William Houghton Sprague Pearce

Who was William Houghton Sprague Pearce?

William Houghton Sprague Pearce also known as W.H.S. Pearce, an American artist, was born in Boston to Mary Anna Sprague Pearce and Shadrach Houghton Pearce. His father ran a successful Chinese importing business. He was descended from many of Massachusetts's founding and historical figures. His grandfather was Charles Sprague, an early American poet known as the "Banker Poet of Boston". His great grandfather, Samuel Sprague, was a Patriot of the Revolutionary period and a participant in the Boston Tea Party who served under George Washington. He also is descended from Richard Warren, a Mayflower passenger and signer of the Mayflower Compact and The Rev. Peter Hobart of Hingham.

William was a graduate of the English High School in Boston, Massachusetts in 1882. In a Letter of Recommendation from the headmaster he is described as "a young man of unexceptionable moral character and a very good scholar" whom he could "confidently recommend as one who, in everything and under all circumstances, will do his best for his employer". He married Miriam Dix Badlam in Dorchester in 1889 and raised three children, in Newton, Massachusetts.