Captain
John P.
Pierce
and
family
will
occupy
the new
residence
he is
building
on the
East bay
front.--Houston
Post,
September
26, 1909
| P |
John Phillips Pierce Family |
P |
|
John
Phillips Pierce Family
John Phillips Pierce was born November 5, 1868 at El Rancho Grande to Jonathan E. Pierce and Nannie Lacy Pierce . At the time of his marriage to Louise Keller, on November 1, 1892, they were given 10,000 acres of land and 5,000 head of cattle for a wedding gift. They built a home near the future site of Collegeport where their children were born, and lived until they moved to Oregon. To this union, six children were born. John E., Grace, Richard L., Abel H., Allen, and Walter. All of the deceased children except John E. were buried at Hawley Cemetery.
In 1909, the family returned to Palacios from Oregon, and John P. Pierce entered the banking business. They built a home on East Bay and the children attended Palacios schools. This home later burned from an electrical failure, and they moved six miles north of Palacios to farm rice and ranch. Their home there also burned and they built another in that same location in 1925. This home, situated at the Pierce Ranch on the bank of Cash's Creek was still standing in 1984.
John Phillips Pierce John Phillips Pierce, son of Jonathan Edwards “J. E.” Pierce and Nannie Lacy Pierce, was born November 5, 1868 at El Rancho Grande which was near present-day Blessing. John’s three siblings were Pearl Pierce, who married Dr. Allen J. Smith, Abel Brown, who married Adelaide Hall and Grace Harriet, who married William Walter “Pudge” Heffelfinger. On November 1, 1892, John married Mary Louise Keller, daughter of Nolan and Susan Louise Reid Keller. At the time of their marriage, his father, J. E., gave them 10,000 acres of land and 5,000 head of cattle as their wedding gift. By January, 1898, the couple had built a home on their property where their six children, John Edward (1893-1976), Grace Harriet (1894-1981), Richard Lacy (1897-1943), Abel Head (1899-1983), Allen John (1901-1935) and William Walter (1903-1973) were born. John Phillips invented a ditching machine which was no doubt useful to him on his ranch. "J. P. Pierce has invented and constructed the most complete ditching machine out. The ditcher cuts a ditch eighteen inches deep and four feet wide, taking the dirt out in solid blocks by an automatic dumper and removing it several feet from the ditch, thereby preventing its being washed back into the ditch."-- Weekly Visitor, June 9, 1899
|
|
Collegeport
|
EL RANCHO GRANDE [Excerpt taken from a longer article about the land holdings of Jonathan Edwards Pierce, father of John Phillips Pierce.] I could not but appreciate the beauty of this whole region. Creeks, bayous and arroyos drain the land so well that despite the recent heavy rains and the fact that the road I followed was little more than a trail, travel was easy. We had passed through four great pastures that seemed to me to be of about the same proportions, and I inquired if there was any significance in the division. I was informed that each of these pastures contained 5000 acres, and that Mr. Pierce had given to each of his four children an independent estate, stocked each of the pastures with cattle, and kept the accounts of each child’s interest separate. Of these four independent estates, the one in the highest of improvement is that owned by John Pierce, Jr. Young John Pierce has his father’s love of the soil and his father’s mastery of detail. Perhaps 1000 acres of the 5000 in young John’s portion are in cultivation. It looks more like an Ohio or Illinois farm than a Texas Ranch. Young John, too, has his father’s mechanical traits. His house is fitted throughout with running water and bath rooms and all accessories to good living, while the buildings are models of neatness, comfort and graceful appearance. Each of the strips of land owned by the children fronts on Tres Palacios river.--Galveston Daily News, Sunday, Jan. 2, 1898 |
|
Among the many talents of John Phillips Pierce, were boat design and
construction. Most of his boat building was apparently practiced
after the erection of his first house, which incorporates many
nautical features. Modest Queen Anne architecture is the predominant
style of the house, which is a full two and one-half stories over a
semi-basement (only half of the basement was below ground level),
topped with a moderately pitched hipped roof with deep soffits which
are enclosed with beaded ceiling, that encircle the house. The front
façade is asymmetrical with wooden flanked stairs that rise to a
generous porch just outside the front parlor. Ornamental flat sawn
balusters side the porch, while simple sticking borders the upper
balcony which is accessed from the bedroom suite. The exterior of
the first story is clad with horizontal bevel siding, accented with
wide corner boards and window casings. The southwest corner features
a two-story hexagonal “tower” that rises to meet the broad soffits
in the corner. Three large double-hung single pane windows open to
the coastal breezes on each level of this “tower.” Riparian views
command the attention of visitors to the house. Casement windows at
