Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 1049 - 1050

OSCAR F. PEARCY, who is a Southerner by birth, being a native of Nashville, Tenn., is doing good service in advancing the agricultural interests of Valley Center, owning and operating a well-improved farm of 160 acres on section 28. He has been a resident of this township for a number of years, and in 1880 was elected Constable, which office he held until 1885. Subsequently he served as Commissioner, and is one of the men upon whom the citizens depend to assist in looking after their interests, and for which duty he is admirably adapted, being public spirited and progressive, and keeping himself well informed in relation to current events, both in the State and county.

             Mr. Pearcy began his hand-to-hand struggle with the world when a lad of thirteen years, first engaging as a clerk in a confectionery store at Pulaski, in his native State. Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion, although but a youth of sixteen years, he enlisted in the 15th Tennessee Cavalry, and shared with the Confederate soldiery the vicissitudes of war until the fall of 1863. He participated in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga, and in the engagement at Sugar Creek in North Alabama was captured by the Union troops, and was held prisoner until the 22d of May, 1865. Then, upon taking the oath of allegiance to the United States, he was released and returned to his old home in Nashville. There he employed himself as a carpenter eighteen months, then repaired to Simpson County, Ky., where he met his fate in the person of Miss Mattie F. Herndon, who became his wife in December, 1867. Mrs. Pearcy is the daughter of James W. and Permelia Herndon, natives of Kentucky and now deceased, the mother dying near Franklin in 1873, and the father in August, 1886. 

            Mr. and Mrs. Pearcy began life together in a modest home at Franklin, coming to this county in 1885. Considering that Mr. Pearcy's experience as an agriculturist has been somewhat limited, it is admitted on all sides that the exercise of his naturally good judgment has been fruitful of most excellent results. His general farming operations include the raising of considerable stock-horses, cattle and hogs. He is a man who improves the most of his opportunities for observation of men and things, and he avails himself of the advantages of modern methods and improved machinery.

             The parents of our subject, Clement A. and Matillah (Shaffer) Pearcy, were also natives of Tennessee, and the father engaged in mercantile pursuits, most of the time in the city of Nashville, Tenn. His later days were passed in Nashville, where his death took place in 1856. The mother was born in Nashville, in 1822, and is still living, making her home in Franklin, Tenn. Their family included four sons and three daughters, the eldest of whom, Elizabeth, is the wife of R. M. Cavett, a carpenter of Nashville; John R. married Miss Elizabeth Leak, and they resided in Nashville until 1866, when they removed to Hopkinsville, Ky., where Mr. Pearcy was subsequently elected City Marshal, and after serving in this capacity ten months, was shot by a man whom he was endeavoring to arrest; Josiah L. married Miss Lizzie Epperson, and is Warden of the State Penitentiary, at Nashville, having been appointed in 1886; Oscar F., our subject; Samuel H. married Miss Susan Thomas, and is the assistant of his brother-in-law in the penitentiary; Margaret is the wife of Edward Wells, who was formerly a conductor on the Tennessee & Alabama Railroad for a period of thirteen years, and is now also connected with the penitentiary; Sarah Frances died when a child three years of age.

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