A Brief Family History and Genealogy of Riley ... - TimPearson.com

John Warren Pearson
John Warren Pearson
John Warren Pearson, father of Riley Cephas Pearson, was born December 01, 1811 in
Prince William County, Virginia, fourth of eleven children, and second son, of George W.
and Elizabeth (Warren) Pearson. John moved with his family to Ohio at the age of six.
John married Jane Paulk October 17, 1833 in Athens, Ohio; Horace Parsons, Minister of
the Gospel officiated (circuit preacher). Jane Paulk was born September 05, 1817 in
Athens County, Ohio, the third of seven children of Cephas Paulk and Jane McGuire.
Cephas Paulk was first married to Nancy McGuire, older sister of Jane McGuire, and had
two sons from that marriage. Cephas married Jane after Nancy’s death. The McGuire
family is of Irish descent and has been in America since the 1600s as well. The Paulk
family is of Welsh descent, originally spelled “Polk”, and has been in America since the
1600s.
If you recall from the Introduction, John Pearson's house was burned during the civil
war by bushwhackers. Jane's father, Cephas Paulk, was living with them at the time.
The Paulk family bible, with over 300 years of family history, was lost in that fire.
The Paulk's and Pearson's were inter-related in several ways. If you remember, John
Warren Pearson's older brother was Branson Bell Pearson. Jane Paulk's younger
brother, William Cephas Paulk, married Branson's daughter Elizabeth Pearson. Jane's
younger sister, Hannah Paulk, married Branson's son John Pearson. In other words,
Jane's brother married her niece and her sister married her nephew. There were
several down line marriages as well.
John and Jane had thirteen children, the first six were born in Ohio, four were born in
Iowa, and the last three were born in Kansas. They lived in Ohio until 1844 and in
Iowa until 1857, before settling in Kansas.
On January 1, 1870, John W. Pierson (Pearson) was granted a land patent on 160.8
acres of "original entry" land in Crawford County, Kansas (NE fr. 1/4 of Section 2, TWP
28 S, Range 24 E).
According to the History of Crawford County, Kansas, all who received land patents had
to prove they built a cabin and raised a crop by the summer of 1866, when the
Cherokee Indians sold the Cherokee Neutral Lands, of which Crawford County was a
part, back to the federal government. Since few of these early settlers had purchased
land from the Cherokee Indians, most of the settlers were living their illegally while the
Indians still owned the land. These land patents are recorded at the Register of Deeds
Office at Girard, Kansas. On this same date, John's son, William N. Pierson, was
granted a land patent for another 160 acres in the same section.
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