Title: D. H. Pierce Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1889-2002

Creator:

• Pierce, D. H. (Dudley Humphrey), 1871-1955

Call Number: Mss 986; PH Mss 986

Quantity: 3.6 c.f. (9 archives boxes), 9 photographs, 62 negatives, and 1.27 megabytes (14 data files)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of D. H. Pierce, an Appleton (Wis.) businessman who was nationally known for his Red Shuffler game fowl. Included in the papers are game fowl periodicals, diaries, financial records, family correspondence, photographs, and employment and investment records (1889-1966). Also included are research files compiled from the 1950s to 1993 by three separate researchers documenting D. H. Pierce and his Wisconsin Red Shufflers. An index to the periodicals and transcriptions of each diary, completed in 2002, are included in the collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00986

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D. H. (Dudley Humphrey) Pierce was born February 21, 1871 in Appleton, Wisconsin to Humphrey and Emily Hauser Pierce. He attended Racine College and later worked in his father's law office. He married Laura Briggs on September 19, 1893 and they had five children: Josephine, Virginia, Dorothy, Dudley Jr., and Eugene. Laura Pierce died on April 23, 1947. D. H. Pierce managed the Citizens Electric Light Company in Appleton during the late 1890s and later sold real estate and insurance. He also founded the Pierce Auto Body Works in 1913, which later became Pierce Manufacturing, Inc., a leading manufacturer of fire fighting equipment. He was an active participant in the Appleton community as a member of the Elks Club, Eagles Club, Knights of Pythias, and First Methodist Church, and was an alderman from 1909 to 1910. Pierce was nationally known for his game fowl, particularly as the originator of the Wisconsin Red Shuffler, or Pierce Shuffler. He raised this breed and participated in mains around the upper Midwest, from the late 1890s through the 1940s. He also sold repaired heels, sharp blades placed on the legs of the fowl for use during mains. D. H. Pierce died on September 22, 1955 in Appleton.

The Pierce collection covers the years 1889 through 2002 (primarily 1893-1904) and is arranged in five series: Periodicals, Diaries, Account Books, Family Correspondence and Business Papers, and Research. The bulk of the collection relates to Pierce's game fowl activities and research papers about Pierce and his Red Shufflers.

The PERIODICALS are arranged alphabetically by title and then chronologically within the titles. All seventeen different titles pertain to raising game fowl and the sport of cock fighting with issues of The Derby Game Bird, The Game Fowl Monthly, and Grit and Steel making up the bulk of the periodicals. The issues contain articles on the care and feeding of fowl, advertisements for fowl and accessories, and summaries of mains, or cockfights, sent in by participants and spectators. Included is an index to the periodicals citing occurrences of D. H. Pierce's name as well as for “The Shuffler,” a pseudonym Pierce used when writing about his mains.

The DIARIES are arranged chronologically and contain daily summaries by D. H. Pierce describing his employment in his father's office, as manager of the Citizens Electric Light Company, and in real estate; the courtship, marriage, and death of his wife Laura Briggs Pierce; the birth of his three daughters, Josephine Pierce Passmore, Virginia Pierce Nabbefeld, and Dorothy Pierce Neidhold; and leisure activities including visits to his cabin on Lake Gogebic (Michigan), hunting, fishing, boating, horse racing, and cock fighting. A transcription has been made for each diary, with the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization transcribed exactly as they appeared in the diaries. Transcription items in brackets were added by the transcriber and contain either the diary's original page designation (e.g. [Addresses]) or the existence of items not transcribed. Monthly cash accounts found in many of the diaries and a list of Christmas letters received by Pierce were not transcribed. Entries related to cockfighting are in bold face.

The three ACCOUNT BOOKS are arranged chronologically. The first consists of electrical installation job accounts from 1895 and also indicates breeding and marking information for the 1902 breeding season and contract dates and prices for rented fowl yards around the Appleton area. The second book (1909) contains notes on cockfights, loan records, stock certificates, monthly cash accounts, city tree-trimming job accounts, plus other miscellaneous notes. The final book contains heel repair and sales accounts (1930-1950) with buyer and manufacturer information.

The FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE AND BUSINESS PAPERS are arranged chronologically and, with the exception of a small number of letters from Pierce to his sister Florence and his parents (1889-1900), principally relate to his business endeavors. Included are publications by Pierce about raising game fowl as well as letters requesting Wisconsin Red Shufflers from Pierce after his death and answers by his grandson, Dudley W. Pierce.

The RESEARCH files, compiled by three separate individuals, chronicle Pierce's involvement with game fowl. Harry Batchelder, Jr.'s research consists of a 1927 article written by Pierce on his involvement with game fowl and the origins of the Wisconsin Red Shuffler. Another researcher, C. P. McNamara, corresponded with Pierce's children and grandchildren and collected information on Pierce and his Wisconsin Red Shufflers for a possible book. McNamara's files contain articles from game fowl publications about Pierce beginning in 1895, as well as miscellaneous correspondence Pierce wrote to different individuals through the 1940s. McNamara also compiled a number of photographs of Pierce and his friends in the early 1930s as well as the negatives illustrating some of his articles about cockfighting. After McNamara passed away, the Pierces asked McNamara's widow for the research files to be added to Pierce's papers. The research of Craig Miller consists of scattered letters (1993-1994) regarding his involvement in raising Wisconsin Red Shufflers and a photograph of one of his shufflers.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Dudley Pierce and Mary Connor Pierce, Laona, Wis., 2002. Accession Number: M2003-030

Processing Information

Processed by Keri Johnson, January 2003.

