan and Amy Pierce, was born Sept. 16, 1856.
Miss Pierce, one of 12 children of Hiram and Catherine Pierce, never married.
She lived her entire life in Chelsea and was 93 years old at the time of her death in 1950.
"As a child, I visited often with Aunt Alma, because she lived right around the corner from me," said Walker.
"She would show me her high-button shoes and collection of dolls, and she made really good cookies."
Walker recalls another aspect of her great-aunt as well.
"She was a Good Samaritan. I remember her being a very good neighbor, helping out where and whenever she could."
Alma Pierce taught at the Merkel School when she was 20 years old.
Alma J. Pierce also had a love of gardening, which may have influenced her donating two acres of the historic family farm to the village of Chelsea in 1948 for a public park, located near the intersection of South Main Street and Old US 12.
"Peonies were her favorite. There would always be vases filled with peonies around the house," reminisces Walker.
In addition, Alma Pierce established a trust for the perpetual care of the Pierce Cemetery, which her great-nieces, Shirley Walker, Lois Lantis and Betty Ingram continue to support.
Pierce Cemetery is located just south of the fairgrounds on Old Manchester Road.
A family story tells the founding of the cemetery occurred when a traveler staying at the Pierce's home, died of cholera.
Apparently, there was fear in having the body buried at the area's current cemetery, so Nathan Pierce resolved the issue by saying, "He died in my house, and he shall be buried on my land."
Both Nathan and Amy Pierce are buried at the Pierce Cemetery, though they had moved from Chelsea in 1844 to Marengo, between Marshall and Albion in Calhoun County, where they lived the remainder of their lives.
Hiram Pierce, their third-oldest child, bought half the 400-acre family farm from his father in 1842, and the other half from his older brother, Mowry, in 1856.
Hiram married Catherine Cassidy in 1848, and he worked the family farm until his death in 1902. They are the parents of Alma J. Pierce and 11 other children born between 1849 and 1872.
"I remember Aunt Alma would have family reunions on the farm even after she had moved into town," recalls Walker. "because the farm was still in the family at the time."
The historic farmstead left the possession of the Pierce family, after 118 years, in December 1949.
It still stands today at 14300 Old US-12 as the oldest home in Sylvan Township, and one of the oldest homes in Washtenaw County.
Herman Pierce was the seventh child of Hiram and Catherine Pierce, and brother of Alma. Paul Pierce is the son of Herman and Minnie Dancer Pierce and father of Walker, Lantis, and Ingram.
He built and operated "The Corners," a gas station and small diner, for several decades.
The Chelsea landmark was built in the 1920s on the main route between Detroit and Chicago. The building was located at the northeast corner of M-52 and Old US-12 until 2001, when the property was sold to make way for the existing CVS Pharmacy.
Many members of the Pierce family have made a lasting impression in the area, and as such the name is prominent throughout Chelsea.
The Pierce Pioneers collection will be on permanent display at the Chelsea Historical Museum, which is located inside the Gourmet Chocolate CafÈ, 312 N. Main St.
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