Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Pearson, Capt Fred W ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 9, 2007, 11:52 pm Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County CAPT. FRED W. PEARSON, who won distinction through his honorable service in the Spanish-American war, enlisted in 1881 in the Fourth Regiment of Illinois National Guard, and was assigned to Company B. Step by step he won his way from the ranks through the various commissioned offices. After having served creditable as second, then as first, lieutenant for some time, in 1894 he was commissioned captain of Company B, and three years later he was re-elected to the office. At times of strikes his company was called to the front, where the men served faithfully and well. Immediately upon the opening of the war with Spain he offered his services to our country, and his thorough knowledge of military tactics rendered his services especially valuable. Governor Tanner commissioned him captain of Company B, Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was the first company mustered into that regiment. May 16, 1898, he was ordered with his regiment to Chickamauga, Ga., and on the 22d of July proceeded to Newport News, embarking there for the West Indies on the 27th of the same month. He was the first of the volunteers to land in Porto Rico, having gone ashore in one of the native skiffs on the 2d of August; his promptness in landing enabled him to readily form his company, which was the first in line. He led the men through the campaign on the island, taking part in the advance on Guayama and San Juan. However, on the 13th of August,the government ordered all hostilities to cease, as Spain had made overtures for peace. Company B then went into camp near Guayama, remaining there until ordered home. They were the last of the volunteers to leave the island, sailing for the United States November 2, and landing in New York a few days later, whence they proceeded to Chicago and Joliet, and were mustered out in the latter city and honorably discharged from the service January 24, 1899. During the entire period of service only one man of the company was lost, and he died of typhoid fever before leaving Porto Rico. After the return from the front Company B was re-organized and assigned to the Third Regiment, I. N. G., with Captain Pearson as its commanding officer, but during the same year it disbanded. The Pearson family was established in New England and originated in Scotland. James Pearson, a farmer of Vermont, served as a justice of the peace and town clerk of Rutland. His son, James R., a native of Rutland, removed to Illinois and settled in Joliet, where he conducted a planing mill on South Bluff street for C. E. Ward & Co. After having carried on that business for a long time he was appointed keeper at the Illinois state penitentiary, a position that he held for ten years. He is now living, retired from business cares, and still makes his home in Joliet. By his marriage to Sarah J. Churchill, a native of Vermont, he had three sons and two daughters, of whom the survivors are Fred W. and Charles R. Captain Pearson was born in Joliet May 20, 1866, and has always resided in this city. When thirteen years of age he entered what is now the Republican printing office, where he worked for three years. He then completed his high-school studies, graduating in 1884. Afterward he became a compositor on the Joliet News, continuing as such until 1889, when he was made foreman in the composing room, and later he was given charge of the operating of a type-setting machine. In politics he believes thoroughly in Republican principles. He is a member of the Knights of the Globe and Mount Joliet Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M., also belongs to the Veteran Association, I. N. G. He was married, in Joliet, to Miss Jennie Johnson, daughter of the late R. S. Johnson, who came to this city from Herkimer County, N. Y. Captain and Mrs. Pearson, with their sons, Charles H. and Fred R., reside on Allen street. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/pearson1006gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 4.7 Kb