------------ I found this newspaper article tucked away in a musty old book in the basement and thought you might find it of interest (the "...." are places I can't read because of holes in the paper) -------------
Ransom S. Pearsall, Tioga County's Oldest Resident, Dies at Apalachin Ransom Sutton Pearsall, the oldest resident of Tioga county, died early on Tuesday morning, April 28, at his home in Apalachin, after a short illness, aged 98 years. His funeral will be held at the house at 2:30 o'cl.....ernoon. The Rev. Edgar Fra.... of the First Presbyterian-Union church of this village, will officiate. The Burial will be in Riverside cemetery at Apalachin.Mr. Pearsall was a son of William S. and Eliza (Balcom) Pearsall and was born Jan 23, 1838 in Apalachin. He was a descendant of Henry Pearsall, who settled at Hempstead, Long Island, at an early date and who died there in 1667. His parents were residents of Chenango County, when in 1832 they came to Apalachin and purchased 200 acres of land upon which that village was subsequently founded. His parents were both graduated from the Oxford academy and his mother was a sister of Hon. Ransom Balcom, a justice of the supreme court in Binghamton, for whom Mr. Pearsall was named. Gives Up Law for Teaching.
Mr. Pearsall received his education at the old Owego academy in Court street and at academies in Binghamton and Oxford. He expected to enter the profession of law but aban..... law work a while in the office... attorney in Binghamton. He next taught school three terms. He taught first at Hooper's Valley, west of Nichols, then in the Camp district, west of Apalachin, and afterward at Nanticoke in Broome county.
He then became associated with his father in the lumber business. His father, who was a pioneer business man at Apalachin had built a sawmill and a grist mill on the bank of the Susquehanna river as early as 1840. Mr. Pearsall made many trips down the Susquehanna river with rafts of lumber. One of these trips was made in company with the late Timothy B. Oakley of Owego. In his youth Mr. Oakley was engaged in the lumber business.
For a short period Mr. Pearsall conducted a grist mill in partnership with his brother, George T. Pearsall. In 1865 he resumed lumbering. In the spring of that year the great flood in the Susquehanna river swept away $5,000 worth of his lumber and logs piled up on the river bank at Apalachin. The loss left Mr. Pearsall completely without financial resources, but he continued in the business and prospered. Takes Keen Interest in Public Affairs.
Mr. Pearsall ever since early life, took a keen interest in public affairs. For many years he was a prominent as a public speaker. He held several public offices. In 1884 he was elected a justice of the peace of the town of Owego and was re-elected in 1888. He was a member of the town board when the first steel bridge was built over the Susquehanna river at Owego.
Mr. Pearsall was appointed postmaster at Apalachin in 1893 by President Grover Cleveland, and held this office for four years. He also held the office of town collector and of town overseer of the poor. Mr. Pearsall, after his retirement, continued his intensive interest in governmental affairs. He read widely and delighted in discussing current events with his friends. In his later years, when he was prevented from reading magazines and newspapers by impaired eyesight he depended upon the radio to keep him informed of the world events. This defect in vision arose from an injury suffered to one of his eyes 50 years ago, when a cow struck him with one of her horns. Married Seventy-One Years Ago.
On Feb. 22, 1865, Mr. Pearsall married Miss Adaline Billings, daughter of Clinton and Ann (Bronson) Billings, early settlers at Apalachin. On Feb 22 of this year Mr. and Mrs. Pearsall celebrated their 71st anniversary of their wedding by entertaining a family gathering at their home......nerations were presented at this...the guests was Mr....event.... Susan Corbin, of Apal... of Mrs. Pearsall, and.....tendans of the bride....so many years before.
Mr Pearsall, during an inter... with a Gazette reporter a day or... after the anniversary celebration,... pressed an opinion that he had not much longer to live. He did not appear to be depressed by this presentment. He mad his statement in a matter of fact tone of voice, and smiled when the reporter informed him that he was confident he would have the pleasure of writing an account of his 100th birthday observance.
Mr. Pearsall leaves his wife, who is 90 years of age; one son, William C. Pearsall of Brooklyn, a retired United States custom house employe, and two daughters, Miss Emily G. Pearsall of Apalachin, and Mrs. Anna P. Lane, of 397 Roosevelt avenue, Endicott. Miss Pearsall was formerly employed by the state in Albany. A third daughter, Miss Grace Pearsall died in 1927 after a long illness.. had also been a state emplo...
Contributed by: Jim Pearsall
e-mail: [email protected]
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