Juriah Harris Pierpont

J. Harris Pierpont
Born	February 25, 1864 Savannah, Georgia
Died	May 23, 1943 Pensacola
Occupation	Physician
Spouse	Lucy Penelope Warren
Parents	James Lord and Eliza Jane Purse Pierpont
Children	Margery, Florence Frances, and Andrew Warren

Juriah Harris Pierpont, known professionally as J. Harris Pierpont, was a prominent Pensacola physician.

Early life

Juriah Harris Pierpont was born to James Lord Pierpont and his second wife, Eliza Jane Purse, in Savannah, Georgia, on February 25, 1864. The elder Pierpont, incidentally, is best known as the composer of the Christmas song "Jingle Bells".

Pierpont attended schools in Georgia before moving to central Florida as a teenager, where he worked as a rail station agent. After deciding to pursue a career in medicine, he entered the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, graduating in March 1888, after which he interned at the Richmond City Almshouse Hospital. When his mother became ill later that year, he moved to Winter Haven, Florida to be near her, and then on to Pensacola, arriving on October 25, 1888. Once in Pensacola, Dr. Pierpont associated with Dr. C. R. Oglesby.

Professional career

When Dr. Pierpont arrived in Pensacola in 1888 there was no organized body of doctors, so Pierpont organized the Pensacola Medical Society, comprised of about ten members, himself as president. He later served at least three terms as president of the Florida Medical Association. He was appointed to a state legislative committee and managed to establish an examining board to certify doctors. In 1894, he was appointed assistant surgeon for the Pensacola division of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, a position he retained until 1935 when he was made district surgeon.

Pierpont also served as president of the Escambia Medical Society, and of the surgical staff of Pensacola Hospital. He was also City Physician and Health Officer for six years around the time of the 1905 yellow fever epidemic.

On October 1, 1940, Dr. Pierpont retired from active practice. When he submitted his resignation to the L&N Railroad, he was asked to retain the title of "consulting physician", to which he agreed.

Personal life

On August 21, 1894, Dr. Pierpont married Lucy Penelope Warren, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fuller Warren. The couple's first child, Frances Tracy, lived only a day. They later had two daughters, Margery and Florence Frances, and a son, Andrew Warren Pierpont.

Juriah Harris Pierpont died at age 79, on May 23, 1943. He is buried in St. John's Cemetery.

Other images

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  A younger Pierpont, date unknown

External links

• Pensacola Medical Heritage in St. John's Historic Cemetery