Superintendent of public instruction from 1836 - 1841, was born at Chesterfield N.H. Feb. 18, 1797. From the age of two to twenty he lived with an uncle at Worcester Mass., having only eight weeks schooling. He then went to work and earned one hundred dollars, his grandfather game the same amount, and in 1817 he walked fourteen miles to take his first lesson of Rev. Enoch Pond, who fitted him for college. He graduated at Brown University in 1822; was principal of Wrentham academy in 1823; the same year entered Princeton theological seminary; in 1824 was licensed to preach as a Congregational minister, and became pastor of a church at Oneida, N.Y. He came as a home missionary to Marshall Mich. in 1831 and held the first religious meetings in Jackson, Calhoun and Eaton counties. Gov. Mason appointed him the first superintendent of public instruction and he proved to be the right man in the right place and his plans were adopted by the legislature of 1837 without a dissenting vote. A full sketch of his labors can be readily found. He was a Representative from Calhoun county in 1847-8. He died in Medford Mass., April 6, 1882.

Another Bio source unknown:

Born in New Hampshire in 1797 and followed by a "cheerless" childhood, Pierce educated himself and later graduated from Brown University and Princeton Theological Seminary . An ordained Congregational minister, Pierce accepted a position in 1831 as missionary in Michigan and settled in Marshall. Pierce was appointed as Michigan's first Superintendent of Education. He served from 1836 to 1841 and drafted plans for organization of primary schools and the state university. In 1847, Pierce was elected to the state legislature and in 1850 served on a committee to frame a new state constitution. Soon after, ill health necessitated his retirement to a farm near Ypsilanti. However, Pierce lived for quite some time thereafter until his death in 6 April 1882. Married Mary Ann Cleveland 4 Sep. 1828. She was born 19 April 1806 Madison NY daughter of Erastus Cleveland & Rebecca Berry. Mary died 24 July 1832 in Marshall MI. Parents of two children - James Douglas Pierce born 14 Dec. 1829 in Madison NY and Anna Millicent Eliza Pierce born 30 May 1831 Madison NY.)