Brigham Horace Pierce
(1864 – 1944)
Brigham Horace Pierce, son of George Henry Pierce and Sarah Skinner, was born March 28, 1864 in Deseret, Millard County, Utah. Brigham’s grandparents were converts to the Church and were among the early settlers of Utah, having crossed the plains and settled in Utah Valley. They lived in the United Order for a short while when Brigham was a child.
As a young man he worked on the railroad and herded sheep to help his father maintain a large family. Brigham’s mother was a plural wife and had thirteen children, of whom Brigham was the fourth child and second son.
Brigham married Mary Elizabeth Harris. She bore him no children. He then married Martha Alice Thorton. Because of his polygamous marriage it was necessary to leave Utah. He loaded his wives and the few things he could put into a wagon and carriage and befan the long overland trip to Mexico, arriving in Colonia Juarez late in the year of 1890. Shortly after the arrival, his first child, Mary Alice, was born. Two years later, his wife, Martha Alice, died in childbirth, her twin daughters dying with her. Elizabeth raised Mary Alice. They were poor, as were all the early settlers of the colonies, but Brigham was thrift and hardworking and provided well for his family. He found what work he could to supplement his garden income, including work on the road from Colonia Juarez to the mountain colonies. He also built the dugway over the hill east of Colonia Juarez leading to the road to Colonia Dublan. The mountains were rocky and tools were scarce. In his own small blacksmith shop he sharpened and tempered his own tools. He hauled lumber from the mountain colonies, spending long days and bitter cold nights on the road. He bought a few cows and Elizabeth sold butter and cheese. She frugally and carefully saved what she could. Having no family of her own, she went into the homes of those who needed her help, always taking some small gift of food or clothing to the less fortunate.
Between Brigham and Elizabeth, enough money was saved to buy a small piece of land which they planted to orchard. As they prospered, more land was purchased and more orchards planted. While waiting for the trees to bear, they planted blackberries and strawberries, which in addition to bringing them a small income also provided work for young people in the community. Brigham paid two cents a quart for picking the fruit and Elizabeth provided the pickers with hot biscuits with butter and strawberry jam for lunch. Brigham would load the berries on his wagon and peddle it in Colonia Juarez and Dublan. Persons who were children at that time remembered Brig Pierce coming to their homews to bring berries to their mothers. All can recall how they would run out to watch him pour the luscious fruit into pans held by the women and, when the mothers would go to pay him, he would catch hold of one of the children and say that he would trader her the berries for the girl. Then he would lift the child into this wagon and pretend that he was going to take her home. Finally, of course, he would let her down and reward her with a handful of berries, telling the mother that the child was still quite small and that he would let her stay with her mother until next year. This was very much part of the fun of buying berries and he never forgot to do it.
When a canal was needed to convey water to the town, Brigham worked long hours on the project, taking canal stock for pay. He served as watermaster and each morning as he walked to the head of the canal he took his shovel along and cleaned it as he went. During the time he served as watermaster, it was never necessary to hire outside help to keep the canal clean.
In 1900, Brigham was called on a mission to the Southern States. He wrote regularly to his wife and daughter, instructing them in money matters and the care of the property. IN each letter he would bear his testimony of the truth of the Gospel. In one letter he related how the Elders were miraculously saved by heeding a voice that told them to remain in the upper story of their headquarters when a great tidal wave struck Galveston, Texas, and did great damage for miles around.
After returning from his mission in 1904, he married Sarah Ellen Harris, Elizabeth’s sister. She bore him eight children, four of whom survived him. After the deaths of Elizabeth and Sarah, he married, in 1944, Louisa Berbmer Duthie. She survived him and bore him no children.
Brigham Horace Pierce was a true pioneer to the Mormon Colonies in Mexico, helping to build up his town, working long hours for little pay other than the pleasure of seeing what once appeared to be a field of stones take shape and become a beautiful valley nestled in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. He lived to see dreams come true. And his posterity reap the benefit of the labor of this kind, honest, God-fearing man.
He was especially thoughtful of windows and orphans and helped those in need. Although his own life was one of hardship and marked with many sorrows, he was always cheerful. He never gave up peddling his berries until the time of his death and still offered to trade berries for little girls. His cheery greeting and sense of humor made life pleasant for those around him and his generous nature kept many from want. His name belongs with the builders of the colonies. He died on September 26, 1944 in El Paso, Texas, and he was buried there.
Floriene F. Taylor, granddaughter-in-law
Stalwarts South of the Border Page 529 Nelle Spilsbury Hatch
Hello, I have been researching and glad I found this, I am Brigham H. Pierce great grandson,, his son George E. Pierce was my grand father,,, trying to find relatives on my grandfathers side of the family
Hi Edgar! I am Joseph Garth Taylor, son of Joseph Brigham Taylor, son of Mary Alice Pierce Taylor. I am looking for info on my cousin Roy Pierce, if you know him.
