William Elias Pearson (abt. 1853 - abt. 1935)

Born about 13 Dec 1853 in Illinois

Ancestors

Son of Benjamin F. Pearson and Margaret Ann McTeer (Campbell) Pearson

Husband of Phebe Judith (Mosher) Pearson — married 14 May 1876 in Jessup, Buchanan, Iowa, USA

Descendants

Died about 16 Aug 1935 at about age 81 in Kalispell, Flathead, Montana, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: J. Salsbery [send private message]

Biography

William's daughter Gertrude wrote:

“My earliest recollection of hearing of my father’s early life is of hearing him tell of living with his parents, near Springfield, Missouri, when the Civil War broke out. His father, Benny Pearson enlisted in the Northern Army and some of the fighting was done near their home. The Battle of Pea Ridge was so near their home that they could hear the roar of cannons and see the smoke. The army was camped near them for a time. When William was only about nine years old, his mother made pies and cookies and packed them in a basket and sent him to the camp to sell them to the soldiers.^[1]

“His mother, Margaret Ann Mcteer Campbell (Pearson) was a frail woman who worked very hard while his father Benny was away. She contracted a severe cold which settled into what they called ‘Quick Consumption’ and died soon after the close of the war.^[2]

“William and his father batched for awhile but finding that pretty hard his father decided to take him up to Jesup, Iowa to live with an aunt who offered to take him. Aunt Liney, Caroline (Campbell) Clark, was his mother’s sister.

“Right after the Civil War, his mother died and his father took young William from Illinois to Jesup, Iowa to live with an aunt" is the inscription on the back of a photo. His father went back to Missouri intending to settle up his business there and then come back. He was never heard of again. They wrote and wrote but could never get one word of information concerning him.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Letter from Gertrude Shetler
2. ↑ Letter from Gertrude Shetler
3. ↑ Letter from Gertrude Shetler

• United States Federal Census: Year: 1900; Census Place: Timber Creek, Marshall, Iowa; Roll: 448; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0126; FHL microfilm: 1240448
• United States Federal Census: Year: 1910; Census Place: Kalispell, Flathead, Montana; Roll: T624_832; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 1374845
• United States Federal Census: Year: 1920; Census Place: Kalispell, Flathead, Montana
• United States Federal Census: Year: 1930; Census Place: Kalispell, Flathead, Montana; Roll: 1256; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 18; Image: 291.0; FHL microfilm: 2340991
• Montana Death Index, 1907-2007
• Standard Certificate of Death, State of Montana, Record Type: Certificate of Death, Name Of Person: William E. Pearson, Number: # 9133
• Find A Grave
• Web: Montana, Find A Grave Index, 1864-2012
• Chamberlain, Mildred Mosher & Clarenbach, Laura McGaffey; Descendants of Hugh Mosher and Rebecca Maxson Through Seven Generations. Madison, WI: Laura M. Clarenbach, 1990.
• Letter from Gertrude Shetler
• William E. Pearson Obituary
• Janice (Pearson) Salsbery, OUR EXTRAORDINARY ANCESTORS; The Ancestors of Clinton Wilbur Pearson and Bessie Adelaide White, Zayante Creek Press, 2019.

• Howard Pearson, grandson of William Elias Pearson, has a relationship confirmed with an AncestryDNA test match triangulation between “Private” child C.N., daughter of John Montgomery McTeer, Jr. and Kathleen Lucia Ryan as a 5th cousin 1x removed; and “Private” child E.P., grandson of Charles Capus Holmes and Alice Angeline Lowe, confirmed as a 5th cousin. All three of them are descendants of Captain Robert Montgomery McTeer and Agnes Ann Martin.

Big Y-500 DNA Test

A Family Tree Y-67 DNA (FTDNA) Test of William's grandson H.E. Pearson showed that their Haplogroup is Q-M242, which is found almost exclusively in Asia.

A FTDNA upgrade to a Big Y-500 test revealed that their terminal SNP is Q-Y18021. I then uploaded the raw Y-DNA file (BAM) to YFull.com. Among testers so far who are in the YFull or FTDNA databases, there are only three men who share the SNP Q-Y18021.

Testing shows that all currently known descendants of Lawrence Pearson, who was born about 1607-1620 at Pownall fee, Cheshire, England, carry the Y18220 SNP. H.E. Pearson and two of his Y-DNA matches share a novel mutation of Lawrence’s SNP - Y18021. This mutation must have occurred sometime after Lawrence’s sons. One of H.E.'s matches definitely descends through Lawrence Pearson; his son Thomas Pearson and then Thomas’ son Enoch Pearson. We can infer that our descent must be through Lawrence Pearson and Thomas Pearson also – and perhaps Enoch.