of a wealthy South Carolinian. Conditions for business were dim during the nation's Confederation period, so Pierce sought political office with the hope of improving his prospects. He was elected to represent Chatham County in Georgia's General Assembly on February 1, 1786. The state legislature promptly elected him to the Confederation Congress, as well as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. In January 1787, he attended Congress in New York, the nation's temporary capital, and in May traveled to Philadelphia for the convention. Pierce attended the proceedings and spoke on a number of points. He also recorded a series of "Character Sketches", providing a narrative on the personalities of the convention's delegates. Although he agreed with the end result of the proceedings, Pierce did not sign the Constitution, having left at the end of June to attend to "a piece of business so necessary that it became unavoidable." The business was a duel with merchant John Auldjo, after tempers had flared over mishandled "mercantile dealings." Ironically, Auldjo's second, Alexander Hamilton, intervened and prevented the contest. Returning to Georgia, Pierce continued in the state legislature and, in 1789, received a respectable number of votes for Governor. Death Pierce died at his plantation near Savannah on December 10, 1789 after a lingering illness. References External links William Leigh Pierce at the National Archives The Framers of the Constitution: Biographical sketches by William Pierce 1753 births 1789 deaths College of William & Mary alumni Continental Army officers from Virginia Continental Congressmen from Georgia (U.S. state) 18th-century American politicians Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Founding Fathers of the United States