JOHN GOODLOE WARREN PIERSON

 

 

     John Goodloe Warren Pierson, b February 15, 1795 in Union County, Kentucky, d May 7,1849 near Stoneham, Grimes County, Texas - was a son of John Pierson, born in England, who came to Baltimore, Maryland with his parents at the age of twelve years, and his wife, Elizabeth Warren - a daughter of John Goodloe Warren. John Pierson enlisted in the Mary- land Artillery as a teenager, later joining General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. He fought at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, and in Virginia, and into the Carolinas - later receiving a pension for his service.

     After the American Revolutionary War, John Pierson remained in North Carolina, where he was married February 6, 1794 in Person County to Elizabeth Warren. Shortly after the marriage, John and Elizabeth embarked to Kentucky, where their eldest child was born a year later.

     John Goodloe Warren Pierson, named for his maternal grandfather, became a pioneer and hero of Texas from the days of the Mexican Colonies, the Republic of Texas, and into the statehood of Texas - leaving indelible marks in Texas and Falls County for one hundred and fifty years, through his descendants. He was married three times: On January 15, 1815 in Union County, Kentucky, he married first to Purity Ruffin Pennington, b December 17, 1799 in Christian County, Kentucky, d ca 1822 at the age of 23 years - a daughter of Isaac Pennington. John G. W. and Purity Pierson had three children:

     Celia Emeline Pierson, b October 1815 in Kentucky, d 1850 in Houston County, Texas. She married ca 1829 in Nacogdoches, Texas to Jonathan Cochran Pool - another Texas pioneer. Emeline died in Houston County ca 1850 -leaving six children.

     John Hogue Pierson (named for his uncle, Benjamin Hogue Pierson), b April 17 , 1817 in Kentucky, d ca 1867 in Falls County, Texas. John Hogue Pierson married ca 1843 in Grimes County, Texas to Nancy Hutcherson, moving to Falls County after 1850. He was appointed attorney to settle the land dispute with T. J. Chambers over the site of the town of Marlin. John Hogue Pierson enlisted in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, became ill, and returned home.

     Isaac Pennington Pierson, b July 8, 1820 in Kentucky, d January 22, 1843 while riding his father's racehorse.

     After the death of Purity Ruffin (Pennington) Pierson, John Goodloe Warren Pierson, with some relatives and friends, left Kentucky for the Arkansas Territory about 1825. They settled at a place in Miller County, Arkansas, called Pecan Point, which later was in Red River County, Texas. John G. W. and his brother-in-law, Jacob Pennington, endeavored to clean up the morality of the area by destroying whiskey stills, and were involved in fighting and in many court actions.

     In late 1826, John Goodloe Warren Pierson was married second to Elizabeth Montgomery, b 1805, d September 15, 1833 - a daughter of William Montgomery, for whom Montgomery County, Texas was named. That year, John G. W. Pierson was County Surveyor, and was elected Justice of the Peace in 1828. On March 20, 1828, he wrote to the Governor of Arkansas of the Indian depredations, calling for military aid.

     The family moved in 1829 to Nacogdoches, Texas, where John G. W. was a surveyor in the Edwards Colony for two years; and in October 1831, he moved his family to San Felipe and applied for admittance to Austin's Colony on December 5, 1832. He and Elizabeth had two sons born in Nacogdoches - so at this time, the family consisted of his wife, four sons, and his daughter, Emeline, and her husband, Jonathan C. Pool. Elizabeth (Montgomery) Pierson had a daughter, Elizabeth, after whose birth, she died and was buried at Independence, Texas. The three children of John Goodloe Warren and Elizabeth (Montgomery) Pierson were:

     William Montgomery Pierson, b November 13, 1827 at Pecan Point, Miller County, Arkansas - married Matilda Smith after 1850, in Grimes County, Texas. He has descendants in Falls County, Texas in 1986.

     Andrew Van Buren Pierson, b February 15, 1830 in Nacogdoches, Texas - married Sophronia Smith- a sister of his brother's wife, Matilda Smith. They had no Issue.

     Elizabeth Pierson, b September 15, 1833 at Independence, Texas - married March 11, 1851 in Grimes County, Texas to Ethelred Tarvor.

