Pierce, Willis F.

PIERCE

Posted By: Volunteer (email)
Date: 3/6/2010 at 21:43:02

Dr. Willis F. Pierce, one of the most capable physicians of the county, his ability being attested by a large practice at Carson and throughout the surrounding district, was born in Dover, Bureau county, Illinois, December 11, 1853. His parents were Caleb and Martha F. (Paddleford) Pierce, the former a native of Canaan, New Hampshire, and the latter of Enfield, that state. The father became a pioneer settler of Bureau county, Illinois, and resided at Dover until his death. In 1852, however, he came to Pottawattamie county and entered land which was a part of his estate and was eventually inherited by Dr. Pierce of this review. The father made the journey westward by stage, for it was prior to the era of railroad building. He was a wagon manufacturer and repairer and in his later life owned a number of farms but employed others to cultivate them. His widow survived him and died at the home of her son, Dr. Pierce. Their children were Mrs. Mary E. Huff, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Abbie McKinstry, of Carson; Mrs. Shuah B. Walker, of Carson; Willis F. and Mrs. Ida L. Curtis, of Davenport, Iowa.
Dr. Pierce was reared in the place of his nativity, where he resided until after he had become a member of the medical profession. His education was pursued in Dover Academy and in the Princeton high school and when he had resolved to make the practice of medicine his life work he entered the Rush Medical College of Chicago where he completed his course in February, 1876. He then practiced at Malden, Illinois, near his old home, until his removal to Carson, where he has engaged continuously and successfully in general practice since February, 1880. He and Dr. Johnson, a druggist, were the only two business men here at the time the village was established. Dr. Pierce had invested what he had received from his father's estate in property in Grove township and it was this which led him to establish his home in Carson that he might superintend his realty interests in this locality. He has a beautiful residence, which he erected in 1900, it being by far the finest in Carson. His practice is large and his strict conformity to a high standard of professional ethics has gained him the unqualified regard of his brethren of the medical fraternity, while his skill is uniformly acknowledged throughout Carson and the community in which he makes his home. He is now surgeon for both railroads that enter the town and is a member of the County, the State and National Railway Surgeons' Associations.

In November, 1880, Dr. Pierce was united in marriage to Miss Orlinda C. Childs, of Dover township, Bureau county, Illinois, born February 19, 1859. Her father, Rudolphus Childs, was a pioneer of that locality, and his wife was a sister of Dad Joe Smith, for whom Dad Joe Grove was named.

In his political views the Doctor is a republican and is interested in all matters of progressive citizenship. He has done much for the independent and up building of the village in which he makes his home, and his labors can always be counted upon to further any movement for the public good. He has erected not only the finest residence in the village but one which would be a credit to any city in the state. It is of most attractive architectural design, two and a half stories in height with basement. It is built entirely of brick and contains ten rooms of convenient arrangement and of fine interior finishing, while the furnishings are all that refined taste suggests. Moreover a spirit of hospitality and good cheer reigns supreme there and the home is the center of many a most entertaining social function. The Doctor and his wife have traveled extensively, having made four European tours, and on their last trip abroad they made a tour of the world, leaving San Francisco in December, 1906, and returning by way of New York after five months spent abroad amid scenes of rare beauty and of modern and historic interest in Japan, the Philippines, India, China and the Holy Land. They have visited all parts of Europe, gaining that knowledge and culture which only travel can bring. The Doctor is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge and has been a delegate to the grand lodge of that order three different times. He is a charter member of the Elks lodge at Council Bluffs.

1907 History of Pottawattamie County