Joseph Pearson (1776 – October 27, 1834) was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina. Biography Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1776; completed preparatory studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Salisbury, North Carolina; member of the State house of commons from Rowan county in 1804 and 1805; elected as a Federalist to the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Congresses (March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1815). He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814. Pearson died in Salisbury, N.C., October 27, 1834. Joseph Pearson's father was Richmond Pearson, born in Dinwiddie county, Va., who at the age of nineteen years came to North Carolina and settled in the forks of the Yadkin river, late of Davie county when a part of Rowan county. When the war of the Revolution broke out he was a Lieutenant in Captain Samuel Bryan's company. After the Declaration of Independence, at the first muster which occurred, he requested some one whom he could rely to load their guns. When Captain Bryan came on the ground he ordered all the men into ranks. Pearson refused and tendered his commission to Bryan, whereupon he ordered him under arrest. This was resisted, and he was told that the men had their guns loaded. They then came to a parley, and it was agreed by the crowd, as matters stood, that Bryan and Pearson, on a fixed day, should settle this national affair by a fair fist fight, and whichever whipped, the company should belong to the side of the conqueror, whether Whig or Tory. At the appointed time and place the parties met, and the Lieutenant proved to be the victor. From this time the Fork company was for liberty, and Bryan's crowd, on Dutchman's creek, were Loyalists. The anecdote illustrates by what slight circumstances events of this period were affected. When Cornwallis came south, Pearson, with his company, endeavored to harass his advance. He was present at Cowan's Ford on February 1, 1781, where General William Lee Davidson fell in attempting to resist the passage of the British. Captain Pearson was a successful merchant and an enterprising planter. He died in 1819, leaving three sons and one daughter: 1st, Jesse A.; 2d, Joseph (the subject of this entry); 3d, Richmond; and 4th, Elizabeth Pearson. While in Congress, Pearson fought a duel with Representative John G. Jackson, of