Arthur Newton Pierson (June 23, 1867 – March 8, 1957) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served as Speaker of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

and President of the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

Biography

Pierson was born in Westfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to James Topping and Catherine C. (Clark) Pierson. He was educated in Westfield public schools and attended the

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus ...

from 1882 to 1885. In 1895 he entered the building supply business in

East Orange East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

and later was engaged in the wholesale business of clay products in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He married Sadie Fowler, daughter of Robert A. and Elizabeth Fowler, in New York City on March 14, 1899. They had four children. In 1903, Pierson was elected to the Westfield Town Council. He was elected President of the Board of Trade of Westfield in 1912, serving until 1916. In 1914, he was elected from Union County to the

as a Republican, and served from 1915 to 1919. He was selected majority leader in the Assembly in 1918. In 1919, when there were thirty Republicans and thirty Democrats in the Assembly, he was chosen as Speaker after his name was picked from a hat. In 1919 he was named a member of the bi-state commission that created the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

. Pierson was elected to the

in 1923. He was Republican majority leader in 1929 and Senate President in 1930. He served as Acting

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

for two weeks during the absence of Governor Morgan Foster Larson. Pierson served as chairman of the New Jersey Regional Planning Commission in 1931 and 1932."THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF STATE REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION" 1932. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10929/26126/r3361932.pdf He served three terms in the Senate, until he was defeated for reelection in 1932. Pierson served as Union County treasurer from 1934 until his retirement in 1955. In 1957 he died at Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield at the age of 89.

References

External links

Arthur N. Pierson
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierson, Arthur N. 1867 births 1957 deaths People from Westfield, New Jersey Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party New Jersey state senators Pingry School alumni Presidents of the New Jersey Senate