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Draft:David Pierson


David Pierson was a prominent Louisiana judge, lawyer, statesman, and member of the Pierson Family who represented Winn Parish in Louisiana's 1861 Secession Convention. Pierson voted against Louisiana's secession and refused to sign the Ordinance of Secession. Despite Union sympathies, he joined the Confederate Army as the Captain of Louisiana's 3rd Rifle Company. He and his brothers' letters are documented in the book Brothers in Grey: The Civil War Letters of the Pierson Family and are currently housed by Tulane University.[1]

Early Life

Pierson was born in 1837 in Stewart County, Ga, to William H. and Mary Collins Pierson. Born to a family of ten children, the Pierson's moved to Claiborne, Louisiana in 1847. After studying law, Pierson was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 1859 and began practicing law in Winnfield, Louisiana, the birth place of Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long.

Secession

In 1861, Pierson was selected to serve as Winn Parish's representative in Louisiana's Secession Convention. At only 21, Pierson was the convention's youngest representative. Despite the fact that one-fourth of Winn Parish's population was slaves and close to one-half of the parish's property value, Pierson was avowedly anti-secessionist and consistently voted against secession. One of a few Union sympathizers, Pierson was one of 17 who voted against the secession and one of 7 who refused to sign the Ordinance of Secession.[2]

Civil War

Following Louisiana's secession, Pierson joined the confederacy and was elected Captain of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry's Company C, known as the Winn Rifles. In 1861, he was promoted to Major of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry and later became its Lieutenant Colonel. Maj. Pierson was the regiment's second in command officer during the Battle of Vicksburg.[3] Following Confederate defeat at Vicksburg, Lt. Col. Pierson returned the regiment to Shreveport, La and surrendered in May of 1865.

David frequently wrote to his brothers Rueben and James, fellow Confederate soldiers. The letters, primarily between David and his older brother Rueben offer a glimpse into their thoughts and life. The letters were published in Thomas W. Cutrer and T. Michael Parrish's Brothers In Grey: The Civil War Letters of the Pierson Family [4] and are now housed in the Tulane University Special Collections Library.[1]

Law Career

Following the end of the war, David Pierson pursued a distinguished career in law. Immediately following the war in 1866, Pierson served as the district attorney of Louisiana's Ninth Judicial district. The district was comprised of Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine and Winn parishes. Pierson served for two years before entering private practice.

Moving to Winnfield in 1868, Pierson founded a law partnership named Jack & Pierson with local attorney W.H. Jack, who owned a local silver mine.[5]

While on a trip to Canada in 1876, Pierson was elected to judge of Louisiana's Seventeenth Judicial district. Pierson held this position until 1880 when redistricting led to his election as judge of Louisiana's Eighteenth Judicial district. Pierson served as judge for over 16 years in northern Louisiana.[3]

Personal Life

Pierson married Sidney A. Pipes of West Baton Rouge, La in 1866. Together they had four children including Dr. Clarence Pierson.

Pierson was very involved with state and national politics. He was Louisiana's fourth congressional district's delegate at the 1888 Democratic National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri that elected Grover Cleveland. Pierson also severed as president of Louisiana's fourth congressional district at the democratic convention in 1884. [3]

David Pierson was the first president of the Louisiana State Normal School's board of administrators, which was to becomes Northwestern State University.

David Pierson died in Septermber of 1900.

References

  1. ^ a b "https://library.search.tulane.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma9945514795606326&context=L&vid=01TUL_INST:Tulane&lang=en&search_scope=TUDC&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=TUDC&query=any,contains,Pierson". library.search.tulane.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-22. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  2. ^ Price, John Milton. “Slavery in Winn Parish.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 8, no. 2 (1967): 137–48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4230948.
  3. ^ a b c "Biographies to help Family Researching in Winn Parish, Louisiana". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  4. ^ Jones, Terry L. (November 1997), Review of Cutrer, Thomas W.; Parrish, T. Michael, eds., Brothers in Gray: The Civil War Letters of the Pierson Family, H-CivWar, H-Review, retrieved 2026-06-22
  5. ^ "Winn Parish History". ahgp.org. Retrieved 2026-06-22.

Category:Louisiana Category:Biography (genre) Category:Confederate States Army Category:American Civil War

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