Governor Benjamin Pierce - New Hampshire Historical Society

Benjamin Pierce’s World 9
The Revolution, which brought profound change
to every corner of American society, had created a
vocal and assertive citizenry. Republican emphasis on
the virtues of talent and merit unleashed men’s desire
for social and economic advancement. Yet, when
Lieutenant Pierce and other soldiers returned to their
rural homes following years of service in
the Continental Army, they faced age-old challenges
of earning a livelihood through farming. Like
generations before him, Pierce turned to the frontier
where land was cheap yet provided a foundation for
building family and community. 8
In 1785, Pierce found employment “as an agent to
explore the lands” in present-day Stoddard, New
Hampshire, then owned by the heirs of Col.
Sampson Stoddard, Esq. (1709–77), a wealthy
Chelmsford merchant and politician. Through
royal grants and purchases, the Stoddard family
had title to eighty-thousand acres in Acworth,
Dublin, Fitzwilliam, Goffstown, Jaffrey, Rindge, and
Stoddard, which they hoped to develop or sell to
land-hungry farmers pressing northward. 9
In the spring of 1786, Pierce joined the steady
stream of New England farmers moving northward
“A Correct View of the Late Battle at Charlestown June 17 th 1775,” engraved by Robert Aitken (1734–1802) of Philadelphia and published in
the Pennsylvania Magazine, September 1775. When news of the Battle of Lexington reached young Benjamin Pierce, he laid down his plough,
headed for Boston, and joined the militia. He later recorded: “June 17 th I was at the battle on Breed’s Hill.” Courtesy of the American
Antiquarian Society.