ground level once aligned with windows on the upper floors to admit
light and ventilation to the basement area which contained a hearth
where servants may have prepared meals and had their quarters. There
was a door at ground level on the East side which once served as an
entry to the basement area and as a servant’s entrance into the
front parlor on the first floor. Above this door is a double hung
window that accents the landing of the staircase. Due to water
intrusion, the basement has been eliminated and the house is now
supported by a pier and beam foundation. Another feature is a
three-window box bay that projects a foot or so from the West wall,
and is accented with four Victorian brackets, which offer support to
the decorative block-paneled window seat within. This once served as
dining room seating. The second story is entirely clad with several
rows of square cypress shingles alternating up the wall with several
rows of clipped-corner shingles, where they meet a wide frieze board
which also serves as the upper window casing for the upstairs
double-hung windows. The bottom row of shingles flares outward
several inches at the second-floor level, where a band of wide bed
molding accents this transition. The third floor (half-story) has a
full floor plan, where short vertical walls converge with the hipped
roof about 12 inches above the floor, to create an interesting
large, single room with a ceiling height of just less than eight
feet. A small attic space is accessed through a hatch in the
ceiling. The four symmetrical, semi-circular dormers which rise from
the floor, offer panoramic views of the bay and surrounding
countryside. The dormers are centered, one on each side of the
house, and from inside, they resemble the cabins of early
watercraft. Each dormer had two square-shaped, curved sash
counter-weighted windows that lowered into the dormer wall through
the window sill. It was difficult to keep water from entering the
walls, due to the open sill. The exterior wall surfaces of these
dormers are covered with courses of clipped-corner shingles. The
dormers might be said to resemble turrets rising from the roof. Wide
soffits extend from the dormer walls just above the exterior window
trim and meet the semi-circular fascia. The conical roofs of each
dormer meet with a hipped ridge-line that blends into the main roof.
The front door enters into a small parlor from the South. The stately balustrade includes a bull nosed starting step from which rises a block-paneled newel topped with an asymmetrically carved finial. The inclined banister supported by carved balusters rises to the landing newel which stretches to the ceiling. To the left, the staircase ascends to the second floor. At one time, stairs led to the landing from the kitchen at the back of the house. On the parlor-side of the staircase beyond the landing, carved square spindles rise from the stair treads to the ceiling—which is quite an aesthetic creation. Upstairs, there is a bedroom suite the length of the south end of the house, and there are two bedrooms on the north side with a full bath that is the same width as the connecting hall which divides the two rooms. An enclosed stairway from the Northeast bedroom provides access to the third floor. A simple banister borders the North side of the stairwell on the third floor, while the chase enclosing a small brick flue and a dumbwaiter that served all floors, sides the North.
The East rooms of the house had back-to-back fireplaces on both the first and second floors. The living room had a two-tiered oak veneered mantel piece with wooden columns and an oval beveled glass mirror. The surround was the same brick of which the flue was constructed. Behind this was a hand-crafted mantel piece (probably designed by John Phillips Pierce) of nautical style with a rectangular mirror and a brass screen which faced the dining room. The entire north wall of the dining room features built-in cabinetry with broad drawers for storing dishes and linens, and a generous counter topped with marble, possibly for preparing pastries. There was a service porch off of the kitchen that also housed the downstairs bathroom. The roof of the porch served as a small balcony on the North side of the house. The parlor, dining room, kitchen and both bathrooms were paneled with beadboard wainscot, as was the staircase. This was topped with a wide chair-rail molding. The upstairs bedrooms on the West side each had a fireplace. The bedroom suite has a green ceramic tile surround which depict tall Grecian columns on either side with ornately patterned tiles above the fireplace opening. The mantel piece resembles the one in the living room, but is topped with white marble with an ogee edge. The fireplace surround of the adjacent bedroom was of white marble. The hearths afront each of these four fireplaces are of mosaic ceramic tile. Due to their size, the fireplaces were likely fired by coal rather than wood. According to a January 2, 1898 Galveston Daily News article by Richard Spillane, “His house is fitted throughout with running water and bath rooms and all accessories to good living.”
