Jeremiah Halsey PIERSON, Congress, NY (1766-1855)

PIERSON, Jeremiah Halsey, a Representative from New York; born in Newark, N.J., September 13, 1766; moved with his parents to Richmond, Mass., in 1772; attended the public schools of Richmond and Stockbridge, Mass., and completed preparatory studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in Massachusetts; moved to New York in 1795 and settled in Ramapo; practiced law and engaged in mercantile pursuits and manufacturing; justice of the peace 1800-1811; associate justice of the court of common pleas in 1808; largely instrumental in securing the construction of the Erie Railroad; elected as a Republican to the Seventeenth Congress (March 4, 1821-March 3, 1823); was not a candidate for renomination in 1822; resumed his former business pursuits; delegate to the National-Republican Convention at Baltimore in 1831; died in Ramapo, Rockland County, N.Y., December 12, 1855; interment in Ramapo Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present