George Read Pearsons

Notes:

http://www.iowanewspapersonline.com/story.asp?sty_ID=516&lstNewsPaper=90&offset=-1
GEORGE R. PEARSONS (1830-1904). Fort Dodge mayor, involved with early railroad history and was an Indian Reservations Inspector ? portrayed by JOHN BONNER.

Marriage to Lulu:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XJCX-J2P

http://books.google.com/books?id=HH8_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA481&lpg=PA481&dq=%22George+R.+Pearsons%22+%22Fort+Dodge%22&source=bl&ots=m_duvquh6U&sig=kmPd8-GZMUGHD8R5RiQN7QBPq6E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=W4_OUszhB67hsASkwIHwCw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22George%20R.%20Pearsons%22&f=false
GEORGE R PEARSONS Great credit is due to the men of courageous spirit of determined purpose of laudable ambition and honorable purpose who have the courage to face and overcome the difficulties and hardships of life on the western frontier to establish business enterprises and carry civilization into a hitherto wild region There is much to contend with in so doing for though nature is bountiful in her gifts they are only bestowed after earnest labor and it is the man who has to meet the natural conditions that has the hardest part to perform in claiming a district for the uses of the white race Mr Pearsons however came to northwestern Iowa when the task of development and progress had scarcely been begun and with strong resolution he entered upon the work of winning success here With keen foresight he realized that the future was bright with promise and he was content to await the coming of the harvest of his labors Since 1868 he has lived in Webster county and has conducted some of the most important real estate transfers which have led to the settlement and improvement of this portion of the state while his identification with railroad building has been of the greatest possible benefit to the region Mr Pearsons was born in Bradford Orange county Vermont August 7 1830 and comes of a family of Scotch lineage His parents were John and Hannah Putnam Pearsons the latter a granddaughter of General Putnam the distinguished officer of the Revolutionary war Both parents were natives of the Green Mountain state and at death were laid to rest in the cemetery at Bradford The father died at the age of fifty seven years but the mother reached the very advanced age of ninety six In the schools of his native town George R Pearsons pursued his education and remained in Bradford until twelve years of age His youth was spent upon the farm and at the age of twenty five he entered the service of the Vermont Central Railroad in the capacity of station and fuel agent and train master Thus he first became associated
with railroad work In 1865 he removed to Chatsworth Livingston county Illinois where he remained for three years in the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad I n 1 868 he came to Fort Dodge and has since engaged in buying and selling land with the exception of three years when he gave his undivided attention to the building of a railroad which is now a part of the Minneapolis & St Louis Railroad system He was one of seven men who successfully projected and executed the plan his associates being A McBane William Grant George Bassett JM Mulroney I Garmoe and E Prussia The company was incorporated under the name of the Fort Dodge & Fort Ridgely Railroad Company with W Brown as the first president while George Bassett later filled the office and the others were directors of the company Its treasurer was I Garmoe and Mr Pearsons became superintendent and had entire charge of the construction of the road which was operated by the company until 1879 when it was sold to the Minneapolis & St Louis Railroad Mr Pearsons also owned an interest in the Iowa Pacific grade from Fort Dodge to Bel mont Wright county and kept the claim gtxxl by changing titles until the road was sold to the Great Northern in 1884 During most of the time Mr Pearsons continued his real estate business and through his efforts the county has been largely settled In 1884 he began draining two great swamps containing twenty five hundred acres in Humboldt county known as Owl Lake an impassable marsh At a cost of six thousand dollars he succeeded in making all this tillable land digging a ditch nine miles long thirty feet wide and seventeen feet deep in the largest part and sixteen feet wide and six feet deep in the smallest part This is the largest ditch ever dug by an individual in Iowa Mr Pearsons owns most of the land thus drained constituting one of the finest farms m the west In addition to this he owns over two thousand acres in Humboldt county and has fine farm adjoining Fort Dodge with the Illinois Central he sold land to value of one hundred and eighty dollars in eight days In 1869 he from Fort Dodge to Sioux City when were but four houses between the two points these being at Cherokee Twice these stirring times was Mr Pearsons lost in blizzards first in 1873 when only a from his home He was in a snow bank for hours and for two days confined in the caboose of a coal train until help came to his assistance His other experience was in Montana when together with the stage driver he was lost on a high open prairie and had a narrow escape from death He can sit for hours and with stories of frontier life entertain one so vividly can he recall the incidents of those times Since that time he has witnessed a great transformation of the county as the land has been claimed by enterprising farmers and transformed into rich farms dotted here and there with fine homes schools and churches while in their midst villages and towns have sprung up and extensive commercial and industrial interests have been introduced From 1885 until 1888 inclusive Mr Pearsons held the office of Indian inspector traveling from one agency to another During that time he visited all the Indian reservations in the United States except in the Indian Territory thus going among the wilder tribes While still in Vermont Mr Pearsons was united in marriage to Miss Wealthie Porter a native of the Green Mountain state who died in 1880 Their children were John H who is engaged in farming near Fort Dodge George A a real estate dealer at Los Angeles California Daniel K who is managing the extensive farm in Humboldt county and Louisa the wife of Hon JP Dolliver All were born in Vermont In 1882 Mr Pearsons was again married his second union being with Miss Lulu P Waldron of Fort Dodge Aside from his business Mr Pearsons has contributed in large measure to the upbuilding and improvement of northwestern Iowa and has given hearty co operation to all the various movements and measures which have benefited Fort Dodge In 1873 he was elected and served as mayor of the city and in 1890 and 1891 he was again chosen to the office His administration was practical progressive and business like and won him high commendation For many terms he has served on the school board and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend He gave his political support to the Republican party until 1882 since which time he has been independent For thirty three years he has lived in this city and his life is as an open book Those with whom he has so long been associated entertain for him the highest regard and respect for he has been active and honorable in business loyal in citizenship and reliable in all life's relations

