Thomas Peirce was born on September 8, 1669 and arrived in the colony of North Carolina by 1679. A Quaker, he split his time between Perquimans Precinct and Pamlico Precinct, taking an active part in various colonial meetings and assemblies. In 1703 he and several other men from Bath County signed a petition to the governor requesting that the colonial government intercede and prevent the nearby Tuscarora and Mattamuskeet nations from fighting one another. In 1705 he served on a jury that freed Sanders, an American Indian man who had been indentured to Juliana Laker. Later he was responsible for keeping records at the Perquimans monthly meeting. He died in Perquimans in February or March 1732.