peirce was born in providence, rhode island, on august 16, 1836; his father died before he was born. his mother remarried to seth padelford, the governor of rhode island. peirce lived with his family in providence and received his education at the brown university grammar school. he graduated in 1856 and worked for a drug company until the poor economic conditions caused by the panic of 1857 caused him to leave and go with his family to europe for a year.