John Pearson Biography This biography appears on pages 642-645 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm JOHN PEARSON. John Pearson, who lives retired in Belle Fourche, has large vested interests in this state and Wyoming, including several ranches and a mercantile establishment in Wyoming. He was born in southern Sweden, February 17, 1849, the sixth in order of birth in a family of nine children, whose parents were Pear and Elenor Jonson, both of whom were also born in southern Sweden, the father on the 19th of July, 1809, and the mother on the 4th of July, 1811. Pear Jonson was a landowner and in addition to farming operated a gristmill in the spring and fall. He and his wife remained throughout their lives residents of Sweden. John Pearson attended school in his native village of Billinge and through assisting his father also learned much concerning agricultural work and the occupation of milling. In 1869, when a young mall of twenty years, he left Sweden and, crossing the Atlantic, landed at New York city, whence he journeyed to Kansas City, Missouri. After living there about a year he went west with a floating gang leveling rails on railroads. His next removal was to Denver in 1870, and after leaving that city he took charge of engines for the Kansas Pacific Railroad at Hugo, Colorado. In the spring of 1871 he was employed at various occupations, working in the sawmills, smelting works and stamp mills at Black Hawk, Colorado. In 1876 he located in southeastern Kansas and in the spring of the following year he went to San Francisco, California, whence he made his way up the coast, prospecting in Oregon until the spring of 1878, when he went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and from there came to South Dakota, locating in the Black Hills. He operated a sawmill engine near Deadwood and bought an interest in the business, which he held for about two years. On selling out he purchased a mill two miles west of Spearfish. In March, 1882, he moved the mill to Cook county, Wyoming, at a point six miles northwest of Aladdin. The place was later made a postoffice under the name of Eothen. Although the postoffice was discontinued in February, 1913, Mr. Pearson still owns the mill there, which returns him good profits annually. Soon after locating the mill in Wyoming he started a general store at the same village and still conducts that establishment. While living in Wyoming he began to invest in property in Belle Fourche, buying a number of lots some years ago and building a hotel which is now used as a lodging house. In 1905 he erected the Pearson Opera House which is one of the most completely equipped small theaters in the state. A year later he built the Pearson block. He has recently purchased many residence properties and lots, being now the owner of ten improved residence properties besides a number of unimproved lots. He has also invested heavily in real estate in Wyoming and owns eight thousand acres of land in the vicinity of his mill and also holds title to considerable land in this state. Mr. Pearson owns about forty thousand shares in the Warren's Peak Mining Company, which is developing valuable mining properties near Sundance, Wyoming, and ten thousand shares in the Hill City Mining and Development Company. He is likewise interested in an alfalfa mill at Belle Fourche; has from two hundred and fifty to three hundred head of cattle on his lands in Wyoming and also a number of horses. He is now living retired in apartments in his lodging house in Belle Fourche and devotes his time to the supervision of his extensive interests. Mr. Pearson was united in marriage on the 14th of April, 1884, to Miss Augusta Johnson, who was born in the central part of Sweden, a daughter of John and Anna Lovisa Johnson, who emigrated to this country with their family about 1881, locating near Jewell City, Kansas. Mr. Johnson passed away at that place and his widow and children eventually removed to the Black Hills, settling at Spearfish. Mrs. Johnson made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Pearson during the later years of her life and passed away at their residence in Wyoming in 1900. To Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have been born five children: Charles A., who resides upon his father's ranch in Wyoming, where he is engaged in farming and stock-raising; Frank 0., who is operating his father's mill and superintending his store; Margaret, the wife of Mat Whalen, a farmer and stockman residing near Aladdin, Wyoming and Nels Otto and John W., both of whom are residing with their brother Frank. Mr. Pearson is a republican with independent tendencies and has held several offices, being justice of the peace for a number of years and postmaster of Eothen, Wyoming, for twenty-six years, being first appointed under Grover Cleveland in 1887. He is a member of the Lutheran church and in its teachings finds the guiding principles of his life. When he came to this country he could not speak a word of English, but he mastered the language in time and overcame all other obstacles that confronted him, winning for himself marked financial success and also the respect of those with whom he came in contact. He has an unusual gift for rapid calculation and can compute the exact number of feet in a plank or in a number of boards of different lengths without the use of a pencil. He has also; originated a number of trick problems which, although they seem simple and easy to him, are very difficult for others to solve. His mathematical aptitude has often stood him in good stead in business transactions and he derives pleasure from the knowledge of his ability in that line.