The Pearce family has a deep tie to the Mormon struggle to establish a godly society. Born to Mormon converts, John Pearce and his wife, Martha, sought solace in the body of the church, following Mormon leaders throughout the mid-west and across the plains. The Pearce family was instrumental in key events in Utah's early history.

John David Lafayette Pearce (a.k.a. J.D.L. Pearce, Pierce) was born 5 April 1837 to Harrison and Henrietta Cromeans Pearce in Fulton, Mississippi. Soon after Harrison and Henrietta converted to Mormonism, they joined the body of the church at Winter Quarters in 1847. The Pearce family moved to Payson, Utah in October 1852.

Martha Elmina Pace (a.k.a. Martha Elimina Pace) was born 15 April 1840 in Shelbyville, Illinois. She was six weeks old when her parents James and Lucinda G. Strickland Pace moved to Nauvoo. James worked on the temple during the day, and stood guard at night. When persecution forced the Mormons out of Nauvoo, the family moved to Pisgah, Iowa in 1846, and shortly thereafter Martha's father and 15-year-old brother were called to serve in the Mormon Battalion. In Fall 1847, the family, minus Martha's father and brother, camped at Winter Quarters. After the Pace men returned from service, the family moved to St. Joe, Missouri and began the trek to Utah in Spring 1850.

Shortly after arriving in Salt Lake City, James Pace sought Brigham Young's direction for further settlement. Young directed the Paces to settle the area near Peteetneet Creek, where the family arrived 20 October 1850. Brigham Young named the town "Payson" after James Pace, and the subsequent names "Payson Canyon" and "Payson Lakes" were also named after him.

Martha Pace and John Pearce grew up in Payson, and the couple married on 2 April 1857 in Payson, Utah. A colonel in the cavalry, John was called to Echo Canyon to intercept the U.S. Army coming to Utah under Col. Albert Sidney Johnston. Just months after getting married, John spent the winter in Southern Utah on cavalry business. While living in Payson, the couple had three children.

The Pearces were called by Mormon leaders to the Dixie Mission in 1861. In the Mormon semi-annual general conference, Brigham Young called three hundred families to establish the community of St. George. Young sought to strengthen the Southern Utah settlements and provide a southern entryway to the northern Mormon settlements for converts immigrating to Zion. Self-sufficiency also encouraged settlement in the South. Settlers in outlying southern communities had successfully grown cotton, and as Young sought Mormon self-sufficiency to break off economic ties with the Union, growing cotton seemed especially necessary during the Civil War.

Among those who began the trek in November 1861, the Pearces moved to St. George the next Spring. John and Martha were active members of the community in St. George, volunteering their time and energy in ways that mirrored Martha's parents in Nauvoo. As the St. George temple was under construction, John worked in the stone quarry and Martha cooked meals for the construction workers. The family continued to grow. The Pearces added nine children to the three they had in Payson. Tragically, three of the children born in St. George died in infancy.

John Pearce served an integral role in the relationship between the Native Americans and Mormon settlers. Commissioned as a colonel in the Utah cavalry 22 February 1867, John was involved in the Pipe Springs, Arizona incident during the Black Hawk War. Mormon authorities called John as Bishop of the Lamanites, and outside of his calling he served as an Indian interpreter.

John David Lafayette Pearce has also been known as "Pierce." Ft. Pierce and Ft. Pierce Boulevard in St. George were named after him, with the unfortunate misspelling of his last name. John and his brothers have often been cited with this incorrect spelling. Despite the misspellings, these landmarks illustrate that both the Pace and Pearce families were instrumental in Southern Utah's settlement. Born to Mormon converts, both John and Martha experienced the hardship of Mormon migration and settlement from young ages, worked with their hands and their hearts to build St. George, and buried three of their infant children in the harsh landscape of Southern Utah. Their story is woven in the fabric of Mormon community development.