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Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce Family |
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Abel Head Pierce Family By John Runnells
Shanghai Pierce, Shanghai being his widely used and well-known nickname, went to work for W. B Grimes as a cowboy. He served in the Confederate Army, and after the war set out on his own. He trailed cattle from the Gulf Coast first to New Orleans, then to the Kansas railheads: Wichita, Ellsworth and Dodge City. He saw the end of the open range, so he used his earnings to purchase land. He also saw the advantage of Bos Indicus blood in the Gulf Coast cattle, so laid the groundwork for the importation of cattle from India which finally arrived in America in 1906. He also built the first pumping plant on the Colorado River in 1900. Along the way, he married Fannie Lacy on September 27, 1865, daughter of William D. Lacy, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Mary, always known as "Mamie," was born on July 17, 1867. Their son, Abel born on July 17, 1870, died five weeks later. Fannie died on December 18, 1870. Shanghai married second Hattie James of Galveston, but they had no children. Mamie married Henry M. Withers on April 1, 1888, in Kansas City, Missouri. Henry Withers was born in Warrenton, Virginia, in April of 1845, rode with Mosby's Rangers late in the War Between the States. He later became an attorney living in Kansas City, Missouri. The Withers had four children: Frances Lacy, Mary Pierce, A. H. Pierce and Pickett. Mamie died on January 6, 1923. Mary was born on October 24, 1894, in Kansas City, Missouri. She spent much time in Texas and in traveling with her mother after Henry Withers died on December 25, 1908. She served with the American Red Cross during World War I in France at various canteens near the front. Mary married Clive Runnells on September 24, 1921. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 10, 1877. They lived in Chicago where he worked for several railroads, eventually becoming an officer of the Pullman Company. He retired early due to ill health and moved to California where he died on September 12, 1935. The Runnells' had two sons, John S. Runnells II, born on March 5, 1924, and Clive Runnells, Jr. Both attended various schools, and eventually were graduated from Yale University. John served in the Army Infantry and Clive in the Naval Air Force during World War II. The Pierce Estate lands were divided in 1956, with the Runnels family getting the land in Matagorda County. Clive eventually set up his headquarters at Buckeye, and John north of Bay City on what was known as the Duncan Ranch. They have continued to tradition started by Mr. Pierce--growing rice and raising Brahma cattle. John married Louise O. Gale of Buffalo, New York, on February 10, 1951. They had three children: Gale, Mary and John. Clive married Nancy Morgan on June 14, 1967 and hid children are: Helen, Clive and Pierce. Historic Matagorda
County, Volume II, pages 403-404, 1984 |
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Pierce, Tex.--Dec. 26, (1900)--A. H. Pierce, the famous millionaire stockman of Pierce, Tex., better known as "Shanghai" Pierce, is dead of Bright's disease. Mr. Pierce was a remarkable man in many respects and had a national reputation among stockmen and financiers. In his south he was given the soubriquet of "Shanghai" and it stuck to him through life. H possessed great business energy and accumulated a fortune variously estimated at from 4 to 5 million dollars. Mr. Pierce was born in Rhode Island 66 years ago. He stood six feet four inches and weighed 275 pounds. He was one of a family of ten children, and at an early age was sent to live with an uncle in Virginia. At the age of 13, he ran away from his uncle's home and set out for Texas. He went to work on a farm, but left in disgust when he discovered that a Negro was worth more than a white man. HIS START AS A COWBOY
Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Pierce formed a connection with the great firm of Allen & Poole. He traversed Texas for three years as the representative of the firm, buying droves of cattle and sending them to Galveston, where they were shipped to New Orleans. In 1869 this firm discontinued the business. Mr. Pierce drew out $100,000 as his share of the profits, and after puttering around several years he moved to Kansas and embarked in business on a large scale. Three years' experience in the Sunflower State convinced him that he was in the wrong pew, and it was only by exercising admirable business judgement that he managed to save himself from heavy loss. He returned to Texas and had made his home there ever since. Mr. Pierce's landed estate covers 400,000 acres, and much of it is in rice land. It embraces more than one whole county, and the average Texas county is not small. In addition he owned 30,000 head of cattle. He made regular trips to Kansas City, and usually stayed at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Withers. He last visited this city in August, and was then in good health. Mr. Pierce, it is said, was the original of Colonel Maverick Brander, in the satirical play, "A Texas Steer," written by the last Charles Hoyt. Hoyt met Mr. Pierce several years before he wrote the play, it is related, and was so impressed by his characteristics that he made him the basis of the part of the big hearted Texan in the play.
Soon after the war Mr. Pierce
married his first wife, Miss Lacy, who was a daughter of William
Lacy, a member of the Texas congress and of President Sam Houston's
cabinet during the days of the Republic. She was the mother of Mrs.
Withers of Kansas City, Mr. Pierce's only child. Later he married a
Miss James of Austin, Tex., who survives him. |
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Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce was born
in Little Compton, Rhode Island, on June 29, 1834. He
was Jonathan and Hannah Pierce's third son and their
sixth child. He left Rhode Island when he was sixteen,
spent several years working in Virginia, and eventually
arrived in Indianola, Texas, in December of 1853.
Then "Shanghai" became a cowboy and
gradually worked into the cattle business on his own account. When
the Civil War came on the reputation of "Shanghai" as a cowman was
so well established that a contract was made with him to supply the
Texas command with beef.|
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SHANGHAI PIERCE RANCH THE HOME OF GREAT TRAIL DRIVER ABEL H. PIERCE BORN JUNE 29, 1834 DIED DECEMBER 26, 1900 FROM A PENNILESS
COWBOY, HE ROSE |
Shanghai Pierce Ranch House
Shanghai Pierce Ranch House
Shanghai Pierce Ranch House
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Abel Head “Shanghai” Pierce was born at
Little Compton, Rhode Island on June 29, 1834. He left
Rhode Island when he was sixteen and spent seven years
working in Virginia and eventually arrived at Indianola,
Texas in December 1853. He worked for W. B. Grimes as a
cowboy.
A. H. “Shanghai” Pierce served in the
Confederate Army, along with his brother Jonathan Edwards
Pierce, joining Company D 3rd (Yager’s) Batt’n.
Texas Cavalry as a Private on April 10, 1862. His service
ended in 1865. After the war, Shanghai trailed cattle from
the Gulf Coast to New Orleans and then to the Kansas
railheads: Wichita, Dodge City and other towns north. With
the earnings, he purchased land and began his extensive
holdings in several counties. He laid the groundwork to
import the first Brahman Cattle from India to America in
1906.
Shanghai Pierce married Frances “Fannie” Lacy on September 27, 1865. They had a daughter, Mary known as “Mamie” and a son, Abel who died as an infant. Fannie Pierce, who was born February 5, 1839, died on December 18, 1870. Shanghai married second Hattie James of Galveston, but they had no children.
Abel Head Pierce died December 26, 1900 and is buried in
Hawley Cemetery, Deming’s Bridge, now Blessing, Texas. His
life-like statue looms tall over his gravesite where he had
it erected several years earlier. Shanghai Pierce made a
great impact on all who knew him in Texas and throughout our
Nation.
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Mrs.
Henry Malcolm Withers, a
daughter of A. H. Pierce, one of Texas' most famous pioneers and
cattlemen, died at her apartment in Chicago Sunday night after a
prolonged illness, a dispatch to the Chronicle stated Monday.
A. H. Pierce, who was known throughout the Southwest as
"Shanghai" Pierce, came to Texas in 1853. He died 22 years ago.
His home was at Pierce, Texas, founded by him, a short distance
west of Wharton.
Mrs. Wither's maiden name was Mamie Frances Pierce and she was
born at Demingsbridge, Texas, July 19, 1867. She was married in
Texas and later moved to Kansas City with her husband, who died
in 1909.
She is survived by her daughters, Mrs. Laurence H. Armour and
Mrs. Olive Runnells, and her sons, Pierce Withers and Picket
Withers all of whom reside in Chicago.
The funeral was to have been held Monday from St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, Kansas City.
THE MATAGORDA COUNTY TRIBUNE, Thursday, January 12, 1923
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Death of Henry M. Withers
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Henry M. Withers, an attorney, 63 years old, died at 10:20 o'clock last night at his home, 4336 Warwick boulevard. Heart disease was the cause of his death.
Henry Malcolm Withers was born in Warrenton, Va. He was the son of General Pickett Withers and a descendant of a family that came to Virginia in 1640 from England.
When 14 years old he left home and served in the Confederate army. After the war he was graduated from the University of Virginia. In 1870 he came to Kansas City and engaged in the practice of law. He served one term and part of another as county attorney and one term as city attorney. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress last August.
