{{Short description|American politician}} '''James Henry Pierson''' (May 26, 1838 – March 28, 1914) was an American politician from New York.<ref name=":0" />
== Life == James H. Pierson was born on May 26, 1838, in Southampton, New York, the son of Philetus Pierson and Elizabeth Reeves. His ancestor was Henry Pierson, who immigrated to Southampton in 1640 to join his brother Abraham Pierson.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=30 March 1914|title=James H. Pierson Dead|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/54332335/}}</ref> Pierson's father Philetus was a whaling captain.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2 April 1914|title=Hon. James Henry Pierson|work=The Sag-Harbor Express|url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031600/1914-04-02/ed-1/seq-3/}}</ref>
As a young man, Pierson served as Southampton's highway commissioner, assessor, tax collector, and inspector of elections.<ref name=":0" /> In 1881, he was elected as a Republican to be Southampton's town supervisor. He served as supervisor until 1902.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goddard|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByvQLuKAyxIC|title=Colonizing Southampton: The Transformation of a Long Island Community, 1870-1900|date=2011-09-01|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-3798-9|location=Albany, New York|pages=119–120|language=en}}</ref>
In 1889, Pierson was elected to the New York State Assembly, representing Suffolk County. He served in the Assembly in 1890, 1891, and 1892.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lloyd|first=Will L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5THmWKSAlucC|title=The New York Red Book|publisher=James B. Lyon|year=1892|location=Albany|pages=150–151|language=en}}</ref>
Pierson never married. He was the first president of the Southampton Bank, president of the Sag Harbor Savings Bank, president of the Southampton Water Works Company, and one of the founders and president of the Southampton Cemetery Association.<ref name=":0" />
Pierson died in his Southampton home on March 28, 1914.<ref name=":0" /> He was buried in Southampton's North End Cemetery.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* ''[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/pierson.html#273.19.54 The Political Graveyard]'' * {{find a Grave|17475172}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ny-hs}} {{succession box | title = New York State Assembly <br>Suffolk County | years = 1890-1892 | before = Henry E. Huntting | after = Richard Higbie }} {{s-end}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierson, James H.}} Category:Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Category:1838 births Category:1914 deaths Category:Town supervisors in New York (state) Category:People from Southampton (town), New York Category:Tax collectors Category:County assessors in the United States Category:American bank presidents Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature Category:American people of English descent