James Pearce

U.S. Congressperson

1805 – 1862

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Who was James Pearce?

James Alfred Pearce was an American politician. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the second district of Maryland from 1835–1839 and 1841-1843. He later served as a U.S. Senator from Maryland from 1843 until his death in 1862.

Pearce was the son of Gideon Pearce and Julia Dick, and the grandson of Elisha C. Dick.

Pearce was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and, as a youth, attended a private academy there. He graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1822. He later studied law, and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Cambridge, Maryland, in 1824. Pearce moved to Louisiana in 1825 and engaged in sugar planting, returning to Kent County, Maryland, in 1828, where he resumed the practice of law in Chestertown.

From 1831 until 1835, Pearce was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1835 until March 3, 1839, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress, losing to Philip Thomas. He was again elected to Congress in 1840, and served one term from March 4, 1841, until March 3, 1843.

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Born
Dec 14, 1805
Alexandria
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Princeton University
  • The College of New Jersey
Lived in
  • Alexandria
Died
Dec 20, 1862
Chestertown

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"James Pearce." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/james_pearce>.

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