Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 89

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Mississippi > Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II > Part 89

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A. V. Pearcifield, planter, Benoit, Miss., is a native Kentuckian, born in 1822, and his parents, Henry and Lovey (Pearce) Pearcifield, were natives also of the Blue Grass state. "The paternal grandfather was a native of the famous Emerald isle. He left his native land to come to the United States and settled in the Old Dominion at an early date. The maternal grandfather, Robert Pearce, was a native of Virginia, but at an early date emigrated to Ken- tucky, where he followed planting until his death in 1832. A. V. Pearcifield was reared and educated in his native state, but in 1839 came to Mississippi, settling first in Jefferson, then Adams, and finally in 1856 in Bolivar county, on Egypt ridge. In 1866 he settled on his present place, on Egypt ridge, four miles from Benoit, and is now the owner of one thousand two hundred and forty acres in different tracts, with seven hundred acres under cultivation. In 1854 he was married to Miss Narcissa Noble, of Natchez, and the fruits of this union were two children: Margaret (deceased) and Emma. Mrs. Pearcifield died in 1860. After set- tling upon his present property Mr. Pearcifield entered actively upon the work of clearing and improving, and his career since that time has been marked by industry and strict atten- tion to his calling. His plantation is beautifully improved, and everything about the place shows the energy and good management for which he has ever been noted. In the manage- ment of this fine plantation he does not lose sight of the stock industry and raises some fine animals, being the owner at the present time of a fine stallion. Mr. Pearcifield is above the average hight, rather inclined to be portly, marked features and hair turning toward the silver tint. He is strong, hearty and robust. During the war he was placed in charge of the wagons at the salt mines (or works) in Alabama by the Confederate government.

William L. Pearman. Bolivar county, Miss., has become well known for its prosperous planters, and this reputation has been acquired by the energy and enterprise of such planters as William L. Pearman, whose labors to acquire a competency have been earnest, persistent and continuous. He was born in the Palmetto state, March 1, 1845, being the fourth in a family of nine children born to Benjamin and Drucilla (McGregor) Pearman, their entire lives being spent in South Carolina, where Mr. Pearman was engaged in planting and died on his old homestead in 1880, having reached a ripe old age. His father was Weldon C. Pearman and his mother's maiden name was Shirley, the ancestors of both having come from England and settled near Petersburg, Va., in the welfare of which section they interested themselves, becoming substantial and honored residents of the Old Dominion. The maternal grandfather was William McGregor and the maternal grandmother's name was Dean, natives of Scotland JJ

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and Wales, respectively. In the town of Anderson, S. C., William L. Pearman was reared, his education being received in a private school, and although his advantages were not of the best, he made fair progress in his studies, and up to the age of sixteen years, when the war opened, he was as far advanced as any youth of his age. Although but a boy, he immediately enlisted in the Confederate army, becoming a member of company E, Twentieth South Carolina regiment, under L. M. Keith, and until the war closed was one of the tried and true soldiers of the Confederacy. He was in the siege of Charleston, Cold Harbor, besides nearly all the engagements in Virginia, and although severely wounded in the head at Berryville, his good constitution and determination stood him in good stead and it was not long before he was again ready for duty. At the time of Lee's surrender he was at Charlotte, N. C., soon after which he returned to his home and in 1866 came to Mississippi, and became over- seer for Dr. Mart Ellis, in Tippah county, but continued with him for only one year. At the end of that time he made a short visit to his old home in South Carolina, but soon returned to Mississippi and took an interest in a drug store, at Baldwin, but this venture not proving a success, he went to Texas, after spending a short time in Bolivar county. Six months later he returned to Mississippi and was here married, in 1874, to Miss Viola Reeves, a native of this state and a daughter of Sylvester K. and Elizabeth (Bird) Reeves, native Mississippians, and by her he became the father of eight children: William M., Eveline (deceased), Mar- garet, Roberta, Minnie, Arthur C., Pearl and Reuben, the living ones still making their home under the parental roof. Mr. Pearman began life very poor in purse, but has succeeded in accumulating one thousand four hundred acres of land, and by his own efforts has cleared and improved six hundred acres. In 1885 he erected a neat and pretty residence at a cost of $2,500, and is the owner of about $5,000 worth of real estate in Cleveland. He is one of the oldest settlers of this part of Bolivar county, having come here when there were only three men within a radius of fifteen or twenty miles, his nearest postoffice (Concordia) being thirty miles distant. His land was heavily covered with timber and canebrake, but he now has a valuable and highly productive plantation, a state of affairs that has been brought about by his own efforts. He has never engaged in speculation to any extent, but has made what he now has by the sweat of his brow, and throughout his quiet, uneventful life has continued to pursue the even tenor of his way, and has never meddled with affairs that did not concern him. He and his wife and two children are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and socially he belongs to the Knights of Honor. Mr. Pearman is very highly esteemed by all who know him, and by his numerous friends was elected to the constitutional conven- tion at Jackson, but was beaten out of his seat through fraud. He has a very comfortable and pleasant residence, and he and his wife have a very interesting and intelligent family of children.

