Pierce was born on July 3, 1848, in Dresden, Tennessee, in Weakley County.

After the war, he attended school in London, Ontario, Canada and studied law in Halifax, North Carolina.

[1] In 1869, Pierce commenced practice in Union City, Tennessee, in Obion County.

[2] When Pierce was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Fifty-ninth Congress in 1904, he resumed the practice of law in Union City, Tennessee.

Pierce died in Union City, Tennessee, on July 12, 1936 (age 88 years, 9 days).