Ensign S.S. Pierce, New York Naval Militia (cropped)

Samuel S. Pierce died August 4, 1973 at his home in Milton, Mass. where he was a teacher for many years at the Milton Academy. He was a grandson of Samuel S. Pierce, founder of the food chain that bears his name. He was born in Wellesley Hills, Mass. January 23, 1887 In 1910 he studied at the Louis Bleriot Flying School in France where he obtained a pilot's license. He made his first solo flight March 23, 1911. In 1916 he joined the New York Militia as Ensign and taught flying at Bayshore, N.Y. He and a student were seriously injured in the smash-up of a Burgess-Dunne seaplane, ending his flying career. The balance of World War I he spent at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, resigning as Lieutenant, USNRF in 1921 due to poor health. He is survived by his wife, Mary Sweitzer Pierce, a daughter, Mrs. Mary Pillsbury of Milton, Mass. and three grandchildren.

Date

1915–1920

Photographer / author

George Grantham Bain Collection

Collection

Bain News Service

Archive

Library of Congress (via Wikimedia Commons)

Type

photograph

Original size

624 × 937 pixels

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