"Lo ! I declare I deem him blest Whose foot, here pausing, findeth rest."

Charles A. Pearson (deceased) in times now past, had been closely identified with the welfare and material and social happiness of this region, and here the greater number of his days of usefulness were spent. Even in his youth he possessed an intellect of no ordinary ability, and the power and originality of his genius was felt by all with whom he came in contact in after years. His birth occurred in Fredericksburg, Va., in 1805, he being the only son of a family of ten children born to his parents, three members only of whom are living at the present time: Mary, Margaretta and Martha. He was a direct descendant of the old Quaker stock of William Penn, and possessed in an eminent degree the love of truth and simple tastes of his time-honored ancestor. He was educated in the

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schools of Fredericksburg and throughout his long and useful career he was a stanch friend of education and believed in the universal education of the masses. He was especially devoted to scientific researches, astronomy and mathematics being his special delight, and from the study of these branches he derived much profit and pleasure. He was very kind, affectionate and charitable in disposition, was filled with the milk of human kind- ness for all, but being chary of having his "right hand know what his left hand doeth," many of his charities remained unknown. He was at all times very public-spirited, for he loved his country better than life, and did everything in his power to advance her interests and promote her progress and development. The most of his business life was spent as a cotton merchant, the old and well-known firm of Pearson & Hume being established in Grand Gulf, Miss., the same year as his arrival here, and as a man of business he possessed far more than ordinary ability. The business of this large firm extended from the Pearl river in Lawrence County, Miss., to Liverpool, England, and in point of commercial credit and for business capacity it was known in every city of any importance in the Union. He began life at the bottom of the ladder, for previous to his removal to Port Gibson he was a salesman on a salary. After being in Mississippi for some time, he traveled throughout the Southwest, and by trade purchased some six thousand acres of land in Texas, a large portion of which is still in possession of his family. At the opening of the Civil war, Mr. Pearson had accumulated a comfortable fortune, but in his love for the South he became conspicuous as a devoted Confederate, and in 1862 his elegant home was laid in ashes and he was in numerous other ways plundered of his property. At the bombardment of Grand Gulf, he stood by the side of Col. Wade, aiding the Confederate commander by his knowledge of the topography of the country, until the latter fell dead at his feet. While on a trip to England he was present at the coronation of Queen Victoria. He was married March 26, 1846, to Miss Clara Warren, a native of Oswestry, Shropshire, England, her birth occur- ring in that town, which is one of the oldest in England, January, 11, 1826, the name of her home being Brynmorda. Mrs. Pearson received excellent advantages in her youth, a princi- pal portion of her education being received in France, one of her teachers being Madame Collyer, who kept a French school for English girls. Mrs. Pearson's sisters were also educated there. Her union with Mr. Pearson resulted in the birth of eleven children-seven sons and four daughters-of whom there are nine living: George B., who is a successful pharmacist of Fredericksburg, Va .; Charles W., who is head bookkeeper, cashier and correspondent in the celebrated clothing house of Schwab & Co., of St. Louis, Mo .; William J. who is a cotton planter and a member of the board of supervisors at Grand Gulf, Miss .; Alfred M., a suc- cessful telegrapher of the state of Washington .; Isaac C. is a resident of Vicksburg, Miss., and is manager of the telephone exchange; Lawrence is a commercial traveler for Schwab & Co., in the state of Arkansas; Clara P. is the widow of Thomas M. Harwood, who was engaged in the municipal affairs of Claiborne county (Mrs. Harwood is an accomplished lady, having been a teacher of Grand Gulf previous to her marriage, and is very skillful with her needle, having been awarded first mention for point lace at the World's fair at New Orleans in 1885); Eleanor resides at home; Mary G. is the wife of Sprig Harwood, a relative of the Harwoods of Boston, and resides in Los Angeles, Cal .; Harriet died in infancy, and Henry, who was the sixth of the family, died of yellow fever at Grand Gulf at the age of twenty-one years, and would in all probability have been a machinist of note had his life been spared. Mr. Pearson was a man who always held a high place in the estimation of his fellow-citizens and lived, as he died, an earnest member of the Episcopal church. He had frequent pre- monitions that his death would be sudden, and was several times, within a few years, prostrated

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with heart disease, which at last caused his death Sunday, January, 11, 1878, the funeral services being conducted by Rev. Mr. Cary, who read the services of the Episcopal church at the grave. The pallbearers were: Messrs. William Brown, Sr., J. L. Foote, John Burnet, J. L. Kennard, Joseph A. Gage, Charles Shreve, W. T. Morris, J. S. Mason, of Port Gibson, and Charles Johnson, Sr., A. A. Nichols, Henry Simonson and J. P. Taylor, of Grand Gulf. So ended the life of one of Mississippi's most illustrious sons. He was a great lover of horses all his life, and at the time of his death he left valuable real estate in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas amounting to about four thousand acres.

Dr. William E. Pearson, a well-known practitioner of Scooba, Kemper county, Miss., resides three and a half miles east of Scooba. He was born in Greene county, Ala., in 1836, and is a son of John and Margaret (Forbes) Pearson. His father was born in South Caro- lina about the year 1785; he was descended from one of two brothers who came to America, and were brigadier-generals in the War of the Revolution. The parents were married in North Carolina and removed to Alabama, where the father died shortly after the birth of our subject in 1836; he was a large planter and owned a large estate. The mother was born in North Carolina in 1816 and died in 1856; she was a member of the Christian church and the father belonged to the Baptist church. William E. was their only child. He spent his early life in Alabama in Greene and Sumter counties. He received his literary education near Nashville, Tenn., at Franklin college, his medical education at Charleston, S. C., and New Orleans, and began the practice of medicine in 1859, having located at Gainesville, Ala. In 1860 he removed to his present home, where he has since resided. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army and was attached to the First Tennessee Regiment as assistant surgeon. He never missed a march or battle from the time of his enlistment until the surrender. He was at Gettysburg and in the seven days' fight around Richmond. He was taken prisoner and afterward paroled. In 1861 the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss C. F. Harwood, of Gainesville, Ala., a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Ellison) Harwood, natives of Vir- ginia. Mrs. Pearson was born in Virginia in 1835. Four children were born of this union: John F. and William E., Jr., are at home; William and Edward died in childhood. Dr. Pearson is identified with the democratic party. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging both to the Blue lodge and chapter. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, lodge No. 2534. He has given some attention to farming, in addition to his professional duties. He owns sixteen hundred acres of land, which have been improved under his direc- tion. He has been very successful in his medical practice and has a large patronage. He is a man of kind and generous impulses, and is ready always to aid the needy and to be of service to the general public in any way that is presented. He is a member of the Presby- terian church, while his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.

Dr. John B. Pease, the oldest practicing physician of Bolivar county, and a popular drug- gist at Gunnison, is the son of John B. and Elizabeth (Dibrell) Pease, his birth occurring in Nashville, Tenn., while his parents were there on a visit. The father was born in Utica, N. Y., and there grew to manhood, and received an excellent education. He came to Missis- sippi about 1834 or 1835, located in Yazoo county, and secured a large tract of land upon which Yazoo City is now built. In 1837 or 1838 he married Miss Dibrell, a native of Ten- nessee, and afterward made his home on his estate in Yazoo City. He not only became a very extensive planter, but was also a successful merchant at Manchester, now Yazoo City. Although active in politics and very pronounced in his views in regard to competent officials, he was no officeseeker himself. The Pease family trace their origin to Otho I, emperor of Germany 961-983. This emperor knighted an officer of his army named Pease and granted him a

