Eunice Pierce

Biography

Biographical Narrative

Members of the Pierce Family were prominent, pioneering citizens of Davisville (Davis), California.

George Washington Pierce, Sr. (Nov. 17, 1814-Feb. 24, 1890) was born in New York State to Jonathan R. and Electra Buttolph Pierce. George W. Pierce, Sr., left New York on April 20, 1835 to go west. He stopped in Chicago and a settlement near Joliet before he arrived in Pike Creek, Wisconsin on July 8, 1835. Pike Creek was also known as Southport and then incorporated as a city in 1850 as Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 1842, Pierce served in the 4th Regiment of the Wisconsin Militia.

Eunice Pierce (Oct. 24, 1821-Oct. 26, 1908) was born in Connecticut as Eunice French. George W. Pierce, Sr., met Eunice in Wisconsin and married her on Sept. 29, 1846. Two sons were born to George and Eunice Pierce while they lived in Wisconsin: Henry Albert (Aug.8, 1848-April 15, 1850) and George Washington, Jr. (Dec. 10, 1850-March 10, 1930). The couple's third son, Frank Alonzo (Dec. 23, 1859-Sept. 10, 1863), was born in Yolo County, California.

Mr. and Mrs. Pierce left Kenosha, Wisconsin on April 19, 1852 and began their move to California. They traveled across the Plains and arrived in Placerville, California on August 4, 1852. After mining in El Dorado County, California for a short time, the Pierces settled near the banks of Putah Creek on the "Big Ranch" then owned by C. I. Hutchinson and C. E. Greene. The Big Ranch was near what was to become Davisville, California (now Davis). The Pierce cattle brand was registered in Yolo County, California on December 20, 1859. In 1860, the "Big Ranch" failed, and Mr. Pierce purchased 1200 acres of land. George W. Pierce, Sr. owned cattle and other livestock as well as a large grain farm. Later, the Pierce Family also became involved in the almond growing business.

Mr. and Mrs. George W. Pierce, Sr., were very active in early Davisville life. Mr. Pierce, Sr. was a long-time member of the Woodland, California Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in 1870 he helped to organize the Odd Fellows lodge in Davisville. The Pierces were members of Davisville Presbyterian Church from its founding in 1869. A strong Republican, George Sr. was an early Yolo County Justice of the Peace (1856-1862) and public administrator (1865-1869). Eunice Pierce was a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

George Washington Pierce, Jr., (Dec. 10, 1850-March 10, 1930) had been left with relatives in Wisconsin when his parents moved west. In 1859, his mother, traveling alone, returned via the Isthmus of Panama to bring him on to their new home in California. George developed into a serious student but also spent a good deal of time helping his parents on their ranch. A proud member of the Class of 1875, he was the first graduate of the University of California from the Sacramento Valley. He received a degree in civil engineering and then went on to study law. Despite his career-related dreams, out of family loyalty and because of his father's ill health, George, Jr., returned home to manage the Pierce Ranch. On September 18, 1888, George W. Pierce, Sr. and his wife Eunice moved off the Pierce Ranch and into the town of Davisville, California. Their newly married son then assumed full control of the Ranch.

George W. Pierce, Jr., had married Susan Gilmore on August 15, 1888 at the Glen Alpine Springs resort near Lake Tahoe. Susan Gilmore Pierce (Oct. 29, 1858-Oct. 1, 1918) was the daughter of Nathan Gilmore (the discoverer and founder of Glen Alpine Springs) and Amanda Gray Gilmore. Nathan Gilmore had emigrated from Indiana to California during the 1849 Gold Rush. Susan had graduated from San Jose State Normal School and had taught school in Central California. George, Jr., and Susan Pierce had four children: Gilmore Wellington (Dec. 2, 1889-March 8, 1890), Eunice Evelyn (Feb. 11, 1895-Feb. 16, 1895), George Gardner (Nov. 11, 1891-?), and Dixwell Lloyd (Sept. 11, 1897-Aug. 22, 1964).

George W. Pierce, Jr. was an energetic man of many talents: farmer, scholar, businessman, politician, civic leader and booster, and entrepreneur. Besides the numerous responsibilities of running a large farm, Pierce gladly took on other challenges. One of his business ventures was the Putah Creek Water Company, a corporation that H. M. LaRue, Chairman and George W. Pierce, Jr., Secretary formed in 1882 in order to take water from Putah Creek for irrigation purposes. Some of the other companies that Pierce was involved with were the Silica Brick Company and the Sacramento Valley Electric Railroad Company. Pierce worked to organize area farmers in an effort to better market and receive higher prices for their crops. In 1897, he became a charter officer of the Davisville Almond Growers' Association. Pierce was (circa 1901) the organizer and president of the California Grain Growers' Association, and he was president of the California Almond Growers' Exchange (1913-1923). A Republican like his father, George W. Pierce, Jr. was elected to the California State Assembly in 1898. He was also a Trustee of the San Jose State Normal School and an executive member of the Yolo County 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition committee. One of Davisville's strongest boosters, Pierce served 1905-1906 as chairman of a promotion committee and organizer of the first Davisville Chamber of Commerce as he worked along with the citizens of Davisville to persuade the State Farm Commission and the University of California that Davisville was the right site for the proposed University Farm. Davisville won the approval of the State Farm Commission, and so George W. Pierce, Jr., played a major role in the founding of the University of California, Davis. Pierce was an avid traveler, and near the end of his life he sailed away on several world cruises.

George Gardner Pierce (known as Gardner) graduated from the University of California in 1915. He returned to Yolo County and lived on the Pierce Ranch until he and his wife Harriet Brigden Pierce moved to Berkeley, California in the mid 1920s. Harriet died in March 1927. Harriet and Gardner had three children: George Edward, Thaya Muriel (Mrs. Maurice Worden), and Marjorie Eunice (Mrs. Charles L. Celio). Dixwell Lloyd Pierce graduated from Woodland High School in 1915. He graduated from the University of California in 1917 and later received a law degree.

Dixwell married the former Katherine Bradley. A daughter, Susan Louise (Mrs. Charles Stewart), was born to the couple on October 21, 1927. Another daughter, Janet, died in infancy. The family made their home in Sacramento, California. Dixwell Lloyd Pierce was executive secretary of the State Board of Equalization for 37 years and on the board of trustees of the Federation of Tax Administration for 25 years.

The University of California, Davis now occupies the land that was once the Pierce Ranch.

From the guide to the Pierce Family Papers, 1841-1940, (University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special Collections .)