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 25th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and then to the 17th US Infantry. He commanded Company E, 1st Battalion of the 17th Infantry at Antietam. After the war he continued with the 17th Infantry, serving in Texas and the Dakota and Montana Territories. By 1881 he rose to the rank of Major with the 21st US Infantry. He continued serving with the 21st Infantry in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Nebraska.
Pearson was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, 24th Infantry in 1886. He then became Colonel of the 10th US Infantry in 1891. He led the 3rd 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 2nd 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
- Letter, March 30, 1869, Hempstead, Texas, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson (photocopy only)
- Letter, June 17, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mary Strickland Pearson
- Letter, September 10, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson
- Letter, September 10, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mary Strickland Pearson
- Letter, October 1, 1871, Cheyenne Agency near Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to Mrs. Frederica Pearson
- 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