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coat of arms with the motto: "Sic itur ad astra, optime de patra meruit." In 1637 Robert Pease came to America, settled near Enfield, Conn., and entered the site of Martha's Vineyard from the crown of England. His descendants may be found in every state and territory in the Union, also the provinces of Canada, and every political office from governor down has been filled by some one bearing the family name. This name is also to be found upon the army rolls of every state, in the Civil war, both North and South, and frequent instances occurred where officers of that name opposed each other in battle. On the mother's side the Dibrells descended from French Huguenots. Grandfather Edwin Dibrell, was in the treasury depart- ment under President Polk, and was a prominent citizen of Nashville, Tenn. The mother's cousin, Gen. George Dibrell, was a member of congress from Tennessee for many years, and was a brigadier-general in the Civil war. He was covering the retreat of President Davis when the latter was captured. Dr. John B. Pease, to whom has descended the family name, was reared in Yazoo county, Miss., and was left fatherless when but two years of age. He received his literary and medical education in the University of Virginia, and in 1860 entered the medical department of the University of Louisiana, from which he graduated the follow- ing year. He then began practicing at Yazoo City, remained there until 1862, when he enlisted in the sixty days' troops as private. At the expiration of that time he was appointed assistant surgeon in the reserve corps, and in reorganizing the medical staff of the corps under General Forrest he was made surgeon, filling that position until the close of hostilities. In 1865 he came to Bolivar county, located at Holmes lake, and there engaged in planting until 1869, when he moved to Concordia, where he practiced his profession. There he resided until 1891, and in connection with his practice was also engaged in planting. In 1890 he erected a drug store at Gunnison, and in the following year erected a residence into which he moved soon after. Dr. Pease was married in 1862 to Miss Emma C. Evens, a native of Claiborne county, Miss., and daughter of James Evens. Six children have been the fruits of this union, one of whom is deceased: Loudie D., married Dr. Jones and died in 1891; John B., Jr .; George Evens, Herbert W., Minrette and Standifer W. The family hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Pease is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a master of Concordia lodge No. 347; is past grand dictator of the state in the Knights of Honor, and is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. He was the organizer of the Knights of Pythias lodge No. 67, of Gunnison. He was quite active in politics formerly. Mr. Pease has a store well stocked with fancy goods and toilet articles as well as a full line of drugs, and by his pleasant social manner and gentlemanly conduct has already built up a good trade. His eldest son, who graduated from the Medical college at Little Rock, is asso- ciated with his father in practice.

A. C. Peatross, of the firm of Peatross, Cameron & Co., extensive coal merchants, of Vicksburg, Miss., was born in Virginia in 1861, the eighth in a family of ten children born to Samuel D. and Angelina (Seay) Peatross, the parents being also Virginians, the father a successful planter by occupation. He died in 1866. A. C. Peatross was educated in Vir- ginia, and followed clerking and working on a farm in his native state until 1870, when he came to Mississippi, and for some time clerked in the city of Jackson. He became a resident of Vicksburg in 1878, and after clerking in various establishments until 1889, he became a member of the present firm, which is a very prosperous one, and of which he is one of the active and enterprising members. He was married to Mrs. (Mattingly) Teay, a daughter of A. D. Mattingly, and to their union a family of six children have been born: Charles E., Lee, Mary Ann, Kate G., Edith and Regina. By her former husband Mrs. Peatross became . . the mother of two children: Austin and Joe. She is a member of the Catholic church, and

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is a worthy and useful member of society. Socially, Mr. Peatross is a member of the A. L. of H. and the K. of P. fraternities.

G. F. Peek, M. D., of Rose Hill, Miss., was a native of Autauga county, Ala., and was born August 12, 1836. He is a son of George and Sarah E. (Saxon) Peek. The father was a native of Virginia, and the mother of South Carolina. They were married in Lawrence county, of the latter named state, and shortly afterward settled in Autauga county, Ala., removing thence to Coosa county, Ala., where they resided until their deaths. They were the parents of seven children, named: Nancy E., Charlotte E., Sophia E., George F., James S., Benjamin F. and William R. Dr. Peek was educated at the Central institute, of Coosa county, and in 1856 began reading medicine with Dr. Thomas Edwards, of that county. In the winter of 1857-8 he attended the Reform Medical college, of Macon, Ga., after which he returned home, and in 1859 came from there to Jasper county, Miss., locating about five miles southeast of Garlandville, where he began the practice of his profession. In the winter of 1859-60 he took his second term of lectures at the Reform Medical college at Macon, from which institute he was graduated in the spring of 1860. Returning to Jasper county, he resumed his medical practice there. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the Tolson's guards, of which he was elected first lieutenant, then at the organization of the regiment was elected major, and with that rank served with credit until the reorganization of the regiment in 1862, when he returned home, and organized a cavalry company, which was attached to the Fifty- sixth Alabama cavalry, and soon afterward transferred to the Twelfth Mississippi cavalry, in which organization he was captain until the close of the war. Taking up his residence again in Jasper county, he again hung ont his shingle as a medical practitioner. He has been one of the most successful physicians of the county since that time, having built up a large and extensive practice and gained the confidence of the public to an unusual degree. February 28, 1866, he was married to Miss Saphronia A., the daughter of James and Mildred (Risher) McCormick, who has borne him eight children, as follows: Ocie R., William E., Edwin F., Luna Pearl, Luta R., Lura C., Saphronia A., and an infant, who died before being named. March 24, 1884, Mrs. Peek died, regretted by all who knew her, leaving a name among her neighbors as a consistent Christian woman, an affectionate wife and a model mother. Dr. Peek is a member of the Masonic order and of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He is the owner of twenty two hundred acres of land, of which three hundred acres are under cultivation. He is a successful and helpful citizen, well liked in the community, and influential in all his relations.

