Rice Alexander Pierce (July 3, 1848 – July 12, 1936) was an American politician and a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

for the 9th congressional district of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

Biography

Pierce was born on July 3, 1848 in

Dresden, Tennessee Dresden is a town in and the county seat of Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,005 at the 2010 census. Geography Dresden is located at (36.283805, -88.698296). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town ...

Weakley County Weakley County is a county located in the northwest of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,021. Its county seat is Dresden. Its largest city is Martin, the home of the University of Tennessee at Mart ...

. He attended the common schools in Tennessee, and during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

he served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

with the Eighth Tennessee Cavalry. After the war, he attended school in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Ontario, Canada and studied law in Halifax,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

of the

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

in 1868.

Career

In 1869, Pierce commenced practice in

Union City, Tennessee Union City is located in Obion County, Tennessee, United States. The 2020 census reported the population of the town as 11,170. It is the principal urban settlement of the surrounding micropolitan area, which includes Obion County and Fulton County ...

Obion County Obion County is a county located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 31,807. The county seat is Union City. The county was formed in 1823 and organized in 1824. It was named af ...

. He served as mayor in 1872. He was elected the district attorney general of the twelfth judicial circuit in 1874. He was re-elected in 1878 and served until 1883. Elected as a Democrat to the

Forty-eighth Congress The 48th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883, ...

, Pierce served from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1885. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1884, but was elected to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses, and served from March 4, 1889 to March 3, 1893. Again unsuccessful in 1892 to the Fifty-third Congress, he was elected to the Fifty-fifth and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served from March 4, 1897 to March 3, 1905. When Pierce was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the

Fifty-ninth Congress The 59th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1905, ...

in 1904, he resumed the practice of law in Union City, Tennessee. He was chairman of the state Democratic State campaign committee in 1929.

Death

Pierce died in Union City, Tennessee on July 12, 1936 (age 88 years, 9 days). He was

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

in the City Cemetery.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Rice Alexander 1848 births 1936 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee People from Dresden, Tennessee People from Union City, Tennessee