Member Biography

John Pearson 

Seal
Sessions Office Position District Party
1800-1801       1 Democratic-Republican
1801-1802       1 Democratic-Republican
1802-1803     Speaker 1 Democratic-Republican
1803-1804       1 Democratic-Republican

COUNTIES: Lancaster  


Biography

08/17/1740 - 01/22/1829


John Pearson (Democrat-Republican1) Delaware, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia Counties, 1800-1804

Early Life:

John Pearson, born August 17, 1740, Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America;  son of Thomas and Hanna Blunston Pearson; married, Anne Bevan, 1763, (d. 1778), six children; remarried, Sarah Johnson, four children; lieutenant, 11th Pennsylvania Line, serving through the surrender at Yorktown, Revolution War; appointed, justice, Delaware Common Pleas Court, Thomas Mifflin, 1790; solicitor, Delaware County yellow-fever relief fund, 1793; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1796; Unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, 1798; elected, Democrat-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1800-1804, elected, Speaker of Senate, 1802; unsuccessful reelection, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1804; died, January 22, 1829 (aged 88), New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania; interment, Shenango United Presbyterian Church Cemetery, New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Appointed, justice, Delaware Common Pleas Court, Governor Thomas Mifflin, 1790.

Solicitor, Delaware County yellow-fever relief fund, 1793.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, 1796.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania 3rd district, United States House of Representatives, 1798.

Elected, Democrat-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, Delaware, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia Counties, 1800-1804; elected, Speaker of Senate, 1802; unsuccessful reelection, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, 1804.

Legacy:

Son, Beran Pearson, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Mercer and Venango Counties, 1808-1809. 

Grandson, John James Pearson, United States Congressman, Pennsylvania 24th congressional district, 1836–1837; Pennsylvania State Senate, Beaver and Mercer Counties, 1837-1841; president judge, 20th judicial district, Dauphin and Lebanon Counties, 1849-1882. 

John James Pearson  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members P"Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

John Pearson (1740-1829) - Find a Grave Memorial