Edward Pierce was born in Gates County, North Carolina, on this day (Dec. 13) in 1870. The Lord saved his soul when Edward was sixteen, and shortly after that he was called to preach the gospel. He graduated from Wake Forest College and then from Southern Baptist Seminary.
Brother Pierce, despite being well-known for positively preaching Christ, was not one to back down from a fight against sin. He made many friends but also powerful enemies. In 1917 the 18th amendment to the Constitution was passed by Congress. It declared that the production, transportation and sale of liquor was illegal. Immediately, the criminals of the underworld stepped in to supply the demands of thirsty sinners. And in response to them, preachers across the country preached against the evils of the liquor trade. Edward Pierce was among them.
For the rest of the story we turn to an article from the Cumberland County “Herald” – “On the fifth day of June, 1923, two Garrett brothers armed approached and invaded the Baptist parsonage at the Cumberland Court House, Cumberland County, Virginia, about eight o’clock in the morning. Mrs. Pierce, with a cooing baby girl in her arms, met the armed Garretts at the door and informed the men that her husband was in bed. When the two men insisted on seeing the preacher he was called and came to the door, from which he was dragged into the yard, his nose broken, his face beat up, one eye beaten to a poultice. The second brother allowed no one to render any assistance to the struggling minister, not even his frail wife with the little six-week-old girl in her arms, for she was shoved aside and threatened. The minister finally broke away from his antagonist and went into the house marking his way on the grass and floor with a stream of blood. Seeming to be almost dazed he came back to order the intruders from his home when he was shot down, and repeatedly shot after he was prostrated, dead!”
Throughout history thousands of God’s men and women have paid the ultimate price in a willing desire to serve their Saviour. Only eternity will reveal their rewards for such sacrifice.