Correspondence

Description

Subseries A, Correspondence, 1777-1803 (#1.16-1.18), contains personal correspondence sent and received by Pierce from family both during and after the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783); several of the letters are to Pierce's wife, Elizabeth Howe Pierce (1744-1797). The letters provide revealing glimpses of family relationships and Pierce's personality. Four of the family letters received from Pierce's brothers-in-law and a cousin contain family news; brief commentaries on weather and farming activities; and discuss financial transactions. A letter from Pierce's cousin, Samuel Withington, written from Dorchester, Massachusetts, while Pierce was away with the militia in Tiverton, Rhode Island, reassures Pierce that all is well at home. The four letters to Pierce's wife, Elizabeth Howe Pierce (1744-1797), were written from Haverstraw, New York, and Morristown, New Jersey, when Pierce went with the militia to the military encampment at Morristown in 1777; the letters also discuss camp life and travel conditions, as well as observations on surrounding land and farming activities. The subseries is arranged alphabetically by record type.