C. R. Pearson

C. R. PEARSON. One of the oldest names in the annals of Sheridan County is that of Pearson, and in this section of Western Kansas C. R. Pearson has lived forty years. He grew up on the homestead, and, while he is a farmer, his responsibilities of a public official of the county and as a banker and leading citizen have kept him fully occupied in later years. He is vice president and cashier of the First National Bank of Hoxie.

Mr. Pearson is of old New England stock, the Pearsons having come from England and settled in America in colonial times. His grandfather, Charles S. Pearson, was born in New England in 1813, spent his life as a paperhanger, decorator and grainer, and died at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1878.

It was at Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, May 14, 1869, that C. R. Pearson was born, though he spent only about two years in New England environment and atmosphere before coming to Kansas. His father, Charles L. Pearson, was born in Massachusetts in 1843, married there, and took up the same trade his father followed, decorating, paperhanging and graining. In 1871 he brought his family to Kansas, locating near Eureka in Greenwood County. He took up farming there, and in 1878 came to Sheridan County, where he homesteaded 160 acres and also took a timber claim. He died at Hoxie in 1908. He was a democrat in politics and for several terms filled the office of county commissioner of Sheridan County. He was a member of Hoxie Lodge No. 348, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. During the Civil war he served as a private in the Nineteenth Massachusetts Infantry. Charles L. Pearson married Clara Aaron, who was born in the State of Maine in 1845, and died in Sheridan County, Kansas, in 1890.

C. R. Pearson was the only child of his parents. He obtained his early education from the rural schools of Sheridan County and in 1894 graduated Bachelor of Science from the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan. While his early training and his college work gave him a thoroughly practical and theoretical preparation for agriculture, on returning to Sheridan County from Manhattan he was elected county superintendent of schools, and by re-election in 1896 was at the head of the county school system four years. In January, 1899, he applied his energies to the business of farming, and allowed no interruption to that course until 1905. In 1904 he was elected county treasurer and was re-elected in 1906, serving four years. On leaving that office he bought an interest in the First National Bank of Hoxie, and has since been its active vice president and is also filling the office of cashier. This bank was established as a private institution in 1888, and has operated under a national charter since 1901. T. M. Walker is president and Tom L. Pratt is another vice president. The bank is a conservative and substantial institution, capitalized at $50,000 and with a surplus of $50,000.

Mr. Pearson has by no means neglected his interests as a farmer and farm owner. He still owns the old homestead taken up by his father forty years ago, together with other land in Sheridan County, the land being well fitted both for the growing of wheat and feeding of livestock. His own home is a modern residence on Main Street in Hoxie. He is a member of the Kansas and American Bankers associations, is affiliated with Hoxie Lodge No. 348, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Hoxie Camp, Modern Woodmen of America, and in politics is a democrat.

In 1894, at Wakeeney, Kansas, Mr. Pearson married Miss Jessie Bartlett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Bartlett, now deceased. Her father was an early farmer in Trego County, Kansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Pearson were born three children. The oldest, C. B. Pearson, is a graduate of the Sheridan County High School, now a sergeant in the National army and at the close of hostilities and at the signing of the armistice was with his division in England. The two younger children, both daughters, are Elizabeth and Clara A., the latter still a student in the public schools.

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