The house at 28 Kent St. was built in 1852 by Charles Pearson, a housewright. Pearson and his descendants owned this handsome Greek Revival style dwelling until 1926 when it was sold out of the family. The Pearsons raised three sons and a daughter in the house in the period just before the Civil War. During the war they saw two sons, Stephen C. and George A. Pearson, do their duty by serving in the Union forces.
In mid-April of 1861, when South Carolina forces fired on Fort Sumpter and President Lincoln declared war on the Confederacy and called for 75,000 volunteers, Stephen C. Pearson was a 21- year old painter. Newburyport’s existing militia, the Cushing Guards, was activated immediately and a few days later a new company, the National Guards, was formed. Men were so anxious to fight that the company reached its quota of 70 men plus a band, in two days. Steven C. Pearson was one of the local men who visited the armory on State Street and volunteered to serve for three years.
Newburyport’s National Guards, along with Massachusetts companies from Millford, Lawrence and Arlington, and two Pennsylvania companies filled out a newly organized New York regiment, the 40th Regular New York Infantry. Pearson and the other recruits were sent to the Mozart Hall in Yonkers, New York and on June 14 were mustered into the 40th New York, otherwise known as the Mozart Regiment. They were to see some of the worst fighting of the war.
From the spring of 1862 on, Stephen C. Pearson and the Mozart Regiment saw almost constant combat. They fought at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Richmond, White Oak Swamp, Frasier’s Farm, Bull Run, Chantilly, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Wilderness and suffered heavy losses. Pearson survived.
In May of 1864 Grant and Lee met at Spottsylvania, Va. for a multi-day battle. On May 10, only a little shy of the end of his enlistment, Private Stephen C. Pearson was reported missing in action. On May 12, it was reported that he had been taken prisoner. Pearson was sent to Camp Sumpter, a confederate prison located in Andersonville, Ga. Built early in 1864, the prison provided no shelter, no sanitation, and inadequate food. These problems were soon exacerbated by overcrowding as the war dragged on. Disease was rampant and medical care generally unavailable. After surviving for over three years as a Union soldier, Stephen C. Pearson died of diarrhea on Aug. 3, 1864, a prisoner of war at Andersonville. He is buried at Andersonville National Cemetery.
Stephen’s brother, George A. Pearson was only 15 when the war began. He waited until he was 18 to enlist and did so on April 28, 1864, almost three years after his brother. Unlike his brother, George A. Pearson served a very short, very local enlistment and saw no combat. He served in the Massachusetts 3rd Unattached Company as part of the coastal defense system and was stationed at Fort Pickering on Salem’s Winter Island. George served for three months and was mustered out on Aug. 5, 1864, only two days after his brother’s death, though it is highly unlikely that he or his family knew of Stephen’s fate at that time.
George Pearson returned home to Newburyport and lived out his life. He married, had a family, worked at his trade (a marble worker), was a deacon in the Baptist Church and a city councilor. He lived next door to his parents and his childhood home at 30 Kent St., a house also built by his father, and died suddenly at his home at age 53.
The next time you walk around NBPT@3MPH, head down Kent Street. When you pass the Pearson houses at Numbers 30 and 28, take a moment to reflect on the Pearson brothers and others who have served their country throughout its history.
George Creasey’s Newburyport in the Civil War was, as always, very helpful in writing this article.
Ellie Bailey is a researcher for the Newburyport Preservation Trust. She may be reached at ebailey1912@gmail.com.