Early Life, Family and Training

Mary Forrer Peirce was born on August 24, 1838, in Dayton, Ohio. She was the daughter of Samuel Forrer and Sarah Howard. As a child, she showed an interest in and an aptitude for drawing. This early inclination toward visual expression would shape much of her later life in Ohio.

Her formal education began at the Cooper Female Seminary in Dayton. It was there that she encountered Clara Soule, a teacher who would later be known as Clara Medlar. Soule, the daughter of a portrait painter named Charles Soule, provided Mary with essential instruction in the art of painting. This mentorship helped refine the skills Mary had begun to develop in her youth.

In 1860, Mary traveled to New York to study painting at the Cooper Institute. This period of study allowed her to build upon the foundations laid by her teachers in Dayton. After her marriage, she returned her focus to the subjects of flowers and landscapes, often finding inspiration in the woods, trees, and ponds surrounding her husband's Five Oaks estate.

Life and Activity in Dayton

Mary lived within the landscape of her husband’s Five Oaks estate in Dayton, Ohio. The property was a quiet arrangement of woods, a pond, and various trees and flowers that surrounded the house. This setting provided much of the immediate subject matter for her paintings. While she maintained her own practice, she also spent time teaching students within the walls of her home.

Her presence in the local community was marked by her involvement in several local organizations. She was a founder and an active member of Dayton’s Decorative Arts Society. Her social and civic life also included being a founding member of the First Unitarian Church of Dayton. During the 1913 Flood, the Peirce family opened their home to others, offering the use of their residence when the church was unable to meet in its temporary location on West Fourth Street.

Key Works and Artistic Subjects

The subjects of her paintings often mirrored the surroundings of her home. She turned her attention toward the flowers and landscapes that grew around the Five Oaks estate. The woods, the pond, and the various trees and flowers of the property provided a steady supply of quiet, natural scenes to capture on canvas.

In 1869, she produced Growing Flowers, an oil on canvas. This work reflects the botanical interest that defined much of her practice. Her brushwork focused on the life within the garden, finding detail in the way plants occupy their space. Later, her work included depictions of specific locations, such as Eglon, West Virginia, which dates to about 1901.

• Growing Flowers (1869)
• Eglon, West Virginia (about 1901)

Later Years and Death

The quiet surroundings of the Five Oaks estate in Dayton, Ohio, provided the backdrop for the final years of her life. This home, characterized by its woods, a pond, and various trees and flowers, offered a steady supply of subjects for her paintings. She remained connected to the local community through the First Unitarian Church of Dayton, which she helped found in 1910. Even as she aged, the landscape of her home continued to shape the scenes she captured on canvas.

She passed away at the age of 91 on September 2, 1929. Her death occurred at Five Oaks, the same setting that had long informed her work. Three days later, on September 5, 1929, she was laid to rest in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. Her final resting place is located in Section 102, Lot 1348.

Where to See the Works Today

Her presence in public collections remains tied to the city where she lived and taught. The Dayton Art Institute holds a single work from her hand. This piece, an oil on canvas titled Growing Flowers, measures 24 x 20 ¼ inches. It remains part of the museum's permanent collection.

The institution serves as the primary place to encounter her painting. Seeing the work in this setting allows for a close look at the textures she applied to the canvas. The scale of the piece is intimate, inviting a quiet observation of the subjects she chose to paint.