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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of St. Francis County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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G. W. Pearson, deputy circuit and county clerk of St. Francis County, was born in Mississippi December 25, 1830, being the third in a family of nine children born to John A. and Nancy (Nichols) Pearson. They were natives of North Carolina (near Fair Bluff), and married there, moving to Southern Mississippi in 1829. At the date of their deaths they lived near Brandon, Miss. John A. Pearson was a Methodist Episcopal minister, and had preached from the earliest recollections of his son until his death, in 1842. Of their large family of children, G. W. is the only one now living. Everett died at Nashville, Tenn., in the Confederate army, in the Sixth Mississippi Regiment; John was waylaid and shot by a negro; the sisters married and all died after the war. G. W. has in his possession a cane which was made by his grandfather (a native of North Carolina) when a young man. He was a carpenter and natural mechanic, and died in his seventy-third year. G. W. Pearson received his education in the schools of Mississippi, and selected farming as his occupation, in which he was actively engaged until coming to Arkansas, in 1872. He was married in Mississippi to M. A. Taylor, and their union was blessed by two children: William Atkins and Annie Everett. Mr. Pearson owns a residence in town. He was agent for the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad for nine years, subsequently being appointed magistrate, and has been filling the position of deputy county clerk since May, 1889, discharging the duties of his office in a highly creditable manner. The grandfather of Mr. Pearson and two brothers were taken captives by Indians and carried far back into the interior of the country, after which the savages held a council to determine the best way to dispose of their captives. The brothers were lashed to the ground to await their terrible death, but an Indian maiden became enamored of one of them—a very handsome man— and went to his relief, cutting the lashes that bound him, and telling him at the same time to flee for his life, which injunction he was not slow to follow. He released his brothers, and after running nearly all night, they crawled into a large log, whose capacity was sufficient to hold them all. The Indians followed in hot pursuit, and were close upon them when a herd of deer crossed their path, thereby destroying the trail. The redskins gave up the chase, and actually seated themselves on the log in which the brothers were secreted, and in which they remained until night. They had been without food for three days, and when an opossum crossed their path they killed and devoured it without waiting to have it broiled, their intense hunger making them forget that it was raw. They made their way to a white settlement, and then on to their old home, where they were welcomed by their relatives and friends, who had despaired of ever seeing them again. Mr. Pearson has not been particularly fortunate in amassing property, but he and his honored wife enjoy that which is of far more consequence—an unsullied name and the sincere love of a host of friends. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, his wife also being connected with the same church.

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This family biography is one of 87 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of St. Francis County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: St. Francis County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional St. Francis County, Arkansas family biographies here: St. Francis County, Arkansas Biographies

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