The house that John Phillips Pierce built is a one-of-a-kind
treasure, particularly because of the uniquely designed and
constructed “turret” dormers and the third-floor room which contains
them.
Oregon
|
|
Upon return, John began his boat building business in earnest by building a launch, Pastime, for himself. All businesses in Palacios were closed for the launching on June 1, 1909 while a parade with bands, a speech and a bottle of champagne were included in the festivities. |
|
J. P. Pierce and
family, of Palacios, Texas, arrived in Medford a few days ago, and
will spend sometime looking over the valley, with a possible view to
locating.--Medford Mail, Aug 9, 1907 |
|
|
Medford, Jackson County, Oregon
J. P.
Pierce
and
family,
who
arrived
from
Texas, a
couple
of weeks
ago,
haven’t
been
enjoying
themselves
a great
deal
lately,
owing to
the fact
that the
whole
family
have
been
more or
less
under
the
weather.
They are
all
recovering
nicely
now and
will
soon be
in shape
to enjoy
Southern
Oregon
at its
best.--Medford
Mail,
Aug 16,
1907 |
Boat Building
EL RANCHO GRANDE
By Richard Spillane
[Excerpt taken from a long article about the land holdings of Jonathan Edwards Pierce, father of John Phillips Pierce.]
On the banks of the river, on the land of young John Pierce’s a pretty yacht, the Nomad, was moored. Nearby a good-sized steam launch, which will be christened El Vaquero, was being built. El Vaquero will be about 45 feet long, and will accommodate about forty persons. It will have eighteen horse power and will be used by the Pierce family and their friends in hunting expeditions along the Tres Palacios and Matagorda and Espiritu Santo waterways.
The Galveston Daily News, Sunday, January
2, 1898
Boat Building At Palacios
Industry Is a Growing One and Good Boats Are Built
Palacios, Texas, May 23.—The boat building business is getting to be a great industry at Palacios. Yesterday Sutterfield Brothers’ shipyard put the finishing touches on the Beatrice M. Captain Richard Merrill’s boat, which has just been remodeled, twelve feet having been added to it in length. It is now one of the finest gasoline launches on Palacios bay. This boat is equipped with an 18 and a 24-horse power engine, electric lights and all modern and up-to-date conveniences and appliances.
Two swell gasoline launches are now being built by Axell Nelson and John P. Pierce at their big shipyard in this city. One is for Mr. Pierce himself and one for L. F. Haller of Victoria.
Houston Post,
May 24, 1909
Gone and Forgotten by many is the Pierce Marine
Construction Company, a business in Palacios in the early 1900's,
located at the corner of 3rd and Commerce.
The house in the background is the Pybus house, now the home of Dr.
J. C. White, Jr.
Palacios Beacon, May 20, 1976
Boat Launching At Palacios
Business Will Suspend During Inauguration of New Industry
Palacios, Texas, June 1.—An event of more than usual interest has just been announced to take place at Palacios next Saturday is the launching of the new boat Pastime, one of the most beautiful and serviceable boats ever built in Texas. The work was all done in the boat building establishment here and Saturday it is proposed to launch the boat in a befitting manner after the boat on a float has been hauled through the principle streets, headed by the Palacios Marine Band, the Rough Riders and others in procession. The stores and other places of business will be closed during the ceremony. A public address will be delivered by Duncan Ruthven, candidate for mayor of Palacios, as well as by other prominent people. The boat will be christened by Miss Grace Pierce, daughter of John P. Pierce, vice president of the Citizens’ bank of this city.
While to many outside of Palacios this may not seem to be of great importance, yet it marks an era in boat building in Palacios and Texas.
A new boat is just being completed here for Louis F. Haller of Victoria, and it will be launched in a few days after the Pastime, the property of John P. Pierce is launched.
