Walter Beverly Pearson

Walter Beverly Pearson (December 2, 1861 – May 19, 1917) was an American inventor and industrialist. He served as the president of the Standard Screw Company, which later became known as Stanadyne Automotive Corporation. Pearson was a descendant of President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, as he was a great-grandson through their son Eston Hemings.

Early Life and Education

Pearson was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1861, during the American Civil War. His parents were Anna Wayles (Hemings) Jefferson (1837–1866) and Albert T. Pearson (1829–1908) of New York. Anna was a Virginia native and the only surviving daughter of Eston Hemings Jefferson and Julia Ann Isaacs. Eston Hemings Jefferson was born into slavery at Monticello but was legally free under Virginia law after being freed in 1826 by Thomas Jefferson, his purported father. Julia Ann Isaacs was a woman of mixed heritage, of African, European-American, and German-Jewish descent.

In 1852, the Hemings family moved from Ohio to Wisconsin for safety reasons following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. During this period, the family adopted the surname Jefferson and integrated into the white community in Madison. Anna Jefferson was 16 years old at that time. Pearson's maternal lineage was thus of mixed racial ancestry, but all members of his family identified as white. His mother died when Pearson was four years old. He had an older brother named Fred and an older sister named Julia. The siblings received education through public schools.

Career

Pearson initially established a business in Chicago, where he operated a small manufacturing company specializing in screws. He developed technology that increased manufacturing efficiency, leading to the sale of his company to the Standard Screw Company of Connecticut in 1900. Upon becoming president of Standard Screw in 1904, Pearson expanded the company's subsidiaries from four to eight, increasing production capacity and workforce.

Under his leadership, the company gained prominence within the industry. He and two colleagues introduced a machine called the "new Standard Automatic," which reduced screw manufacturing costs by nearly 40 percent. In 1904, Pearson also reduced prices to gain a competitive edge with the rapidly expanding automobile industry. During World War I, the company's profits increased significantly due to government contracts for manufacturing ammunition components such as bullets and fuses. In 1916, profits were ten times higher than the previous year, and in 1917, returns increased by 340 percent. Pearson was recognized as a key figure in establishing the company's dominance in screw machine products, capable of producing complex parts for various industries.

Marriage and Family

Pearson married Helena Snyder, an Illinois native of German descent, whose name was later anglicized to Helen. They had two children: Frederick Beverly Pearson, born in 1895 in Chicago, and Beatrice Pearson, born in 1905 in Michigan. At his death in 1917, Pearson's estate was valued at approximately $2 million in 2024 currency.

His will provided a $50,000 annuity for his wife, $12,000 annuities each for his children, and a $50,000 bequest to his cousin Frederick Jefferson. His son Frederick was to receive $2 million upon turning 35. By 1920, Helena and her children resided in Miami, Florida. Frederick married Gladys Semma in 1922, but the marriage ended in divorce three years later. Frederick died in a fire at the Claridge Hotel in Chicago in 1926 at age 30.

Family and Legacy

In 1974, historian Fawn McKay Brodie published a biography of Thomas Jefferson, exploring the evidence of his relationship with Sally Hemings and their descendants. Brodie's work received mixed reactions, with some critics questioning her psychological interpretation. After publication, descendants of Eston Hemings Jefferson, including Carl Jefferson, reconnected with her, revealing their family history of descent from Jefferson via Sally Hemings.

In 1998, a DNA study confirmed a male descendant of Eston Hemings Jefferson shared the Y-chromosome with the direct male line of Thomas Jefferson. This scientific evidence supported historical claims that Jefferson fathered Hemings' children, some of whom survived into subsequent generations.

As a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Pearson's family held a historically significant lineage, representing a complex intersection of American history, race, and genealogy. The legacy of Jefferson's descendants, including Pearson, continues to be acknowledged in discussions of American history and the legacy of slavery and emancipation.