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First, the facts. The 1900 Pulaski County, Illinois, census lists one William T. Pearson as the son of George and Kate Pearson. George and Kate are my great great grandparents. According to this census, William was born in July of 1883 in Virginia. We all know what happened to the 1890 census, so I couldn't confirm this by going backward. Instead, I moved ahead to 1910.
In 1910, I found Will Pearson in Pulaski County. He had been married for 5 years and had two children, and the census put his birthday at 1882. Of course, it listed his birthplace as Illinois, but we all know how accurate census takers were... My guy, right? Yep, his WWI Draft Registration card listed him as William Lawrence Pearson, put him in the next county over (Alexander County), and his listed date of birth was 11 January 1883. I wrote off the middle initial dilemma and July/January mix-up as a census discrepancy and moved on to the1920 census Still at the same address in Alexander County, and now his birthplace is listed as Virginia. Things seemed to be coming together. 1930 placed William L. in Oklahoma...which I thought was a tad odd, but I pushed on. 1940, same place. Oooooh, and then I found an entry in the West Virginia U.S. Births Index. CONCRETE EVIDENCE...maybe?
Date of birth: 11 January 1883
Father: G.W. Pearson (My great great grandfather's middle name was William.)
Mother: C. Pearson (Kate is short for Catherine.)
Place of birth: West Virginia? *sigh*
Honestly, it all seemed too close not to be the person I was tracking, but then... I uncovered a Social Security claim that could not be ignored. It listed William's date of birth as 11 January 1886 (not a big deal), but it listed his parents as George B. Pearson and Mary Jane Graham! What the what?! What was the likelihood of:
1. two William Pearsons being born in Virginia/West Virginia
1. two William Pearsons being born in Virginia/West Virginia
2. in 1883
3. to two George Pearsons
4. who then ended up in the middle of nowhere, Pulaski County, Illinois?
Apparently, the likelihood was rather higher than I would have anticipated. I discovered that William Lawrence Pearson was actually a relative, though not the person I was looking for. His father was George B. Pearson, who was my great great grandfather's cousin. William' Lawrence's mother was Mary Jane (frequently referred to as Carrie, so that's where the C. came from).
And so I moved all the documentation for George William and Kate's son to William Lawrence Pearson (said a little prayer that no one had blindly copied my information from Ancestry) and started over. Honestly, I no longer remember how I finally found the correct information. It's a miracle I ever did, because here is the reality of William (no known middle name) Pearson.
1. Outside of a Social Security claim (that incorrectly lists his state of birth as Illinois), no document other than the 1900 census indicates even a middle initial for this William. His WWII registration even states "none" for his middle name.
2. I have not found a birth record. Most documents indicate he was born in Bluefield, but they don't agree on the state. There is a Bluefield in both Virginia and West Virginia.
3. I still have no idea when he was actually born. It ranges from 17 July 1877 to 17 July 1883.
4. If a 1910 census exists for him, I haven't found it.
5. His mother is Kate, but his father is actually John Winston Pearson, George William's cousin. This is a long and involved tale for another blog post.
6. This William married his cousin, Florence Deven.
7. Both Williams are grandsons of Benjamin Everett Pearson... My genealogical co-conspirator and co-blogger also descends from Benjamin Everett Pearson. 😮
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