Pierce, John, 1797-1883

John Davis Pierce, minister and educator, was born in Chesterfield, N.H. When he was 20, he began studying under the Rev. Enoch Pond. In 1822, he graduated from Brown University, taught at an academy, and entered Princeton Theological Seminary in either 1823 or 1824. He was ordained and assumed a pastorate of a Congregational Church at Sangerfield, Onieda County, N.Y. In the autumn of 1831, he began his missionary work at Marshall, Mich. In 1836, Gov. Mason appointed him the first Superintendent of Public Instruction. As such, he drafted plans for the organization of the primary schools and the state university. He also began the publication of the Journal of education (1838-1840). In 1841, he returned to Marshall as pastor, and in 1847 was elected state representative. He retired to a farm near Ypsilanti, and died in Medford, Mass. and buried in Marshall, Mich.

Born at Chesterfield, N. H., Feb. 13, 1797; graduated at Brown Univ., 1822; entered Princeton Theol. Seminary, 1823; Congreg. pastor at Oneida, N.Y., 1824; missionary to Marshall, Mich., 1831; State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1836-41; State Representative, 1847 & 48; Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1950; died in Medford, Mass. Apr. 3, 1382. (Mich. Biogr. - Repres. Men of Michigan., pt. 2, p. 61 with port)

First Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction.