Walter Beverly Pearson - Marriage and Family

Marriage and Family

Walter Pearson married Helen S. (her name was later anglicized to Helen; born in Illinois, she was the daughter of German immigrants.) Their children were Frederick Beverly Pearson (b. 22 May 1895) and Beatrice Pearson (b. 1 July 1905), born in Chicago and Michigan, respectively.

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 maternal uncle Beverly Jefferson. Pearson left a $50,000 annuity to his wife, $12,000 annuities 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 $2 million, the bulk of the Pearson fortune, on his 35th birthday.

In 1920, the widow Helen Pearson and her children were living in Miami, Florida. Fred was working in real estate and Beatrice was still in school.

Frederick Pearson married Gladys Semma in 1922. She divorced him three years later because of his drinking problems. He died in Chicago at age 30 on February 20, 1926 in a fire at the Claridge Hotel. After a night of heavy drinking with friends; he had fallen asleep smoking a cigarette and a fire started in his room. By the time it was discovered, he could not be saved.

Beatrice was a semi-invalid at the time of her brother's death and never married. Pearson has no known descendants.