Walter Beverly Pearson
Encyclopedia
Walter Beverly Pearson was an American industrialist and president of the Standard Screw Company. As of 2008, it is still in operation as Stanadyne Automotive.
He is believed to have been an unacknowledged great-grandson of President Thomas Jefferson
, as he was descended from the slave Sally Hemings
and their son Eston Hemings
.
and Julia Ann Isaacs. His father was Captain Albert Pearson, a white carpenter from Madison, Wisconsin
, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Eston, who was seven-eighths European in ancestry and legally white under Virginia law, and Julia Ann had moved their family from Ohio to Madison in 1852 for added security after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Although all their family was free, slave catchers sometimes enslaved free blacks in those years.
They changed their surname to Jefferson and entered the white community. All their descendants have identified as white.
At his death in 1917, Pearson left an estate valued at $2,000,000. The executors of his will were his wife, Helen, and his cousin Carl Jefferson, the son of his mother's brother Beverly. Pearson left a $50,000 annuity to his wife, $12,000 annuity to his daughter Beatrice and son Frederick, and a $50,000 bequest to his cousin Dr. Frederick Jefferson.
Pearson's son Frederick was to receive the bulk of the Pearson fortune on his 35th birthday, but he died at age 30 in 1926 in a fire. He burned to death in his apartment at the Claridge Hotel in Chicago after falling asleep with a lit cigarette.
Pearson has no known descendants.
In 1976 the author published an article about the grandchildren of Sally Hemings' and Thomas Jefferson, covering the Pearson family. A 1998 DNA study
found that a male descendant of Eston Hemings matched the Y-chromosome of the Jefferson male line. Most historians now accept that Jeffersonian scholarship has changed and acknowledge that the president and Hemings had a 39-year, stable relationship and six children. As the Monticello Website says:
He is believed to have been an unacknowledged great-grandson of President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, as he was descended from the slave Sally Hemings
Sally Hemings
Sarah "Sally" Hemings was a mixed-race slave owned by President Thomas Jefferson through inheritance from his wife. She was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson by their father John Wayles...
and their son Eston Hemings
Eston Hemings
Eston Hemings Jefferson was born a slave at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race slave. Most historians believe that his father was Thomas Jefferson, the United States president. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that Eston's descendants matched those of the male...
.
Early life and education
Pearson's mother was Anna Wayles Hemings Jefferson, the only surviving daughter of Eston HemingsEston Hemings
Eston Hemings Jefferson was born a slave at Monticello, the youngest son of Sally Hemings, a mixed-race slave. Most historians believe that his father was Thomas Jefferson, the United States president. Evidence from a 1998 DNA test showed that Eston's descendants matched those of the male...
and Julia Ann Isaacs. His father was Captain Albert Pearson, a white carpenter from Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Eston, who was seven-eighths European in ancestry and legally white under Virginia law, and Julia Ann had moved their family from Ohio to Madison in 1852 for added security after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Although all their family was free, slave catchers sometimes enslaved free blacks in those years.
They changed their surname to Jefferson and entered the white community. All their descendants have identified as white.
Career
Pearson operated a small Chicago manufacturing company, which in 1900 combined with several other companies to form Standard Screw. He was the company's "first outstanding leader," the driving force behind its initial success in 1904 until his death in 1917.Marriage and family
Walter Pearson married Helen xxx. They had a son Frederick Beverly and daughter Beatrice Pearson.At his death in 1917, Pearson left an estate valued at $2,000,000. The executors of his will were his wife, Helen, and his cousin Carl Jefferson, the son of his mother's brother Beverly. Pearson left a $50,000 annuity to his wife, $12,000 annuity to his daughter Beatrice and son Frederick, and a $50,000 bequest to his cousin Dr. Frederick Jefferson.
Pearson's son Frederick was to receive the bulk of the Pearson fortune on his 35th birthday, but he died at age 30 in 1926 in a fire. He burned to death in his apartment at the Claridge Hotel in Chicago after falling asleep with a lit cigarette.
Pearson has no known descendants.
Family
In 1974 the historian Fawn McKay Brodie published a biography of Thomas Jefferson in which she explored the evidence related to his alleged relationship with Sally Hemings. Her book Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974) was criticized by historians for her psychological approach, and they ignored her evidence related to the relationship. After it was published, descendants of the Eston Hemings Jefferson family contacted her. Knowledge of the family connection to Thomas Jefferson had been lost in the 1940s, as the family decided not to pass on the story, for fear their children would face racial discrimination.In 1976 the author published an article about the grandchildren of Sally Hemings' and Thomas Jefferson, covering the Pearson family. A 1998 DNA study
Jefferson DNA Data
The Jefferson-Hemings controversy concerns the question of whether there was an intimate relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his mixed-race slave, Sally Hemings. The controversy started as early as the 1790s...
found that a male descendant of Eston Hemings matched the Y-chromosome of the Jefferson male line. Most historians now accept that Jeffersonian scholarship has changed and acknowledge that the president and Hemings had a 39-year, stable relationship and six children. As the Monticello Website says:
"Through his celebrity as the eloquent spokesman for liberty and equality as well as the ancestor of people living on both sides of the color line, Jefferson has left a unique legacy for descendants of Monticello's enslaved people as well as for all Americans."