Charles Wesley Piercy (1833–1861), was a California Democratic politician, Assemblyman, and

Douglas Democrat The Northern Democratic Party was a leg of the Democratic Party during the 1860 presidential election, when the party split in two factions because of disagreements over slavery. They held two conventions before the election, in Charleston and B ...

who was killed in a duel with a

Southern Democrat Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats with ...

Assemblyman

Daniel Showalter Daniel Showalter (1830–1866), was a California miner, state legislator, duelist, secessionist, and Confederate States of America military officer in Texas. Early life Daniel Showalter was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania and came to Califor ...

in the last political

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

in California.

Biography

Charles Wesley Piercy was born in

Decatur County Decatur County is the name of various past and present counties in the United States, all named for Stephen Decatur: *Decatur County, Georgia *Decatur County, Indiana *Decatur County, Iowa *Decatur County, Kansas *Decatur County, Tennessee *Decatur ...

, Iowa, on June 11, 1833 to Nathan Piercy and Elizabeth Scott Piercy. He came across the continent to California in 1852, in a small party that included Daniel Showalter of Pennsylvania; however, upon arrival in California they went their separate ways. Piercy settled in El Monte and in 1858, joined with others there in purchasing and reselling the lands of Mormons returning to Utah at the time of the Utah War. Allied to those interests, he was elected

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of San Bernardino County in 1859. Piercy resigned in October of 1860 to run for a seat in the State Assembly. In the bitterly contested campaign of 1860, Charles W. Piercy was nominated for member of the 1st District of the California General Assembly by one party, and W. A. Conn, the incumbent, by the other. Piercy was elected, but there were claims of fraud. The accusation was that polls at Temescal, maintained by a local resident named James Greenwade, remained open for three weeks and continuously furnished votes for Piercy. The case was taken to court, where the two opposing lawyers, H. M. Willis and Bethel Coopwood, had a fight in which Coopwood sustained a slight wound, but won the case. Piercy won his seat as a member of the 1861-62 California State Assembly, representing California's 1st State Assembly District. Piercy and Daniel Showalter, an Assemblyman who represented the Breckinridge Democrats, disagreed over the U.S. Senate election to a point that provoked a duel. On May 25, 1861 their duel with rifles, was held in

Fairfax, California Fairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population was 7,605 at the 2020 census. History The Coast Miwok Native Americans occupied ...

at the home of Democratic politician Charles S. Fairfax. After attempts to prevent the duel were made by friends, the first shots were exchanged and both parties missed, Showalter asked for a second firing, and managed to shoot Piercy, who was killed. It was the last duel between political figures in California. Charles W. Piercy was buried in

Lone Mountain Cemetery Lone Mountain Cemetery was a complex of cemeteries in the Lone Mountain (California), Lone Mountain neighborhood of San Francisco, California on the land bounded by the present-day California Street, Geary Boulevard, Parker Avenue, and Presidio ...

, in San Francisco. Funeral of Mr. Piercy, Marin County Journal, June 1, 1861
/ref> When San Francisco passed an ordinance in 1912 evicting all existing cemeteries from city limits the remains of Piercy were sent to Colma.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piercy, Charles Wesley 1833 births 1861 deaths Members of the California State Assembly American politicians killed in duels People from Decatur County, Iowa People from El Monte, California 19th-century American politicians People from San Bernardino County, California