Johnson County KS Archives Biographies.....Pearce, John Andrew 1836 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 21, 2008, 2:08 am Author: Ed Blair (1915) John Andrew Pearce, a prominent farmer of Gardner, is a well known Johnson county pioneer. He has spent fifty-eight useful years of his life in Johnson county. In fact, he practically began with Johnson county, and has stayed with it ever since the beginning. Men of this type, who can look back over the plains of Kansas, and see conditions as they were sixty years ago, are becoming fewer as the years come and go. When Mr. Pearce came to Kansas it was just plain prairie as far as the eye could see, and then more prairie as far as the imagination could see, but all this is changed and it seems incredible that such a change could be brought about within the lifetime and observation of one man. Mr. Pearce is a native of Indiana, born in Boone county, August 10, 1836, and is a son of John S. and Jane (Coad) Pearce, natives of England, the former born in 1800 and the latter in 1804. John S. Pearce came to America about 1820, but returned to the mother country, where he was married and brought his bride to America, first locating in Baltimore, Md. He went from there to Harpers Ferry and shortly afterwards removed to Thorntown, Ind. There were still some Indians in Indiana when he went there. He built one of the first grist mills which was operated by water power at Thorntown. He operated this mill for a number of years and later came to Kansas, where he died. His wife died in Thorntown and her remains rest in the Thorntown cemetery. To John S. and Jane (Coad) Pearce were born the following children: Eliza Jane, deceased; Emily, deceased; Catherine De Vore, Bushnell; Elizabeth Northrup, Iola, Kan.; Thomas E., Edgerton, Kan., and John Andrew, the subject of this sketch. In 1848, John A. Pearce and all the other members of the family, except one married daughter, started from Thorntown, Ind., with two prairie schooners and journeyed to McDonough county, Illinois. That section of Illinois was then a wild and unbroken country and very sparsely settled. It was twelve miles across the prairie to the nearest neighbor. All kinds of game were plentiful, and deer roamed over the plains in herds of hundreds. The Pearces took up a claim here and in 1857, John Andrew left Illinois and came to Kansas, and his brother and brother-in-law, Thornton, came to Kansas shortly afterwards. John A. Pearce preempted 160 acres south of Gardner in Gardner township, in 1858, and proved up on his claim and his land patent is still in his possession, as well as the land, and bears the signature of President James Buchanan. In 1860, Mr. Pearce had an attack of "gold fever," and he joined a party of gold seekers and started on a "Pike's Peak or bust" expedition. The party consisted of sixty-five people and their train was made up of twenty-five wagons. Indians along the way were hostile at that time, but this party experienced no great difficulty with the "noble red men." On one occasion, during the trip along the Arkansas river, they were interviewed by an Indian who approached the train of emigrants and told the party that his chief must have sugar and bacon. The captain sent word to the chief that he had no sugar, nor bacon, but that he had plenty of bullets, and they were not bothered any more by Indians. Mr. Pearce remained in the Pike's Peak district from June until August when he returned to Johnson county. He then began to improve his farm and followed farming and stock raising until 1900. He bought additional land until he now owns over 350 acres. In. 1913 he bought a house and lot in Gardner, where he now resides. He is a stockholder in the Gardner State Bank and is one of the well-to-do men of Johnson county. Mr. Pearce was married March 16, 1865, to Miss Phoebe Hanson, a native of Ohio, born April 21, 1845. She is a daughter of Manoah and Millicent (Way) Hanson, natives of Ohio. The father died in 1855 in Ohio and in 1863 the mother and two children came to Kansas and settled at Gardner. The two children were Lovica Stanton, Rogers, Ark., and Phoebe Pearce. To Mr. and Mrs. Pearce have been born the following children: Effie Simcox. Kansas City, Mo., and she has three children, Edna, Frances and Harold; Maud Weeks, Kansas City. Mo., is the mother of three children; Minnie married R. J. Stockmyer, Bonner Springs, Kan., and they have three children, John, Robert and Jean; Frank Pearce, resides on the home place, married Miss Cloe McKaughn, and has two children, Leo and Arthur; Harry, resides at Salinas, Cal., married Anna Todd; W. R., is a jeweler, married Ella Sheean and has two children, Dennis and Morene. Mr. Pearce is a Progressive and a member of the Grange. His wife and children are members of the Presbyterian church. The Pearce family are well known in Johnson county and prominent in the community. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF Johnson County Kansas BY ED BLAIR AUTHOR OF Kansas Zephyrs, Sunflower Sittings and Other Poems and Sketches IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY LAWRENCE, KANSAS 1915 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/johnson/bios/pearce253nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ksfiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb