Gilbert A. Pierce

Gilbert Ashville Pierce ( born January 11, 1839 in East Otto, Cattaraugus County, New York, † February 15, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois ) was an American politician and from 1884 to 1886, the eighth Governor of Dakota Territory. Later he became one as a representative of North Dakota in the United States Senate.

Early years and political rise

Gilbert Pierce attended the local schools of his home and moved in 1854 with his parents to Indiana. Later he studied at the University of Chicago literature and law. During the Civil War he served in the Union Army and thereby rose from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel on. After the war, he practiced as an attorney in Valparaiso. In 1869 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Indiana for a short time before he was hired in the management of the U.S. Senate. There he remained until 1871. During the following twelve years he worked as a newspaper editor and as a writer in Chicago. He was the author of several plays.

Territorial Governor

In 1884, Pierce was appointed by President Chester A. Arthur as the new governor of the Dakota Territory. When he arrived there, he found a politically desolate situation. His predecessor Nehemiah G. Ordway was convicted and deposed for corruption and had left a political mess. Among other things, Ordway had moved the capital from Yankton to Bismarck, which was encountered by many citizens of resistance. As a sign of goodwill Pierce put his oath of office in the old capital, but then decided yet to stay in Bismarck, although there have been efforts to move the capital to Pierre. Gradually, the governor won the respect of his countrymen. In Rapid City, a mining school was founded. He also campaigned for the accession of territory to the United States. In 1885 did the South of European territory to join and had already drawn up a constitution. However, the plan was in Washington D.C. nor rejected. On the other hand, he refused to introduce women's suffrage into its territory. At the beginning of his tenure, Pierce still benefited from an economic boom, which was favored by a large wave of immigration and the expansion of the railroad. A drought in the years 1886 and 1887 brought the upswing, however, to a standstill. In August 1886 Pierce announced his retirement; But he remained until February 1887 in office.

Senator and Ambassador

After the end of his governorship Pierce was first in Bismarck worked as a correspondent for a newspaper from Saint Paul, Minnesota. After the accession of the two Dakota states to the United States in 1889, he represented North Dakota until 1891 in the U.S. Senate. He then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and was in the newspaper business there again active. In 1893, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Portugal. But this office he was forced to retire for health reasons after a few months. Gilbert Pierce died in February 1901.