Benjamin W. Pearce

{{More citations needed|date=June 2025}} '''Benjamin Wiley Pearce ''' (15 December 1816 – 8 October 1870) was an American politician. In 1864 and 1865 he served as Lieutenant Governor of the Confederate [[Louisiana]].

==Life== Pearce was born in [[Greene County, Georgia]]. He attended public schools and studied for about two years at the [[University of Virginia]]. Due to health problems he terminated his course at that University. Instead he studied law in [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama]]. After his admission to the bar in 1840 he started a career as an attorney in [[Wetumpka, Alabama]]. Between 1844 and 1848 he lived in [[Ouachita County, Arkansas]]. During this time he started his political life as a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. He was elected to the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]]. However Pearce did not stay in that state. In 1848 he moved to Louisiana and then to Alabama. Since 1851 he permanently lived in [[Bienville Parish, Louisiana]] where he was also engaged in agricultural purposes. In addition he continued his political career. In the following years he became a member of the [[Louisiana House of Representatives]] and the [[Louisiana State Senate]].

In 1860, Pearce was one of Louisiana's elected delegates at the [[Charleston Convention]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bragg |first1=Jefferson Davis |title=Louisiana in the Confederacy |date=1997 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana |isbn=0-8071-2179-7 |edition=Louisiana Paperback |url=https://archive.org/details/louisianainconfe0000brag/page/8/ |access-date=18 June 2025}}</ref>

During the [[American Civil War]] Pearce supported the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]]. He organized Company C, Ninth Louisiana Infantry Volunteers and was appointed captain of the same. His unit served mainly in [[Virginia]]. However, due to bad health he could not remain in the military. Therefore, he returned to Louisiana, where he was elected to the office of the Lieutenant Governor for that part of the state that was still under the control of the Confederacy. He served in this position between 1864 and 1865 when the war ended. In this function he was the deputy of Confederate Governor [[Henry Watkins Allen]] and he presided over the (Confederate) State Senate. During the war he lost almost his entire fortune. He died on 8 October 1870 in the Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Findagrave|75743512}} * [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~labienvi/pearce.htm Online Biography at Rootsweb] * [http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/bienville/bios/pearcebw.txt Online Biography in the USG War archives.]

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Henry M. Hyams]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana]]|years=1864-1865}} {{s-aft|after=[[Albert Voorhies]]}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Benjamin Wiley}} [[Category:1816 births]] [[Category:1870 deaths]] [[Category:Lieutenant governors of Louisiana]] [[Category:Louisiana Democrats]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature]]