Mss 986	Series: Periodicals
Box   1 Folder   1	The American Game Breeder, 1894 April and May 1894
Box   1 Folder   2	The Chanticleer, 1900 June and 1902 June
	The Derby Game Bird
Box   1 Folder   3	1892 December; 1894 March, April, and December; 1896 January, March, August, September, November, and December
Box   1 Folder   4	1897 February, May-December
Box   1 Folder   5	1898 January-December
Box   1 Folder   6	1899 February-December
Box   1 Folder   7	1900 January-December
Box   2 Folder   1	1901 January-December
Box   2 Folder   2	1902 January-December
Box   2 Folder   3	1903 January-March, May, and November; 1904 January, March, and May
Box   3 Folder   1	1908 October; 1915 March, October, December
Box   3 Folder   2	Dixie Game Fowl, 1897 January; 1899 April and December
Box   3 Folder   3	The Feathered Warrior, 1922 January and 1994 December
Box   3 Folder   4	The Game Breeder, 1899 January
Box   3 Folder   5	The Game Cock, 1936 May-December; 1937 January-April; 1942 March
Box   3 Folder   6	The Game Fanciers Journal, 1894 May; 1900 May; 1901 March
	The Game Fowl Monthly
Box   3 Folder   7	1894 July-August; 1895 May-September, November, and December
Box   4 Folder   1	1896 January-October
Box   4 Folder   2	1897 April, June-August, October-December
Box   4 Folder   3	1898 January-June, October-December
Box   4 Folder   4	1899 January-November
Box   4 Folder   5	1900 January-March, June-December
Box   5 Folder   1	1901 January-February, April-May, August-December
Box   5 Folder   2	1902 January-December
Box   5 Folder   3	1903 January-March, May, and November; 1904 January-April
Box   5 Folder   4	The Game Journal, 1893 December; 1894 February, September, and October
Box   5 Folder   5	The Game Pointer, 1898 June-July, September-November; 1899 February
	Grit and Steel
Box   5 Folder   6	1899 June, September, and December; 1900 January and February; 1901 April, November-December
Box   6 Folder   1	1902 March, May-August, and November
Box   6 Folder   2	1903 April, June, September-October
Box   6 Folder   3	1904 April and May; 1915 February, March, August, November, and December
Box   6 Folder   4	1920 February; 1921 January, November, and December; 1922 January and March
Box   6 Folder   5	The Illinois Pit Game and Poultry Journal, 1898 May, July, and December
Box   6 Folder   6	North American Game Cock, 1898 April-June
Box   6 Folder   7	Northwestern Game Fowl Journal, 1899
Box   6 Folder   8	The Southern Fancier, 1894 November
Box   6 Folder   9	Southern Pit Games, 1894 June
Box   6 Folder   10	Periodicals index, 2002
	Electronic copy of index Physical Description: 1 data file, L:\ARCHIVES\SHARED\COLLECT\D.H. Pierce Collection
	Series: Diaries	⇧
	Original diaries
Box   7 Folder   1-10	1893, 1895, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1911, 1914-1953, 1941, 1942
Box   8 Folder   1-3	1943, 1945, 1945-1953
Box   8 Folder   4-15	Diary transcriptions, 2002
	Electronic copies Physical Description: 13 data files, L:\ARCHIVES\SHARED\COLLECT\D.H. Pierce Collection
	Series: Account Books	⇧
Box   8 Folder   16	Job book and breeding yard record book, 1895 and 1902
Box   8 Folder   17	Financial accounts and miscellaneous notes book, 1909
Box   8 Folder   18	Heels repairs and sales account book, 1930-1950
	Series: Family Correspondence and Business Papers	⇧
Box   9 Folder   1	Family correspondence, undated, 1889, 1895 and 1900
PH Mss 986	Unidentified family nitrate negatives, undated
Mss 986 Box   9 Folder   2	Conditioning Methods and Descriptive Circular of Wisconsin Red Shufflers and Blue Champions, undated, circa 1902
Box   9 Folder   3	Warranty deed to Texas property, 1911
Box   9 Folder   4	Knights of Pythias Past Chancellor's Credential, 1919
Box   9 Folder   5	Pierce plat blueprint, 1929
Box   9 Folder   6	Home insurance and stock information, 1943 and 1948
Box   9 Folder   7	Razing of Pierce house, 805 W. Front Street, 1959
PH Mss 986	House photograph, undated
Mss 986 Box   9 Folder   8	Requests to D. H. Pierce for Wisconsin Red Shufflers, 1965-1966
Box   9 Folder   9	Family history research, undated
	Series: Research	⇧
Box   9 Folder   10	Harry Batchelder, Jr. research on D. H. Pierce and Wisconsin Red Shufflers, 1954 and 1972
Box   9 Folder   11	Correspondence between Pierce and McNamara families, 1959-1993
Box   9 Folder   12-14	C. P. McNamara research on D. H. Pierce and Wisconsin Red Shufflers
Box   9 Folder   15	Craig Miller research on D. H. Pierce and Wisconsin Red Shufflers, 1993-1994
PH Mss 986	McNamara and Miller photographs and negatives, undated, 1932-1934, 1950, 1993