Houston Post,
June 2, 1909
Launch Pastime At Palacios
Boat Was Christened by Miss Grace Pierce
Palacios, Texas, June 6.—The Pastime, Captain John P. Pierce’s new boat, was launched here yesterday with a great public demonstration.
The boat on trucks was gaily decorated and the procession, headed by the Palacios Marine Band, paraded the principle streets, followed by citizens and others. At the waters’ edge a public address was delivered by Duncan Ruthven, mayor-to-be, which was responded to by Captain Pierce. Then Miss Grace Pierce broke a bottle of champagne over the prow of the boat, christening it Pastime, while the band played the National air and the crows cheered.
Houston Post,
June 8, 1909
Palacios Has A Great Day
Big Crowds Attend the Celebration in That City
[Excerpt taken from a long article about the land holdings of Jonathan Edwards Pierce, father of John Phillips Pierce.]
One of the most attractive features was the boat races on the bay. The grand prize was won by Captain John P. Pierce with his new motor boat, the Pastime, which was built by his shipyard here about a month ago. The Anita, owned by Conductor Waters of the Southern Pacific, was a close second.
The Daily Express, San Antonio, July 5,
1909
An Invitation To Taft
To Take a Boat Ride on Palacios Bay
Palacios, Texas, October 1.—At a meeting of the city council last night it was decided to invite President Taft to visit Palacios on his way from Corpus Christi to Houston, and to make the trip on the Pastime, Captain John Pierce’s new gasoline launch, the swiftest motor boat that ever crosses Tres Palacios bay.
This invitation will be sent in duplicate. A copy will be sent to him at once by registered mail, and one will be given Captain Pierce to deliver in person to him at Corpus, as Captain Pierce will leave with his boat for Corpus on the 20th instant, taking a few personal friends, and should the president decide to come he will be given a delightful trip across the bay. His car can be taken around to the city or left at Blessing, twelve miles above here on the Brownsville road; or at Wharton, about fifty miles away, which ever he deems best. It is hoped that he may conclude to come.
Houston Post,
October 2, 1909
Palacios
Instead of returning to their former house, John hired A. F.
Swinhart as architect and superintendent to build a new home in
Palacios on the East Bay front. The following article from the
Palacios Beacon describes the new home completed in 1910.
Captain John P. Pierce is erecting a modern residence on the east
bay front.--Houston Post, February 7, 1910
J. P. Pierce is erecting a beautiful residence on East Bay front.--Matagorda
County Tribune, June 24, 1910
Capt. John P. Pierce is finishing his palatial home on the east bay
front. This building is of the old colonial design and will easily
be the most beautiful home in Matagorda county when completed.--Houston
Post, July 11, 1910
A Palatial Palacios Home
A Colonial Residence on East Bay
The palatial residence of Mr. J. P. Pierce, situated on the East Bay front, in the city has recently been completed and is now occupied by the family. Mention of this splendid building has from time to time been made in the Beacon, during the nearly six months occupied in it's construction. Impelled by the desire to see it in its completed form, a Beacon reporter on a recent date called on Mr. Pierce and was courteously received and shown through the building and about the premises. The location of this magnificent home is ideal. The premises consist of three lots facing Morton Ave. on the south, First Street on the east, and Second Street on the west, occupying nearly an entire block. Rising from near the center of this space, with the main front facing south, and another splendid front facing east, the building occupied a fine location commanding an excellent view of East Bay, Collegeport, and the surrounding country.
The building is an imposing structure built in the Colonial style. At the main front, that toward the south, there is an immense square porch of majestic appearance, supported by eight large cylindrical columns in the Ionic style of architecture. This porch is 12 feet wide and extends the entire width of the house. Mr. Pierce congratulates himself that in the one item of making the columns here he saved fully $1,200. The walls of the house also are concrete stucco three inches thick reinforced with galvanized wire. The east front is scarcely less imposing than the south. Here the porch is semi-circular in form, with a radius or width of 14 1/2 feet. This porch has five columns, similar in every respect to the eight of the south porch, thus completing the number thirteen, representative of the thirteen colonies of the American Colonial period. The main part of the building is two stores high with attic and basement. In the rear is the kitchen, one story high, with its appointments and equipment complete.
