Charles Edward Pearce was a nineteenth-century American military officer, attorney, and politician who served as a United States Representative from Missouri. Born in Whitesboro, New York, in 1842, Pearce completed his early education at Fairfield Seminary before graduating from Union College in Schenectady in 1863. Following his graduation, he immediately enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War, serving as a captain in the Sixteenth Regiment of the New York Heavy Artillery. By 1864, he was promoted to the rank of major and later served as the provost marshal general of the eastern district of North Carolina following the occupation of Wilmington.
After resigning his military commission in late 1865, Pearce relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, where he established his civilian career. He studied law, gained admission to the bar in 1867, and built a legal practice. Alongside his legal work, Pearce engaged in industrial manufacturing, specifically focusing on the production of bagging, rope, and twine. His civic and military leadership continued in Missouri, where he organized and commanded the First Regiment of the Missouri National Guard in 1877.
Pearce's political career grew through his involvement with the Republican Party. He served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1888 and was appointed in 1891 to chair the federal commission negotiating with the Sioux Indians of the Northwest. He was subsequently elected to the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth United States Congresses, serving from 1897 to 1901. After declining to run for renomination in 1900, Pearce retired from public office. He died in St. Louis in 1902 and was interred in Auburn, New York.
