Braxton County, West Virginia         Biography of HON. W. R. PIERSON, JR.

    This file was submitted by Valerie Crook,
    E-mail address:  <vfcrook@trellis.net>

	The submitter does not have a connection to the sketch subject.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit
	organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved.

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 268-269
Braxton County

HON. W. R. PIERSON, JR. In studying the influences
which have combined for the advancement of our men of
business, professional and public importance, it is in-
variably to be discovered that these individuals have risen
to their present positions largely through the force of their
own industry and ability. The traits of character upon
which we may depend for the greatest rewards are perse-
verance, integrity and self-reliance, and to these may be
attributed the success that has crowned the efforts of
Hon. W. E. Pierson, Jr., a member of the Lower House
of the State Legislature from Braxton County, and a
resident of Sutton. He has been the architect of his own
fortunes and has occupied an honorable place in the con-
fidence of the people because of the straightforward policy
ever governing his actions.

Mr. Pierson was born on a farm in Birch District,
Braxton County, November 17, 1890, a son of H. H. and
Allie (Pierson) Pierson, natives of the same county. His
grandfather, W. R. Pierson, Sr., was born December 2,
1842, and still resides on his Braxton County farm, being
one of the prominent and influential men of his com-
munity. He is a veteran of the war between the states, in
which he served as a soldier of the Confederacy. H. H.
Pierson was born January 5, 1859, and after receiving a
common school education became a school teacher in Brax-
ton County, a vocation which he followed for fifteen years.
After his marriage to Allie Pierson, who was born June
15, 1867, he settled down to farming on a property near
where both had been reared, and is still identified with the
pursuits of the soil. He is a leading republican and presi-
dent of the school board of Birch District, and as a
fraternalist holds membership in the local lodge of the
Knights of Pythias. He and his worthy wife are faithful
church members and the parents of the following children:
H. V., credit man for the Thomas Shoe Company of
Charleston, West Virginia; W. R. Jr., of this review;
Eva, the wife of J. N. Reip; G. H., a bookkeeper for
Hardy, Dana & Company of Charleston; B. H., who holds
a like position with the same concern; Ovy O. Pierson,
who graduated in the spring of 1922 from the Button High
School; and Earl H. and Ruth B., who are attending the
country school in the vicinity of their father's farm.

The country public and subscription schools furnished
W. R. Pierson, Jr., with his educational training while he
was being reared on the farm, and in 1910 he went to
Charleston, where he became a traveling salesman for the
Thomas Shoe Company.  He was thus employed when
America entered the World war, and June 27, 1917, he
enlisted in the American army, with which he served until
the armistice was signed. He then returned to his position
with the Thomas Shoe Company, and continued therewith
until January 1, 1921, when he resigned to give his entire
attention to his duties as a member of the Lower House of
the West Virginia Legislature, to which he had been elected
on the republican ticket. Mr. Pierson has made an excellent
official, working faithfully in behalf of his district, his
constituents and his state. He has studied deeply the im-
portant public questions of the day, and, as a well informed
man, of sound and discriminating judgment, has utilized an
observant eye and has turned to account the knowledge that
he has gained in a somewhat varied career. He has long
been a recognized leader in the ranks of the republican
party in Braxton County. Fraternally he is affiliated with
the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the United Com-
mercial Travelers.

Representative Pierson married Miss Jessie McComb, of
Pocahontas County. They have no children.