{{short description|American politician}} {{Infobox person | name =James Farnsworth Pierce | image =James Farnsworth Pierce.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1830|4|8}} | birth_place =Madrid, New York | death_date = {{Death date and age|1905|7|8|1830|4|8}} | death_place =Brooklyn, New York | death_cause = | resting_place =Green-Wood Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = }} '''James Farnsworth Pierce''' (April 8, 1830 in Madrid, St. Lawrence County, New York – July 8, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York City) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
==Life== He was the son of Caleb Pierce, M.D. (1799–1887) and Sarah Emily (Farnsworth) Pierce (1807–1865). He studied law, first in Potsdam, then with Job Pierson in Troy; was admitted to the bar in Albany in 1851; and, going south to recover from lung disease, commenced practice in St. Augustine, Florida in partnership with Isaac H. Bronson. In 1856, he returned to New York, and resumed the practice of law at Canton. He married Anna Maria Redington (1835–1904), and they had six children. He was Clerk of St. Lawrence County from 1862 to 1864.
In 1865, he moved to New York City, and the next year to Brooklyn. He was a Democratic member of the New York State Senate (2nd D.) from 1868 to 1871, sitting in the 91st, 92nd, 93rd and 94th New York State Legislatures.
Pierce was again a member of the State Senate in 1878 and 1879; and again from 1886 to 1889, sitting in the 109th, 110th, 111th and 112th New York State Legislatures.
He was Superintendent of Insurance from 1891 to 1897.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr. Pierce Has A Record. Queer Doings That Caused A Legislative Investigation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1891/02/07/archives/mr-pierce-has-a-record-queer-doings-that-caused-a-legislative.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 8, 1891 |access-date=2012-11-08 }}</ref>
Pierce died of "paralysis" at his home at 7 Montague Terrace, in Brooklyn, and was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death Of James F. Pierce. He Was an ex-State Senator and Had Lived in Brooklyn Since 1866. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/07/09/101328646.pdf |quote=James Farnsworth Pierce, ex-State Senator, died Friday at his home, 7 Montague Terrace, Brooklyn of paralysis. He was born seventy-six years ago. in Madrid ... |newspaper=New York Times |date=July 9, 1905 |access-date=2012-11-08 }}</ref>
==Family== James F. Pierce was a fourth cousin twice removed of President Franklin Pierce, their common ancestor being Thomas Pierce (1618–1683).
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * [https://books.google.com/books?id=GyUOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA444 ''The New York Civil List''] compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; pg. 444 and 547) * [https://books.google.com/books?id=F4oDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA136 ''Life Sketches of the State Officers, Senators, and Members of the Assembly of the State of New York in 1868''] by S. R. Harlow & S. C. Hutchins (pg. 136ff) * [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=rlpierce&id=I01756 Pierce genealogy] at RootsWeb * [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/02/08/103294390.pdf ''UNFIT FOR PUBLIC OFFICE; JAMES F. PIERCE CANDIDATE FOR A POSITION OF TRUST''] in NYT on February 8, 1891 * [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/02/20/103296271.pdf ''HILL'S MAN TAKES HOLD; PIERCE IN THE OFFICE of SUPERINTENDENT OF INSURANCE''] in NYT on February 20, 1891 * [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/02/28/106096114.pdf ''A FAITHFUL OFFICER REWARDED; Superintendent of Insurance Pierce Confirmed for a Second Term''] in NYT on February 28, 1894
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ny-sen}} {{succession box | before = Henry R. Pierson | title = New York State Senate <br>2nd District | years = 1868–1871 | after = John C. Perry}} {{succession box | before = John R. Kennaday | title = New York State Senate <br>2nd District | years = 1878–1879 | after = William H. Murtha}} {{succession box | before = John J. Kiernan | title = New York State Senate <br>2nd District | years = 1886–1889 | after = John C. Jacobs}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | before = Robert A. Maxwell | title = Superintendent of Insurance | years = 1891–1897 | after = Louis F. Payn}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, James F}} Category:1830 births Category:1905 deaths Category:Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Category:People from Madrid, New York Category:People from St. Augustine, Florida Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Category:People from Potsdam, New York Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature