Andrew Peirce, the first Mayor of Dover, was born in Dover on Dec. 18, 1785, the youngest of ten children of Deacon Benjamin Peirce and his wife Mary Tebbetts. He served only one year as mayor (1856). He was a state representative for 17 years and in 1823 & 24 he was speaker of the N.H. House. He also served in the state senate (1825 & 1826) and two terms on the governor’s council. He was town clerk of Dover 1816 to 1820.
On Aug. 27, 1808, he married Abigail Smith Osborne the daughter of Rev. John Osborne, a minister in Lee, NH. Abigail was only 16 years old at the time having been born in Portsmouth on Feb. 17, 1792. They lived in the Fisher- Piper House at 53 Silver Street. He was President of the Dover Bank and also served as a director of the Strafford National Bank from 1820 to 1824. H was trustee of Franklin Academy and served as clerk of Strafford County for 18 years. He was a director of both the B & M Railroad and the Winnipiseagee Canal Co. and also a founder of the Dover Navigation Co. He was a Mason and delivered the Masonic address at the laying of the cornerstone of Mill No. 2 of the Dover Mfg. Co. on July 4, 1821.
He was elected a Deacon of the First Parish Church in 1838 and served in that office until his death on Sept. 4, 1862. His widow Abigail died in 1875.
Andrew and Abigail Peirce had thirteen children:
Rebecca b. Dec. 31, 1809 m. John H. White
Abigail b. July 9, 1811 m. Abraham Folsom
Mary Ann b. April 8, 1813 (d. Aug. 25, 1814)
Clarissa b. Nov. 7, 1814 m. John B. Hanson
Lydia R. b. Jan. 5, 1817 m. Caleb Duxbury
Joseph A. b. Dec. 18, 1818 m. Ann E. Drew
John O. b. Feb. 23, 1821 m. Harriet W. Wentworth
Elizabeth b. June 21, 1823 m. William Knox
Benjamin b. Sept. 9, 1825 m. Elizabeth Twombly
Jacob K. b. May 28, 1827 m. Ann Wakeham
Olive B. b. May 30, 1829 m. Josiah B. Folsom
Mary L. O. b. Jan. 29, 1832 m. John R. Rust
Harriet W. b. Dec. 15, 1834 m. John Kittredge
In 1860 all his children and grandchildren were at 53 Silver Street to celebrate Thanksgiving, a total of 63 people.
Photograph from Dover Public Library archives, text from Marston, Robert, Dover, NH: People, Businesses and Organizations: 1850 to 1950. Dover, NH, 2004.