Edward Pennington Pearson, 1837-1915 [RG1306.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG1306.AM:  Edward Pennington Pearson, 1837-1915

Letters:  1869-1873

Size:  One folder; six letters

BACKGROUND NOTE

Edward Pennington Pearson was born at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on February 22, 1837.  He was a civil engineer in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the start of the Civil War.  Pearson enlisted and was appointed to the 25^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and then to the 17^th US Infantry.  He commanded Company E, 1^st Battalion of the 17^th Infantry at Antietam.  After the war he continued with the 17^th Infantry, serving in Texas and the Dakota and Montana Territories.  By 1881 he rose to the rank of Major with the 21^st US Infantry.  He continued serving with the 21^st Infantry in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Nebraska.

Pearson was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, 24^th Infantry in 1886.  He then became Colonel of the 10^th US Infantry in 1891.  He led the 3^rd Brigade at San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War.  He was commissioned as Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1898.  He retired to California in 1899.  Edward Pennington Pearson died in California on April 8, 1915.  He is buried next to his 2^nd wife in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection consists of one folder containing six letters written by Edward Pennington Pearson.  Two of the letters are from Major Pennington to his wife, Mary Strickland Pearson, and the remaining four letters are written to his mother, Mrs. Frederica Pearson.  The first and last letters (1869, 1873) are photocopies only.  The letters give accounts of military life on the frontier, as well as responses regarding family news.  The last letter comments on the anticipated Yellowstone Expedition.

INVENTORY

Item

1. 1. Letter, March 30, 1869, Hempstead, Texas, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson (photocopy only)

1. 1. Letter, June 17, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mary Strickland Pearson

1. 1. Letter, September 10, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson

1. 1. Letter, September 10, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mary Strickland Pearson

1. 1. Letter, October 1, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson

1. 1. Letter, May 18, 1873, Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson (photocopy only)

Subject headings:

Cheyenne Agency, Dakota Territory

Fort Rice, Dakota Territory

Fort Sully, Dakota Territory

Military life

Pearson, Edward Pennington, 1837-1915

Pearson, Frederica (Smith), 1810-1885

Pearson, Mary (Strickland), 1845-1896

Soldiers

Yellowstone Expedition

Revised TMM      03-31-2018