Walter M. Pierce
| Walter M. Pierce | |
|---|---|
Governor Pierce
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| 17th Governor of Oregon | |
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In office January 8, 1923 – January 10, 1927 |
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| Preceded by | Ben W. Olcott |
| Succeeded by | I. L. Patterson |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 2nd district |
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In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943 |
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| Preceded by | Robert R. Butler |
| Succeeded by | |
| Member of the Oregon State Senate | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 30, 1861 Morris, Illinois |
| Died | March 27, 1954 (aged 92) Salem, Oregon |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Clara Rudio Pierce (died, 1890) Laura Rudio Pierce (died, 1925) Cornelia Marvin Pierce |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Walter Marcus Pierce (May 30, 1861 – March 27, 1954) was an American politician, a Democrat, who served as the 17th Governor of Oregon and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon's 2nd congressional district. A native of Illinois, he served in the Oregon State Senate before the governorship, and again after leaving the U.S. House. Pierce is also the namesake of the United States Supreme Court case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters on compulsory public education.
Pierce was born to Charles M. and Charlotte L. (née Clapp) Pierce, Jacksonian Democrat farmers in Morris, Illinois on May 30, 1861. At the age of 17, he began teaching school despite having only a secondary education.
In 1883, motivated by both his recent diagnosis of tuberculosis and the idea of Manifest Destiny as propounded by Horace Greeley, Pierce moved west. After arriving in Portland, Oregon in June 1883, he was not able to find work. After a period during which he worked the wheat fields of Walla Walla, Washington, he earned enough money to settle in Milton, Oregon in Umatilla County. There he returned to a career in education and established a successful farm.
As an educator, Pierce was drawn into local politics. He became well known for his pro-temperance views, and regularly spoke out against saloons selling alcohol to his students. In 1887, he married one of his students, Clara R. Rudio, who died during childbirth only three years later. The child was named after her mother. He married Clara's sister Laura in 1893. They had five children: Loyd, Lucile, Helen, Edith and Lorraine. Laura died of cancer in 1925. Pierce's third wife was Cornelia Marvin, the Oregon State Librarian, whom he married in 1928.
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