JAMES AARON PEARSON

 

 

     James Aaron Pearson, b March 30, 1817 in North Carolina, d April 9, 1864 at Wilderville, Falls County, Texas after being furloughed with the measles from Harrisburg, where he was serving in the Confederate States Army - was a son of Barney and Lydia (Dean) Pearson. Barney Pearson was a son of Ichabod Pearson (1754-1803) and his wife, Miriam (Lamb) Pearson, who were members of the Quaker Church near the Nanhunta Swamp in Wayne County, North Carolina. Ichabod Pearson was a son of Jonathan and Rebecca Pearson, and his grandfather was Peter Pearson, who arrived in Virginia ca 1700 from Cumberland County, England.

     James Aaron Pearson married ca 1836 in North Carolina to Jency N. Williams, b February 16, 1817 in North Carolina, d March 23, 1864 - just sixteen days before her husband died. Both James Aaron and Jency N. were buried in the family cemetery in Wilderville on Pond Creek in southwestern Falls County.

     In 1846, James Aaron Pearson, his wife, four children, and his parents left North Carolina for Texas. They stopped in Starksville, Mississippi - and after two years there, the parents decided to remain, while James Aaron and his family continued the journey to Texas - settling for seven years in the area which be- came Leon County. In 1856, the James Aaron Pearson family arrived in Falls County, Texas, where he purchased 1,105 acres of land on the West Bank of the Brazos River - bordering the southern Falls County line. He soon owned 600 head of cattle, seven horses, oxen, and one slave. In 1860, James sold the land to his son- in-law, James B. Jones, and bought 300 acres located a mile south, in Milam County; and it was there that he died.

     James Aaron and Jency N. (Williams) Pearson had eleven children:

     Mary Pearson, b 1838 in North Carolina - married James B. Jones, b 1830 in Alabama - who was then the widower of her sister, Abigail. James and Mary were married June 23, 1867 in Falls County, Texas.

     Abigail Pearson (called "Aby"), b 1840 in North Carolina, d 1867 - married October 2, 1856 to James B. Jones, who married second on June 23, 1867 to her sister, Mary Pearson. By these two sisters, James B. Jones was the father of five known children: William R. Jones, b 1859; Wesley Jones, b 1861; Mary Jones, b 1865; Francis- a son, or Frances-a daughter, Jones was born ca 1867; and Julia Jones, b ca 1869. James B. Jones served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War with his brothers-in-law, James Madison Pearson and Houston Standly Pearson, and with his father-in-law, James Aaron Pearson.

     William Lafitte Pearson, b 1842 in North Carolina, died there in 1844.

     James Madison Pearson, b February 27, 1844 in North Carolina, d March 1, 1918 at Wildervielle, Falls County, Texas - married Marsella Ann Varner, b January 1, 1848, d February 18, 1930. Their son, William Lafitte Pearson (called "Will"), b January 12, 1870, d January 15, 1929 and buried in Powers Chapel Cemetery, who married Maude Scarborough, b November 27, 1874, d March 28, 1948 and buried by her husband, purchased the Wilderville General Merchandise Store in 1918. When Will died in 1929, the store was operated by their only child, Louie Varner Pearson, b September 17, 1911, d April 8, .1962, buried in Powers Chapel Cemetery who married Myrtle L. Weaver, b September 17, 1911, operated the Wilderville Store until his death in 1962. Louie and Myrtle Pearson had a son, John Pearson, who ran the family store until 1974. Since John's retirement, he has been one of the "driving" forces to keep the Powers Chapel Cemetery in beautiful shape, and ready for the annual Memorial Day ceremonies. John, assisted by his cousin who is an officer with the Daughters of the Confederacy, has worked on a program to mark every Confederate veteran's grave in Powers Chapel Cemetery - and it is John, who has done extensive research in Falls County to identify these veterans, when they died, and where.

     Houston Standley Pearson, b 1846 in North Carolina before the family began their journey toward Texas, served in the Civil War in the Confederate States Army. No further information.

     Margaret Elizabeth Pearson, b 1848 in Mississippi - no further information.

     Martha Louise Pearson, b 1850 in Leon County, Texas - no further information.

     Euplema Gay Pearson, b 1852 in Leon County, Texas - no further information.

     Coleman G. Pearson, b 1854 in Leon County, Texas - no further information.

     Frances H. Pearson (called "Fanny"), b 1855 in Leon County, Texas - was living in the of her sister, Mary, and brother-in-law, James B. Jones, at age 15 years when the 1870 census was recorded in Falls County.

     Borden Foster Pearson, b 1858 in Falls County, Texas - no further information.

     In 1860, Captain E. M. Wilder - a veteran of the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846 - 1848, bought 907 acres of the family land located on the Mary Prior League, from James B. Jones. It was for Captain Wilder that the community of Wilderville was named.

 

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 348 column 1 and 2 and page 349 column1.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.