PEIRCE, Thomas, poet, born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 4 August, 1786; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1850. Losing his father at an early age, he supported himself in various ways, taught in Philadelphia, and in 1813 went to Cincinnati, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1822. He then retired and studied medicine, but in 1827 resumed his former life. In 1821 he contributed a series of satirical odes to the "Western Spy," entitled "Horace in Cincinnati," which were afterward published in book-form (Cincinnati, 1822), and in 1825 he wrote a second series for the "National Republican," entitled " Billy Moody," recounting the education and experience of a Yankee who had taught school in the east, and then wandered to the west. He wrote numerous prize poems, the chief of which was "Muse of Hesperia" (1823), and contributed largely to literary journals. His last published poem, " Knowledge is Power," appeared in 1827.