Dr. R. H. Peel, a prominent physician of north Mississippi, now practicing his profession at Holly Springs, is the second child and eldest son of Volney and Charlotte Royston Peel. Volney Peel, the father of Dr. R. H. Peel, was the eldest son of Hunter Peel, and was born in Bedford county, Va., whence the family moved to north Alabama, and there settled near Huntsville in the early history of that state. There he studied civil engineering and practical surveying, and was employed as draughtsman in the land office at Florence, Ala. During this time he married Charlotte Royston, the daughter of an old Virginia gentleman, a soldier under Washington during the Revolution. His parents dying, Volney Peel lived for a short time near Courtland, Lawrence county, Ala., where Robert H. Peel was born, September 30, 1832. Receiving an appointment from the government to survey the territory, embracing all north Mississippi, then occupied by the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians, he left his young wife and child with her parents, who had moved to Hardeman county, Tenn., and at once hastened to the scene of his labors, which required two years of hardship, toil and exposure in an unexplored wilderness, inhabited only by Indians. Having completed his work to the

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entire satisfaction of the government, he bought a large tract of land in Marshall county, and hastily building some rude cabins, he moved his family to a pioneer home in 1834, the first white man to settle in the county. The Indians being removed by the government, a white population began to pour into the country with astonishing rapidity. Wealthy planters owning hundreds of slaves purchased the lands and opened large cotton plantations, and such was the great fertility of the virgin soil that agriculture flourished, and then began what has been called the flush times of Mississippi. Being two years of age at the time his father emi- grated to Mississippi, Robert Peel grew to manhood on a cotton plantation, receiving his education principally from the common schools of the county. At the age of fifteen he entered St. Thomas Hall, of Holly Springs, with the eminent Dr. Hawks as principal, with the view of taking a thorough collegiate course of study. Among his classmates were our distin- guished senator, Gen. Ed Walthall, Gen. J. R. Chalmers, Col. J. A. Autry and others who have distinguished themselves in the profession of law and in political and military life. His father dying the same year he entered college, he was called, at the age of fifteen years, to assume the grave responsibility of watching over an invalid mother and six young brothers, As his besides engineering a large farming interest, employing over one hundred slaves. mother's waning days showed the sands of life were almost run, she requested a solemniza- tion of his marriage with Miss Virginia M. Matthews, which event was deferred on account of the critical condition of his mother's health. In October, 1852, he was united in marriage with Miss Virginia M. Matthews, third child and daughter of Dr. B. D. Matthews, who had moved to Marshall county, Miss., in 1835, a successful practitioner and speculator in the early history of the county. In his wife he found an able counselor; possessing great force of char- acter and rare personal endowments, she presided a sacred priestess about the altar of home, dispensing the blessing of domestic love, assuming and faithfully performing the duties of mother to an orphaned household. Two daughters were the fruits of this marriage, both of whom died in infancy, and after three years of unalloyed happiness, his wife was called to join her angels in the skies. Placing his brothers at school, his two elder brothers, Albert and Addi- son, at the Military school of Kentucky, he turned his back upon his beautiful and palatial home and sought a balm for a wounded spirit in the study of medicine, spending several years in New Orleans, where he received a diploma from the School of Medicine, Louisiana. Returning to his home, then densely populated by wealth and influence, he devoted himself to the practice of his chosen profession and to his farming interest. The representative of a time-honored family and from his own individual worth, he soon ranked among the first practitioners of his age. At the breaking out of the late war he raised a company of his friends and neighbors and went to Richmond, Va., with the Nineteenth Mississippi regi- ment, commanded by Colonel Matt, killed at Williamsburg, and Lieut .- Col. L. Q. C. Lamar, the distinguished senator from the state and now one of the supreme judges of the United States. Arriving at Richmond, Dr. R. H. Peel was tendered the position of assistant surgeon of the Nineteenth Mississippi regiment, which he declined, but soon after accepted a position as surgeon of the Nineteenth regiment, and also a commission as surgeon of Gen. C. M. Wil- cox's brigade, and at once began operating upon the wounded Federal soldiers at the old stone house on the first battlefield of Manassas. And here we would state that, with that philanthropy of which his life has been such a beautiful expression, he so won upon the hearts of a rough soldiery in his efforts to soothe and encourage them amid the painful operations of the knife, they exclaimed, "My God! why are we fighting such men?" After the state troops were brigaded, the Nineteenth Mississippi regiment was placed in a brigade com- manded by General Posey, who was killed at Bristow station, and subsequently by Gen. W.

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Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 89

Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314