The main part of the building, excluding the porches and kitchen, rests on a solid concrete foundation 40 X 44 feet. The basement is used as a store room, wood house, etc. The first story contains the parlor, library, two magnificent halls, a chamber with bath, dining room and kitchen. The second floor has halls of same size and location as the lower floor, while chambers occupy the four corners of this floor, one of them having bath. The attic is in one large airy room, unfinished as yet, but so comfortable as to be extensively used as a sleeping place.
At
the top of the roof is a large banistered deck 20 X 28 feet, which
affords a most enjoyable place to sit or promenade in the evenings.
On entering the house the visitor passes through the large square
south porch and enters a magnificent hall 12 feet wide, and richly,
not gaudily finished and furnished. Nearly half down the hall is an
open columnade partition. The floor of this hall indeed the floors
throughout the house, is quarter-sawed and highly waxed. A rich rug
covers the center of this part of the hall. Four large comfortable
chairs in the Old Mission style, invite to a restful seat. As the
visitor passes through the house he finds that the Old Mission is
the prevailing style of furniture. The walls are covered with a
rich, dark imitation veneer paper with light paper ceiling and
frescoed border. It may here be remarked that the papering is a
particularly noteworthy feature of the interior finishing, it alone
costing $500.
On the right as you enter the hall is the parlor, not entirely furnished as yet. On the left is the library, with a rich rug on the floor, table and chairs in Old Mission, a few choice books and periodicals occupying the table.
Passing down the hall and through the columnade partition mentioned above, the visitor comes to a seven foot hall on the right leading from the east front, previously described. Still further on the right is a chamber with bath and on the left is the dining room with heavy carved oak table and chairs to correspond. Oak beams adorn the ceiling. Forming a noteworthy feature of this floor are the doors leading to the various apartments. They are large, double sliding doors of most modern design, there being six pairs of them. All but two of the rooms in the main part of the building have large, comfortable looking fireplaces.
The stairway leading to the second floor is in the rear of the main hall. It is also quarter-sawed, waxed and stained.
Ascending this broad stairway the visitor is ushered into a magnificent hall of the same dimensions as the main hall below, while a seven foot hall leads to an east balcony and corresponds to the similarly located hall of the first floor. Speaking of balconies, there are three on this floor, one at each termination of the halls, that is, on the east, south and north, the two first named projecting under the protecting roofs of the great porches.
The four chambers of this floor and the one on the first floor are to be fitted up with rich furniture, beds, chiffoniers, etc., made by Mr. Pierce in his own shop from San Domingo mahogany. A part of this furniture is already made and in place. The material for it is cut from mahogany logs washed up on Matagorda peninsula and secured at little cost. Thus the house will be richly, yet cheaply, furnished, as there will be little outlay for the material or construction of the furniture.
The building is supplied with light and water from a private light and water plant on the place. A 600 foot artesian well furnishes all the water needed for the house and a complete system of sewerage for the premises. In a round tower at the rear of the premises is a very compact little machine combining a gasoline engine, a dynamo and a pump. By this machine, water is pumped to the water tank at the top of the tower, and the electric lights needed for the house and premises are supplied. A neat barn occupies the northeast corner of the premises.
The architect and superintendent was Mr. A. F. Swinhart of this city, a capable gentleman in his line of work. Mr. W. S. Rupe was the foreman in the construction work, and in the long months occupied in building, performed his labors faithfully and efficiently, with much credit to himself, and thorough satisfaction to Mr. Pierce. The plumbing was done by Mr. A. E. Wickham of this city, and is one of the most elegant, finest and best jobs of plumbing in the entire coast country.
This magnificent residence is a distinct ornament to Palacios and would adorn a much larger city. It makes a most commodious, comfortable, and convenient home for Mr. Pierce and estimable family.
The entire cost of the house with its furnishings, the lots, well and all outside improvements was $17,000.