     Shortly after the death of Elizabeth (Montgomery) Pierson - his second wife - John Goodloe Warren Pierson was appointed by Sterling Clack Robertson, Empressario of the Nashville Colony, to be his "true and lawful attorney and Surveyor General of his colony." Robertson had been waging a legal battle for two years with Stephen F. Austin, Samuel M. Williams, and the Mexican Government over the Nashville Colony's contract to settle in Texas. Finally, Augustin de Viesca, Governor of Coahuila, overturned Austin's claim, and the contract with Robertson was honored. Pierson began surveying the town site for Sarahville de Viesca, located at the Falls of the Brazos, laying out the town. He also surveyed League #1 for himself, and League #3 was granted to a widow, Mrs. Narcissa (Cartwright) Slatter, who became his third wife in 1835.

     John Goodloe Warren Pierson was elected and served as a delegate to the General Consultation at San Felipe in November 1835, where he was appointed as Secretary of the Council. On February 13, 1836, he was appointed aide-de-camp for the Texas Army, procuring equipment and men for military service. On June 3, 1836, he moved his family from Viesca to High Point in Grimes County, where they were safer, and they continued to live there until after 1850 when some of his children returned to Falls County, to the early land grant. Pierson served as Captain of the Cavalry for the Republic of Texas in Grimes County, while farming, operating a store, and raising livestock and fine horses, for which he built a race track.

     When trouble again erupted with Mexico over the Rio Grande River as the border between the Republic of Texas and Mexico, in 1842, John Goodloe Warren Pierson raised a company of volunteers and was Captain of twenty-seven men. They joined the other companies with over 300 men, proceeding to Mier, Mexico on December 22, 1842. The battle that ensued left many wounded, some escaped, and one hundred and seventy-six taken prisoners. Santa Anna, who had been released and had returned to Mexico, ordered that one in ten be shot - determining the victims by the drawing of black and white beans, resulting in the execution of the seventeen men who drew the black beans. The others were marched to Santiago, Mexico City, to prison, where Pierson became ill and was unable to be transferred to the Perote Prison near Vera Cruz with the others. Prior to the release of the entire surviving group on September 16, 1844, he had joined them in Perote. After nearly two years of confinement, Pierson returned to Grimes County, where he learned that his son, Isaac Pennington Pierson, had died the previous year.

     John Goodloe Warren Pierson and his third wife, Narcissa (Cartwright), had three sons before his death in 1849:

     Willaford Cartwright Pierson, b December 18, 1836 in Grimes County, Texas, d January 9,1846 in Grimes County.

     Benjamin Almary Pierson, b May 18, 1840 in Grimes County, Texas, d January 31, 1905 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Cedar Springs Cemetery. He was a merchant in Cedar Springs. In 1879, he married Mary Isabella Jones, b August 26, 1842, d August 12, 1900.

     Edmund G. Pierson, b May 8, 1847 in Grimes County, Texas (two years before the death of his father), d March 21, 1929 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas. He was living with his uncle, John Hogue Pierson, in 1860 in Falls County. In 1865, he was married to Lucy Gray, and they had two children before her death. In 1874, Edmund married second to Martha Emma Montgomery, b July 31,1855 - a daughter of John Montgomery of Canada, and his wife, Maria, a native of England. Edmund and Martha Emma (Montgomery) Pierson were the parents of nine children, two dying in youth. Edmund carried on the profession of Surveyor in Falls County - preserving many of his father's records, which were contributed to the State Archives by his daughter, Maurine Pierson. Martha Emma (Montgomery) Pierson died in Marlin, Texas on May 16, 1930, and many descendants of this family still reside in Falls County.

     After the death of John Goodloe Warren Pierson, Narcissa (Cartwright) Slatter Pierson married thirdly on February 27, 1851 to Thomas Roberts, b October 17, 1817 in Tennessee, d January 17, 1874 at Cedar Springs, Falls County, Texas. Narcissa, b March 16, 1817, d January 5, 1897 - and both are buried in Cedar Springs Cemetery in their family plot where her son, Benjamin, a daughter, Matilda (Roberts) Glass- wife of E. R. P. Glass, are also buried. Thomas and Narcissa Roberts had three children: Susan Roberts, b 1852, who married John W. M. Powers of Falls County; Thomas Roberts, Jr., b ca 1853; and Matilda Roberts, b 1857.

     When John Gooloe Warren Pierson’s estate was probated (he had not Will), he owned 20,000 acres of land in three counties, had a large personal estate, and was due back-pay for his military service and imprisonment.  In 1852, a sum of $2,273.00 was finally approved by the State, and paid to his heirs.

     In the true tradition of Texas, John Goodloe Warren Pierson was a trustworthy, respected leader, who served this state above and beyond that of an ordinary man.  His life was a legend.

 

 

 

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 357 column 1 and 2 and page 358 column 1 and 2.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.