Charles E. PEARSON 1876 - 1954 --- History

PEARSON, CARTER, COATS, WRIGHT, MCCLURE, BUFFINGTON

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 3/27/2006 at 14:04:09

"Fulton's History of Jefferson County"
Volume 2, Pages 157-158

Sketch of CHARLES E. PEARSON.

Charles E. PEARSON is one of the representative young farmers and stockmen of Jefferson county, of which he is a native, his birth having occurred in Des Moines township on the 9th of August, 1876. He is a son of Silas and Parlee (CARTER) PEARSON, the father being a member of one of the oldest and best known families of Jefferson county. The PEARSONs have been residents of America since the early Colonial days. The great-great-great-grandfather of our subject, Enoch PEARSON, a Quaker preacher of New London, England, emigrated to this country with William Penn, settling in Philadelphia. He had a son Samuel PEARSON, who was born in 1724 and died Jan. 8, 1790, and in turn was the father of Samuel PEARSON, the great-grandfather of our subject. The latter was born in Frederick county, Virginia, on the 3d of November, 1767, and died in Miami county, Ohio, November 3, 1847. He was married on the 2d of September, 1790, in South Carolina, to Miss Mary COATS, the daughter of a blacksmith, John COATS and his wife, whose maiden name was Rachael WRIGHT. Their son, Sampson PEARSON, was born in Ohio, on the 29th of December, 1810. He removed to Indiana in 1836 and from there to Iowa in 1853, but later went to Missouri and died there January 5, 1888 (sic - 1898). Before leaving Ohio, in August, 1832, he was united in marriage to Miss Nancy McCLURE, who was a daughter of the Buckeye state, her natal day having been the 29th of December, 1811. Her parents were John and Abigail (BUFFINGTON) McCLURE, the father having been born in 1788 and the mother on the 14th of September, 1791. Their son, Silas PEARSON, was born in Indiana February 10, 1840, and was thirteen years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Iowa in 1853, locating in Iowa City in the autumn of that year. The following spring, however, the family removed to Jefferson county and settled on a farm in section 36, Des Moines township, where Rayburn PEARSON now lives. On the 27th of September, 1861, the father of our subject enlisted in Company F, Third Iowa Cavalry, and served throughout the remainder of the war. He continued his farming operations until 1907, when he retired from active labor and removed to Libertyville, where he is now residing. In February, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Parlee CARTER and they have since made their home in Jefferson county.

Charles E. PEARSON, of this review, remained with his parents until he attained his majority. He obtained his education in the common schools and his knowledge of agricultural pursuits and stock-raising from actual experience, study and observation. From earliest boyhood he assisted about the home farm, and when ready to begin for himself had a good knowledge of the practical methods of agriculture. Following his marriage in 1904 he began farming for himself, locating on an eighty-acre tract that he had purchased in Van Buren county. He subsequently sold his holdings and bought eighty acres in Des Moines township, that formed the nucleus of his present homestead. Later his circumstances enabled him to extend the boundaries of his farm by the addition of an adjoining eighty acres, to which he acquired the title in March, 1907. He is one of the well cultivated and improved properties of the district and here he engages in general farming and stock-raising. He keeps a good grade of cattle and hogs and makes a specialty of the breeding and raising of Shropshire sheep. He does considerable feeding and annually makes shipments to the markets, usually those of Chicago.

On the 14th of October, 1904, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. PEARSON and Miss Pearl McCLAIN, a daughter of Edwin and Alice (RAINES) McCLAIN. The father, who was one of the pioneer settlers of the county, was killed by lightning on his farm, on section 27, Des Moines township, August 27, 1884. The mother is still living and continues to make her home on the farm. Four children have been born of hte marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. PEARSON: Glenn, who is five years of age; Rodney, now three; Grace, who is two years and Ernest Leslie, a babe of four months.

Mr. PEARSON has always been a stanch republican, although he does not actively participate in political campaigns. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. PEARSON attend the Methodist Episcopal church of Des Moines township, of which Mrs. PEARSON is a member. Progressive in his views, Mr. PEARSON intelligently adopts modern ideas in all branches of his work, but being guided by practical results rather than by theoretical, hypothesis he is conservative in his methods, and as a result is meeting with a gratifying degree of success.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s).