Palacios Beacon, 1910
Courtesy of Katie Hutto and the City by the Sea
Museum
Pierce Residence Burned
Handsomest Home in Palacios Destroyed by Fire Last Night
One of Palacios' most attractive ornaments and beauty spots is this morning a heap of ashes and wreckage. The palatial East Bay home of Mr. J. P. Pierce, president of the State Guaranty Bank, was totally destroyed by fire last night, entailing a great loss not only to Mr. Pierce, but to Palacios as well, as this was one of the special attractions of the city which our people delight to show visitors.
The fire was not discovered until near ten o'clock, but must have been gaining headway on the interior for some time, as the first knowledge of the fire was when it burst through the kitchen roof with a loud explosion.
The origin of the fire is not known, but it evidently started in the kitchen. None of the family were at home, and the house was locked. Mrs. Pierce was in Bay City, Mr. Pierce and the smaller children were out at the ranch and...[lower portion of the paper missing]
Palacios Beacon, November 6, 1914
$25,000 Fire at Palacios
Fine Residence of J. P. Pierce Entirely Destroyed
Palacios, Texas, November 5.--The $25,000 residence of J. P. Pierce was totally destroyed by fire tonight, at 10 o'clock. Nothing was saved from the house, but some insurance was carried. The fire was discovered shortly before 10 o'clock and nothing could be done by the fire department. The residence was the finest in Palacios and was located on the east bay front. Mr. Pierce is president of the Palacios State Bank and Trust company.
Houston Post, November 6, 1914
Cash's Creek
When the palatial home on the East Bay
in Palacios burned
in 1914, the Pierce
family moved six miles north
of Palacios to farm rice and ranch. Their home there also burned and they built another in that same
location in 1925.
This home,
situated at
the Pierce Ranch
on the bank of Cash's Creek was
still standing in 2018.
The Cash's Creek operation of John Phillips and his son, Abel H., consisted of farming cotton, grain and rice and a herd of dairy cows.
The house built in 1925 was a large two-story on the west side of Cash's Creek. Two sides of the house had long screened porches with rocking chairs and a canvas swing. A long library table with straight-backed chairs graced the hall. The house also had a kitchen with a pantry as well as a big laundry room.
The outbuildings included a barn and blacksmith shop where John Phillips created and repaired equipment for their farming and ranching operation. A bench outside of the shop provided a waiting place for neighbors who came to get him to repair or sharpen their equipment.
There were two tall round concrete silos at the entrance of the barn. The barn included a tack room, milking stalls and feed boxes equipment storage and two hay lofts on each side. There was also an earthen dipping vat in front of the barn. Hurricane Carla destroyed the barn and blacksmith shop in 1961, but the silos survived.
Fig trees, located at the north end of the barn, provided fruit for the family.
Since the family of Abel H., son of John Phillips and Louisa, lived on the east side of Cash’s Creek, the grandchildren often visited the home of “Gramps” and “Mother Louise.“ Granddaughter, Grace Pearl Pierce, remembered “My grandparents had a chiropractor who came once a week to give them treatments, and they drank aloe vera juice, and had amazing breakfasts of green onions, dates, yogurt (clabber) and coffee.”
After living at Cash’s Creek for 25 years, John Phillips died on April 30, 1939 and was buried at Hawley Cemetery with other Pierce family members. Mary Louise died on December 27, 1961 and was buried at his side.
The family of their son, Abel Head Pierce, continued to live on the ranch at Cash’s Creek.
four
sons, Richard Lacy, A. H., J. E. and W. W. all of Palacios. He is
survived by one sister, Mrs. Grace Heffelfinger, and one brother, A.
B. Pierce of Blessing. Another sister, Mrs. Pearl Pierce Smith,
preceded him in death just a few weeks.
She was a retired school teacher and a
matron of the Order of Eastern Star.
Funeral services for Abel "Bink"
Pierce, 81, of Palacios, were held 2 p.m. Monday, June 17, 2002 at
the First Presbyterian Church in Palacios. The Rev. Andy Blair
officiated, followed by interment in Hawley Cemetery, near Blessing.
A
retired accountant from Amaco Oil, he was a veteran of the U. S. Air
Force, a resident of Palacios for the past 10 years and a member of
the Presbyterian Church in Palacios and a member of the V.F.W. Post
2467 in Palacios.
