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                            THE JOB PIERSON FAMILY
                           A REGISTER OF ITS PAPERS
                          IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

                                  Prepared by
                    David Mathisen and Margaret H. McAleer
                      with the assistance of Paul Colton

                              Manuscript Division
                              Library of Congress

                            Washington, D.C.  1994



                                      ***


                          ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION



     The papers of the Job Pierson Family were purchased from
Eleanor E. Porter in 1983 and 1985.  A small addition was given
by Porter in 1991.

     The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the
Job Pierson family is governed by the Copyright Law of the United
States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

     The papers acquired by the Library in 1983 were processed
and described by David Mathisen in 1984.  Additional family
papers purchased by the Library in 1985 were added to the
collection in 1987 by Paul Colton and the register was revised
accordingly by David Mathisen in 1988.  This register describes
those papers as well as a scrapbook processed and added to the
papers in 1994.

     A description of the Pierson Papers appears in _Library of
Congress Acquisitions: Manuscript Division, 1983_, pp. 10-14.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
                                                                 
    Readers interested in consulting any of the division's       
    collections are advised to write or telephone the            
    Manuscript Reading Room at (202) 707-5387 before visiting.   
    Many processed and nearly all unprocessed collections are    
    stored off site, and advance notice is needed to retrieve    
    these items for research use.                                
                                                                 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


                   Linear feet of shelf space occupied:  1.5
                   Approximate number of items:          600



                                      ***


                              BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES



                            Job Pierson (1791-1860)


1791, Sept. 23   Born, Bridgehampton, N.Y.

1811             Graduated, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.;
                    studied law in Salem and Schaghticoke, N.Y.

1815             Admitted to bar; practiced law with Herman
                    Knickerbocker in Rensselaer County, N.Y.
                 Married Clarissa Taintor Bulkeley

1824-33          District attorney, Rensselaer County, N.Y.

1831-35          Member, United States House of Representatives

1835-40          Surrogate, Rensselaer County, N.Y.; moved to Troy,
                    N.Y.

1848             Delegate, Democratic National Convention

1852             Delegate, Democratic National Convention

1856             Delegate, Democratic National Convention

1860, Apr. 9     Died, Troy, N.Y.


                            Job Pierson (1824-1896)


1824, Feb. 3     Born, Schaghticoke, N.Y.

1842             Graduated, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.

1847             Graduated, Auburn Theological Seminary, Auburn,
                    N.Y.

1849             Married Rachel Williams Smith

1850             Appointed pastor, First Presbyterian Church,
                    Pittsford, N.Y.

1856             Trip to Scotland; appointed pastor of a
                    Presbyterian church, Victor, N.Y.

1863             Appointed pastor, First Presbyterian Church,
                    Kalamazoo, Mich.

1869             Appointed pastor, First Presbyterian Church,
                    Ionia, Mich.

1878             Retired from active clerical work

1881             Appointed trustee, Olivet College, Olivet, Mich.;
                    received honorary doctor of divinity degree

1889-92          Librarian, Alma College, Alma, Mich.

1896, Feb. 3     Died, Stanton, Mich.



                                      ***


                            SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE



     The Job Pierson Family Papers span the years 1755-1908, with
the bulk of material dating from 1809 to 1896.  The collection
consists primarily of the papers of Job Pierson (1791-1860),
lawyer and politician, who represented New York in the House of
Representatives from 1831 to 1835.  The collection also contains
the papers of various family members and includes a journal and
diaries kept by Pierson's son, Job Pierson (1824-1896), a
Presbyterian minister who spent most of his clerical career in
New York and Michigan.  The papers are arranged into groupings
that include a journal and diaries, correspondence, financial and
legal papers, miscellany, a scrapbook, and oversize material.