Mr. Withers was a Mason and a member of the Country club. His wife was Mary Pierce, a daughter of A. H. Pierce of Pierce, Tex. She and two daughters, Lacy and Mary Withers, and two sons, Pierce and Pickett Withers, all of Kansas City, survive him.
The Kansas City Times, Kansas City,
Missouri, December 26, 1908
[A.
H.] Pierce Withers Dies in Chicago
Mr. Pierce Withers, 53, former Wharton county rancher and Houston oil man, died Sunday afternoon in Chicago where he had been living for the past two years.
A native of Kansas City, Mr. Withers had made his home in Texas for several years, moving to Chicago because of ill health.
Mr. Withers, a grandson of A. H. Pierce, is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Lawrence Armour and Mrs. Clive Runnells, and three nephews of Chicago.
Palacios Beacon?, September
13, 1948
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John Sumner Runnells II, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Clive Runnells and grandson of John Sumner Runnells died
December 6, 2008 in Bay City, Texas.
Mr. Runnells was born March 5, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois.
He attended the Harris School, Thatcher School, graduated from
Brooks School, North Andover, Massachusetts and Yale University,
class of 1950. During WWII, he served in the European Theater with
the 71st Infantry Division.
Upon completion of Yale, Mr. Runnells worked for the Pullman
Company. He then went into the investment business with Farwell
Chapman and later with William Blair and Co. in Chicago. He was also
the owner and operator of the Runnells Pierce Ranch in Bay City,
Texas. This became a full time occupation of which he was very proud
and for which he had a passionate love.
Mr. Runnells was active with civic and charitable organizations. He
served on the board of the Boys Club of Chicago, the Pullman
Foundation; he was a life trustee of the Field Museum and
Northwestern University; he was a governing life member of the Shedd
Aquarium and the Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. Runnells was a
past-president of the American Brahman Breeders Association; a
director of the National Cattlemens Beef Association; member and
director of the Texas Southwestern Cattle Association. He was also
director of the Santa Fe Railroad and director and past-president of
the Museum Trustees Association.
His wife, Louise Gale Runnells, preceded him in death on January 22,
2008.
He is survived by: his son, John Sumner Runnells III and his wife
Jennifer of Bay City, Texas; daughters, Mary Runnells and her
husband Christopher Glanz of Palm Coast, Florida and Gale Pierce
Runnells of Chicago, Illinois; two granddaughters, Hunter Elizabeth
Runnells and Chandler Claire Runnells; two step-grandsons,
Christopher and Jason Glanz; and his brother, Clive Runnells of
Houston, Texas.
The family will receive friends and relatives from 4 until 6 p.m.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at Taylor Bros. Funeral Home in Bay
City, Texas.
Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, December 11, 2008 at St.
Marks Episcopal Church with the Rev. Susan Kennard, the Rev. Harley
Savage and Dr. Jim Eli officiating.
Memorials may be made to The Runnells Library at The Field Museum,
1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL 60605; The Mary Withers Runnells
Courtyard at The Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road,
Glencoe, IL 60022; Matagorda County Community Foundation, PO Box
2008, Bay City, TX 77404-2008, the Matagorda County Museum, 2100 Ave
F, Bay City, TX 77414 or St. Marks Episcopal Church, 2200 Ave E, Bay
City, TX 77414.
Online condolences may be shared with the family by visiting
www.taylorbros.net.
Arrangements are with Taylor Bros. Funeral Home in Bay City.
979-245-4613.
Bay City Tribune,
Published December 10, 2008
Hawley Cemetery
Mary Withers Runnells, 84, born Oct. 24, 1892, daughter of Mamie Pierce and Henry Malcolm Withers, died Sept. 3, 1977 in Chur, Switzerland. She was the granddaughter of Abel Head Pierce and the widow of Clive Runnells. Survivors include a sister, Mrs. Lacy W. Armour of Chicago; sons, John S. Runnells, Chicago and Bay City and Clive Runnells of Houston; six grandchildren. Graveside services and interment will be at 4 p. m. Thursday at Hawley Cemetery, Blessing. Memorial services are pending from the St. James Cathedral, Chicago, Ill. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions be made to St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Wharton or Matagorda General Hospital. Arrangements are under the direction of Taylor Bros. Funeral Home.
The Daily Tribune,
September, 1977