Pierce, Abel Head, 1834-1900

Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce, a Texas rancher and cattleman, was born on June 29, 1834 in Little Compton, Rhode Island to Jonathan and Hannah Head Pierce. The nickname "Shanghai" referred to Pierce's tall thin stance resembling a Shanghai rooster. In 1854 "Shanghai" Pierce settled in Port Lavaca. Working as a ranch hand splitting rails, Pierce began to acquire cattle, but following his service on the Confederate side of the Civil War he returned to find his holdings gone. He married Fannie Lacey on September 27, 1865, who was daughter of William Demetris Lacey and sister to Nannie Lacey, wife of Jonathan Edward Pierce, Abel's brother. They had two children Mamie and Abel H. Pierce Jr. Both wife and infant son died in 1870, and Abel H. Pierce sold his cattle and went to Kansas for eighteen months. When he returned Abel and Jonathan Pierce organized a partnership and established the Rancho Grande on the Tres Palacios River in 1871. Abel H. Pierce began to purchase land until he owned two hundred and fifty thousand acres. He then formed the Pierce-Sullivan Pasture Company, which sent thousands of cattle up the northern trail and by railroad. In 1875 Abel H. Pierce married Hattie Jones and continued his ranching and land expansion. He researched varieties of beef and after a trip through Europe he felt that the India breed of Brahman cattle was likely to be resistant to disease and pestilence. In 1900 he invested and lost 1.25 million dollars from the 1900 Galveston hurricane, a bank failure and through the purchase and failure of the Gulf Island Railroad. He died December 26, 1900 of a cerebral hemorrhage and is buried in Bay City, Texas. Years prior to his death he commissioned a life-like marble statue, which now marks his grave. Following his death the Pierce estate purchased and imported Brahman cattle and established a stock base, which most ranchers rely upon today. His nephew Abel Pierce Borden, daughter Mamie Whithers, and wife Hattie Jones Pierce managed his land and cattle enterprise.

From the description of Pierce, Abel Head "Shanghai", papers, 1870-1905. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 70720773

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