Cemetery:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=pearsons&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=14&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=17151954&df=all&

[[
His brother, Daniel Kimball Pearsons:
The Life of Dr. D. K. Pearsons: Friend of the Small College and of Missions
By Edward Franklin Williams

http://books.google.com/books?id=7QxNVfhGTwQC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=%22Pearsons%22++mayor+%22Fort+Dodge%22&source=bl&ots=idVHPRUSEd&sig=6ahCb2eM6V_SS_OS2BmRvvy1tsU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tJTOUs_XNc_lsATeroCwDA&ved=0CFcQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22Pearsons%22%20%20mayor%20%22Fort%20Dodge%22&f=false

George married Wealthea Porter on 8 Oct 1856. Wealthea (daughter of William Porter and Anna (Unknown)) was born in 1829 in Vermont, USA; died on 11 Aug 1881 in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA; was buried in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA (Oakland Cemetery). [Group Sheet]

1. John Harvey Pearsons was born in 1857 in Vermont, USA; died in 1924; was buried in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA (Oakland Cemetery).
2. George Alonzo Pearsons was born on 16 Apr 1860 in Hartford, Windsor Co, Vermont, USA.
3. Daniel Kimball Pearsons was born on 12 Jun 1864 in Vermont, USA; died on 13 May 1937; was buried in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA (Oakland Cemetery).
4. Louise Pearsons was born on 16 Sep 1866 in Hartford, Windsor Co, Vermont, USA; died on 29 Dec 1937 in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA; was buried in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA (Oakland Cemetery).

George married Lulu Waldron on 4 Dec 1883 in , Clinton Co, Iowa, USA. Lulu (daughter of George Prentiss Waldron and Lydia E. Jones) was born in Apr 1850 in Massachusetts, USA; died in 1929; was buried in Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa, USA (Oakland Cemetery). [Group Sheet]

John married Hannah Putnam about 1817. Hannah was born on 17 Mar 1797 in Vermont, USA; died on 10 Aug 1892. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Hannah Pearson, age 74, born Vermont abt 1796, living in the household of George R. Pearsons in the 1870 census for Fort Dodge, Webster Co, Iowa.

Her birth and death dates were taken from Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver Jr's application to the "Sons of the American Revolution", made Feb 20, 1926 in Iowa.