Roy Pierce? Leroy Pierce?
He’s my father.
My grandfather is Owen Pierce. I’m Brigham H. Pierce great granddaughter. Do you have any pictures of information you can share about George or Owen?
My Mom is Brigham’s Great grandaughter too, she and her siblings used to spend their holidays in Colonia Juarez with their grandpa (Arwell N., brother of George and Owen), they used to visit their uncles George and Owen Often and played with some of their cousins, i remember my mom told me they used to call their uncle George “Chorchi” (which is a cute spanish transliteration of “Georgie”), we have been in the Colonia recently and i just remembered that now somebody is building a big Luxurious house in the place where George’s Home used to be, sorry but that is everything i can remember by the moment but i will ask my Granny and my Mom for more information about them when i get to see them again, there used to be some nice pictures in the profiles of the brothers in Geni and Ancestry but for some reason now i cant find them, sorry, maybe if you have an active account you could find them =)
Brigham Pierce parents were not polygamists. His father Geo. H. Pierce 1st married Lucinda Elsworth, they divorced, Lucinda married David Crockett a polygamist. Mother Sarah Jane Skinner married 1st Lewis Orvin Glazier 1856 he was a polygamist, she didn’t stay long with him. George & Sarah Skinner Pierce married 1859. He had one son Amasa from his first marriage, Sarah had no children. They had 13 children together. My grandmother was Minerva Pierce Everett sister of Brigham Pierce. I posted a picture of George Pierce son of Brigham on Ancestry. I have no information about his children just a couple of photos.
Thank you Carol.
Carol, thank you very much for sharing that information, i wish i could know more about our earlier ancestors, by the way, my Granny is Granddaughter of Brigham and she looks pretty much like Sarah J. Skinner, a lot!, her genes are so strong that when i showed Sarah´s picture to my uncle, he said that she defined most of the gene pool of the family!, George H. was so good looking too!
i just found out that you shared some nice pictures of Phebe Baldwin on Findagrave.com, for some reason that i ignore, i have always been attracted towards knowing more about Phebe and Isaac, indeed, sometimes i feel like i can communicate with her, sometimes i feel her willing to give me advice, literally, ever since i know about her i have felt i can ask her for advice whenever needed and she is going to provide it, i even listened her soft, sweet and peaceful voice inside my head once, i feel her like a caring granny, i am so happy that i could find pictures of her on the internet, the expression of her eyes is so enigmatic, i feel such a strong connection with them, yet, they lived such a long long time ago and i know so little about them, everything i now about them is that they lived in New York, Isaac was the son of a Reverend of a church of which Christian denomination i ignore, church they abandon disappointed after a series of issues with some very violent and disrespectful members of that church´s congregation, which caused Isaac to doubt about his faith, then they acquainted Joseph Smith who shows them the early mormon doctrine, which gives new hopes to their faith and so they became one of the first mormon pioneer families, they Lost their first child, later, while they suffered persecution in Illinois (where i think George H. could possibly meet Sarah J.), Isaac made his guard turn on a heavy rain night, as a result he got a very sick cold (with a severe infection in his respiratory tract whose scientific name i dont remember, i think it was neumonia or something like that, but i am not sure), and so, he dies, and Phebe and their children continued with the journey toward the west, until they reached Utah, indeed, it is said that Phebe was the first white lady to ever put a step on what is nowadays known as Utah, later, once properly established in Utah, they performed a sealing ceremony with both marital and parental connotations in which their eldest remaining child (George H.) performed in representation of his father’s behalf, that is everything i know about them, i wish i could know more about them, ¿am i missing something?, ¿did you know that Isaac descends from the Capitain Michael Pierce that fought in the king Philip´s war and lost his life in the “Pierce Battle” related to the nine man’s misery event in Rhode Island?
=)
i am very thankful to Floriene for sharing this beautiful and deep insight about the life of Brigham and his wives, everything i knew about him was that he had auburn red hair and that he used to sell fruit for making a living, now i know many many things more thanks to you; Brigham H. Pierce and Sarah Harris are my great great grandparents, their Son, Arwell Nathan is my great grandfather, whose daughter, Maria Alicia (named after her Aunt Mary Alice) is my grandmother, recently we went to visit her in Casas Grandes and Stayed In Colonia Juarez, i must say how lovely, beautiful and peaceful that place is, this article lets us know that this is due to the hard work of its founders who gave it all in order to making it flourish. =)
Hola soy Owen Flores Pierce, tataranieto de Brigham y me alegro el saber mas sobre mi decendencia y no contamos con mucha informacion pero me encantaria saber aun mas de mis antepasados y de aquellas personas que desconocia hasta ahora.