JOHN PEARSONS AND FAMILY

John Pearsons was born in Lyndeborough, N. H., August 29, 1792. He came to Bradford to live in his twelfth year. When the war with England broke out, in 1812, he, then about twenty years of age, volunteered as a soldier, and remained in the service till, at the end of the war, honorably discharged. In 1817 he was married with Miss Hannah Putnam, mentioned in the account of the Putnam family. For about seventeen years he was engaged in the lumber business near and on the Connecticut River, at the proper seasons taking timber, boards, shingles, etc., down the river as far as Hartford, Conn., and sometimes to its confluence with the ocean. He also kept tavern on the Lower Plain for sixteen years, in the same house which had been occupied for the like purpose by Colonel John Barron and family in former years. That old yellow house, two stones in front and one in the rear, is still standing, but moved to the east side of the highway. On its original site Mr. Pearsons built, in 1842, a new and more commodious hotel, designed to be more comfortable and enduring, the walls being of sawn timber, laid as solid as brick walls, and then finished outside and within in the ordinary style. That house is now owned by a Mr. Golding, and occupied as a private dwelling. Mr.  Pearsons sold his place in Bradford in 1844, and removed to Hartford, Vt., where he had bought a good farm on White River, and for the remainder of his life devoted himself to its cultivation, and, with his pleasant family, the enjoyment of the fruits of his labor.  Mr. and Mrs. Pearsons had seven sons and two daughters, all natives of Bradford. Of these, three died in their childhood; namely, William Chapin, the third child, Lucy, the fifth, and Lucius, the sixth.

Charles Pearsons, the youngest son, lived to be a promising young man and fine scholar, but died at Hartford, August 9, 1858, in the twentieth year of his age.  Of the four sons and one daughter now living (March, 1874) the following gratifying notices may be given.

1 John Alonzo Pearsons was born September 8, 1818. He was married with Hannah Stevens Bailey, of Newbury, Vt., October 25, 1842. They had four children.  He moved to Evanston, Illinois, and is now engaged in the lumber business there. He was one of the first settlers of that beautiful place, and has contributed in various ways to its prosperity. His son, Henry A. Pearsons, served in the late war as a Lieutenant in the Eighth Regiment of Illinois Cavalry, and is now engaged in real estate agency in Chicago. Isabella, the eldest daughter of Mr.  John A. Pearsons, is the wife of Rev. William Mappin, of Laramie, Wyoming Territory.

2 Daniel Kimball Pearsons was born April 14, 1820.  He taught school for five Winters, studied medicine, graduated as M. D. in 1843, practiced for ten years in Chicopee, Mass., married Miss Marietta Chapin, August 17, 1847, and traveled in Europe. On his return he went to Chicago and pursued the business of his profession for some while, and then engaged in real estate business, dealing largely in farming lands, selling for private individuals and railroad companies, investing money to a great amount yearly for Eastern capitalists, on real estate security : and having secured a high reputation for strict integrity and successful management, has in the course of a few years accumulated, and that, it is believed, by honest means, an ample fortune, which he seems disposed to use with discretion and commendable liberality, assisting the needy, and promoting good objects generally; in all well doing being heartily encouraged and aided by his benevolent and magnanimous wife.

3 William Barron Chapin Pearsons was born December 19, 1824. He taught school for a number of Winters, studied law, graduated at Cambridge, Mass., Law School, and opened an office at Holyoke, in that State, where he has remained in successful practice for twenty-five years. He married, February 25, 1857, Sarah Elizabeth Taylor, of Westfield. Mass.   They have three children.   He has been a member, both of the House and Senate, of the General Court of Massachusetts, and served in the late war as Paymaster. He has been very successful in business, and is one of the leading men of Holyoke.

4 George Reed Pearsons was born August 7, 1830.  He lived for several years in Hartford, making it his business to teach in the Winter seasons; but was by occupation a farmer. In 1856, October the 8th, he married Miss Welthea Porter, of Hartford, Vt., and finally moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he still resides, successfully engaged in the real estate and loan business. He is at this date Mayor of the city, and highly esteemed for his moral integrity and decided ability as a man of business. He has three sons and one daughter.

5 Hannah Elizabeth Pearsons, born April 25, 1836, resided in Bradford till eight years of age, when she went with her parents to live in Hartford, In the twenty-first year of her age, February 14, 1860, she was married to Alvin Matthew Gushing, M. D., a practicing physician in Bradford, of whom more full account may be seen in the chapter of doctors who have resided and practiced here.  The worthy doctor and his not less worthy wife now reside in Lynn, Mass., where he is doing a large business in the line of his profession.

Mr. John Pearsons, the father of this family, an industrious, kind-hearted, and strictly honest man, died at Hartford, Vt., October 30, 1857, at the age of sixty-five years, and a marble obelisk erected to his memory in the principal cemetery of Bradford shows the place of his burial.  To Mrs. Pearsons, his widow, now resident with her children, Dr. Cushing and wife, at Lynn, Mass., I have been indebted for the dates, names, and principal facts given in the above account. It would not be at all strange if the good mother should feel somewhat proud of such a family as the God of all grace and consolation has given her.  Biographie Index

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