Lena Pierpont

Lena Pierpont (September 13, 1883 – October 21, 1958) was the mother of Prohibition gangster Harry Pierpont. Her fierce loyalty to her son and his compatriots led to her arrest on numerous occasions by police in an attempt to ascertain her son's whereabouts.

Lena was born in Jay County, Indiana, to James Orcutt and Samantha E. Metzner. Lena was the second of four children. On her seventh birthday, her mother died. Her father later remarried and moved the family to Muncie, Indiana.

At age 16, on November 27, 1899, in Muncie, Lena married Joseph Gilbert Pierpont (June 1881-October 6, 1961). Joseph's father had migrated from Kentucky to the Muncie area in the late 1880s.

In the 1900 census, Lena L. Pierpont was enumerated in Center Township, Delaware County, Indiana, married within the year.

Lena was the mother of three children: Fern (b. September 21, 1900); Harry (b. October 13, 1902); and Fred (b. July 5, 1906), all born in Muncie.

By the 1910 census, the family was residing at 1145 McLain Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, where her husband's occupation was listed as a woodworker in a carriage factory. In the 1911 and 1912 directories of the city of Indianapolis, the family was living at 1234 Lee Avenue.

Lena's oldest child, Fern, died of tuberculosis in Indianapolis in 1919.

By the 1920 census, the family was residing at 2113 Morris Street in Indianapolis.

In 1921 in Indianapolis, Lena's son Harry was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. He was held for ten days and then dismissed. Concurrent with his arrest, Harry was committed to the state hospital.

In the Record of Inquest for Harry Pierpont held on September 19, 1921, she stated that he had become sullen, suspicious and prone to outbursts after a severe head injury. Harry was committed to the state hospital for the mentally ill Central Indiana Hospital on September 21. Harry was diagnosed with dementia praecox of the hebephrenic type.

On March 12, 1922, Harry Pierpont was sentenced to the Indiana reformatory at Jeffersonville for a two- to fourteen-year sentence for assault and battery with intent to murder.

Lena often visited the superintendent and told him about Harry's mental illness. She tirelessly campaigned for his release from prison, claiming he was insane. The parole board granted him parole on March 6, 1924.

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