William Simpson Pearson

"...was born on Oct. 9, 1849 in Morganton, Burke County, N. C.  On June 7, 1882, he was married to Bettie Venable Michaux, and to them five children have been born, all of whom are living. (1908. Ashe, Samuel. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VII, p.375.)

"Since 1880 he has been a lawyer; in 1874 and 1875 he was editor of the Asheville Pioneer; from 1897 to 1901, editor of the Farmers' Friend and Morganton Herald, and from 1893 to 1898 was state attorney for the Eastern Building and Loan Association of Syracuse, N. Y.  In 1875 to 1877 he was aide to Governor Brogden and commissioner of the Western North Carolina Railroad.  In 1876 during this service as commissioner of the State for the Western North Carolina Railroad, Colonel Pearson aided largely in several measures important to the people of his section, among them the first working of convicts upon the mountain section of the road, the establishment of a telegraph line, the placing of the town of Newton upon the main line, giving Statesville a competitive rate and inaugurating a system of cheap excursions then new to that section.... and in 1904 was elected to the state senate from the thirty-fourth district. He was the acknowledged leader of his party in that legislature and pursued a conservative course throughout. (1908. Ashe, Samuel. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VII, pp. 376, 377.)