David Pearson (abt. 1851 - 1914)

Born about 1851 in Colchester, Nova Scotia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died 28 May 1914 at about age 63 in Camden, Truro, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada [uncertain]

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Biography

David Pearson was born in or about 1851, probably in Colchester County, Nova Scotia. (Sources differ; his gravestone indicates that he was born in 1844).

He was the son of John Pearson, a farmer who spent most or all of his life in the Colchester area, and John's first wife, whose name remains unknown. David was (likely) born when John was in his early 30s, and they apparently resided alone together for many years after David's mother died. Presumably David helped out on the family farm, and John did not desire to remarry. It's unclear whether John and his first wife had any children besides David; if so, they seem to have died young.

There are suggestions that David's mother was Bridget (Serrett) Pearson, a native of Pictou, Nova Scotia, who was born circa the early 1820s, but I have been unable to confirm them.

The 1871 Census of Canada shows John and David, who had recently reached the age of majority, residing in Truro, Colchester, NS, along with a housekeeper, Nancy Pearson, aged 38. According to this census, David was born in 1851, was working as a day laborer, and identified as a Presbyterian of Irish ancestry (an identification that remained consistent on the next two censuses).

John and Nancy ended up marrying later that year, and Nancy, who had never been married before, gave birth to a daughter about a year later, which meant David now had a half-sister about twenty years younger.

John, Nancy, David, and his half sister Minerva, who went by "Minnie," continued to reside together until at least 1891, when David was about 40 years old and still unmarried. At times, the family also took in some of Nancy's younger relatives.

According to the 1881 census, which showed the family living in Salmon River, Colchester, NS, David was born about 1853. According to the 1891 census, also taken in Salmon River, he was born about 1851. (The census also indicates that both David and his parents were born in Nova Scotia).

Minnie eventually married Freeman Rath, who was from a prominent local family, and Nancy went to reside with them after John died in 1893.

David must have continued to reside elsewhere in Colchester following his father's death for the next two decades, as he died Camden, which was located within Truro, Colchester, NS, in 1914, after being struck by lightening during a major storm.

According to a contemporary local newspaper article posted on his Find-a-Grave page, David had been about 65 at the time of his death in 1914, and was a widower, indicating that he had finally married after 1891, but probably had no children. He was struck by lightening while sitting in the home of his half-sister Minnie's family in Camden, where he had been living at the time. (Their house was struck by lightning roughly above the place where David was sitting, which was next to a stove connected to a chimney, and it sounds like when the lightning struck near the chimney, the stove apparatus may have acted as a conductor for the electricity. The house caught fire, but it was quickly extinguished, and the other people in the house, who were sitting elsewhere, were unhurt.)

If David was 65 at the time of his death, this corresponds to the circa 1851 birth date, but if he was indeed born in 1844, then he would have been closer to 70.

Sources

• David Person [Pearson] in the 1871 Census of Canada.
• 1881 Census of Canada, Salmon River, Colchester, Nova Scotia, district 19, age: 63, living with wife Nancy, 48, and 2 children, David, 28, Minerva, 8, and Jessie Wright, 12, occuption: farmer
• 1891 Census of Canada, Salmon River, Colchester, district 29, age: 73, living with wife Nancy, 60, and 2 children, David, 40, Minnie, 20, occupation: farmer
• Canada Find a Grave Index 1600s-current, Camden Cemetery, Camden, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, birth date: 1814, birth place: Harmony, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, death date: 1893, death place: Colchester County, Nova Scotia, spouse: Nancy Pearson, children; Minerva Rath, David Pearson
• David Pearson in the Canada, Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current; in the Nova Scotia, Canada, Deaths, 1864-1877, 1890-1970.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/229856959/david-pearson: accessed May 12, 2024), memorial page for David Pearson (1844–28 May 1914), Find a Grave Memorial ID 229856959, citing Camden Cemetery, Camden, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada; Maintained by R. and V. (Rath) McNutt (contributor 50934704).