     The bulk of the papers consists of approximately 350 letters
written by Job Pierson (1791-1860) to his wife Clarissa Bulkeley
Pierson between 1831 and 1835.  The letters, written during
Pierson's two congressional terms, focus almost exclusively on
political and social events in Washington.  An ardent supporter
of Andrew Jackson, Pierson filled his letters with accounts of
the president and other major political figures, including Martin
Van Buren, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun, and
the spirited issues that dominated Jacksonian politics, including
the Cherokee nation's legal status, the Second Bank of the United
States, the tariff of 1833, and the nullification crisis.  The
letters also reveal much about Democratic efforts to maintain
party discipline in Congress, congressional daily work routines,
Washington social gatherings, and boarding-house life endured by
many congressmen.  Two partial subject indexes to Pierson's
congressional letters are filed with correspondence dated
February 1833 and March 1835.

     Correspondence dated prior to 1831 concerns Pierson's
student days at Williams College and his early legal practice. 
Pierson's interest in politics is evident throughout his early
correspondence.  A sizeable portion of his later correspondence
consists of letters written to two of his children, Sarah J. and
John B. Pierson.  These letters contain, in addition to Pierson's
usual political commentary, paternal advice on educational
pursuits and character formation and frequent warnings against
religious fanaticism.  Oversize correspondence, dated between
1809 and 1832, is arranged separately.

     The papers also include a journal and typed transcripts of
diaries kept by Pierson's son, Job, who became a Presbyterian
minister despite his father's objections to religious revivalism. 
The younger Pierson's journal describes a summer vacation spent
in East Hampton on Long Island, New York, in 1843, shortly before
he entered Auburn Theological Seminary.  Pierson's diaries,
transcribed in 1903 by his son, Philip T. H. Pierson, are
prefaced by a memoir written by him concerning his family
history, childhood, and experiences at Williams College where he
attended two revivals that led to his religious conversion.

     Pierson's diary entries, commencing with his marriage to
Rachel Williams Smith in 1849 and continuing until shortly before
his death in 1896, are essentially personal in nature.  In
addition to references to family life, they recount Pierson's
career as a Presbyterian minister in New York and Michigan. 
Entries made during the summer of 1856 contain a detailed account
of an Atlantic crossing made during a trip to Scotland.  The
diaries include only occasional references to national events.

     Legal and financial papers date from 1755 to 1886 and
primarily concern the family's property holdings, principally in
Rensselaer and Suffolk counties, New York.  Material described as
miscellany includes genealogical studies, newspaper clippings,
diplomas, and autographs, including those of Wendell Phillips and
the theologian Henry James (1811-1882).

     The papers also contain a scrapbook compiled by Philip T. H.
Pierson in 1908 in memory of his brother Bowen Whiting Pierson. 
The memorial volume consists of photographs of family members,
including Job Pierson (1791-1860), Clarissa Bulkeley Pierson, Job
Pierson (1824-1896), Rachel Smith Pierson, and their children. 
Other photographs depict various Pierson family homes in New York
and Michigan.  Genealogical material and correspondence
concerning the death of Bowen Whiting Pierson complete the
scrapbook.



                                      ***


                                CONTAINER LIST



Container Nos.   Contents

Box 1            Journal and diaries, 1843, 1849-96 (4 folders)
                 Correspondence
                    May 1803-Apr. 1832 (3 folders) _See also
                       Oversize_

Box 2               May 1832-Mar. 1835 (8 folders) _See also
                       Oversize_

Box 3               May 1835-Feb. 1883, n.d. (2 folders)
                 Legal and financial papers
                    Correspondence, 1810-77, n.d.
                    Miscellany
                       1755-1839

Box 4                  1840-86, n.d. (2 folders)
                    Wills, 1799-1885
                 Miscellany, 1831-89, n.d.

Box 5            Scrapbook, ca. 1864-1908, n.d.

Box OV 1         Oversize
                    Correspondence, 1809-32, n.d.
                    House of Representatives seating chart, n.d.


*** Last updated 06/19/97 (mal) ***