George S. Pierce, chief deputy in the office of county clerk of Alameda county, California, is one of the popular and rising young men of Oakland.

Mr. pierce was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1874, son of William W. and Helen J. (Haynes) Pierce. The Pierce family to which our subject belongs is descended from one of the Mayflower passengers, and William W. Pierce was a native of New York state. The latter emigrated to California with his family of three sons and one daughter, in 1883, and settled in Oakland. At the time of their removal to this state George S. was a boy of nine years. He attended the common and high schools in Oakland until he was eighteen, the next five years was secretary of the Builders' Association in Oakland, and in 1898 he was appointed deputy under Frank C. Jordan, clerk of Alameda county. He served one year as judgment clerk under Mr. Jordan and three years as clerk in Judge Hall's court. In 1902 he was appointed to his present position, that of chief deputy under John P. Cook.

Mr. Pierce, like other members of the family to which he belongs, is an ardent Republican and takes a pride in keeping himself posted on all the political issues of the day. He was secretary of the Republican county central committee for four years. And in this connection we state that George S. Pierce is a cousin of Charles D. Pierce, who was elected mayor of Oakland at the age of twenty-six years.

In Masonic circles the subject of our sketch has been honored by having confered upon him the thirtieth degree of the Scottish Rite.

Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume II

The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine