Clara Stanwood Pearson

Clara Stanwood Pearson
Clara Stanwood Pearson
Born	Clara Jane Stanwood; March 18, 1849; Lowell, Massachusetts
Died	June 3, 1910 (aged 61); Stanwood, Washington
Nationality	American
Spouse	D. O. Pearson

Clara Stanwood Pearson (March 18, 1849 – July 3, 1910) was an American pioneer in the Washington Territory and the eponym of the town of Stanwood.[1][2][3]

Early life

Clara Jane Stanwood was born on March 18, 1849, in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Mercer Expeditions

Clara's home town of Lowell, and her husband and in-laws the Pearsons, are closely associated with Asa Mercer's expeditions to bring young women and settlers to the Puget Sound.

Among the "Mercer Girls" on the first expedition in 1864 were Georgia and Josephine Pearson, sisters, accompanied by their father Daniel Pearson. Mercer returned to Lowell in 1865. On his second expedition, arriving in Washington Territory in 1866, were Daniel's wife Mrs. Pearson, their son Daniel O., and daughter Flora.[4]

Clara Stanwood joined her beau Daniel (D. O.) Pearson in 1868, and they were married that year.[5] D. O. and Clara farmed on Whidby Island until 1877.[3][6]

Daniel the elder served as lightkeeper at the nearby Admiralty Head lighthouse with daughter Flora as his assistant.[7]

Stanwood

In 1877, D. O. and Clara moved to Centerville at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River, where the Pearsons built a wharf, warehouse, and store. D. O. also began serving as the postmaster of the latent community.

"Centerville" was found to be too common of a place name, so it fell upon the postmaster to pick a new designation that would result in less misdelivered mail.[3]

The new name "Stanwood" was chosen in honor of Clara's maiden name.[7]

The Pearsons later built the D. O. Pearson House, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and home to the Stanwood Area Historical Society.[3]

References

Moriarty, Leslie (June 25, 2003). "Stanwood marks 100 years with July Fourth celebration". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 22, 2022. When the town was first settled, it was called Centerville because it was in the center of the commerce area along the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. But D.O. Pearson, who ran a general store and the post office, kept getting the wrong mail. There were just too many Centervilles in the U.S. So he moved to rename the town Stanwood, after his wife Clara's maiden name.
Stripling, Sherry (April 22, 2004). "Slow down and enjoy island life on Camano". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 22, 2022. West Stanwood still has a flurry of little shops, as well as historical buildings, including the museum and the D.O. Pearson House, a three-story Second Empire Victorian home built by Stanwood's first mayor, who named the town for his wife, the former Clara Stanwood.
"D. O. Pearson House History" (PDF). Stanwood Area Echoes. Stanwood Area Historical Society (21): 1–4. Winter 2002. Retrieved March 22, 2022. In 1868, D. O. was joined by young Clara Stanwood whom he knew from Lowell. She traveled through the Isthmus of Panama by herself and they were married.
They farmed on Whidbey Island until 1877 when D. O. leased a tract of land in Centerville from Henry Oliver on the mouth of the Stillaguamish River where he built a wharf, store and warehouse.
At this time Centerville wasn't yet a regular steamboat stop and the mail came twice a week from Utsalady on Camano Island. He took over the postmaster duties in this small trading post and was apparently requested to change the post office designation to something less common – and chose "Stanwood" to honor his wife.
Bagley, Clarence B. (March 1904). "The Mercer Immigration: Two Cargoes of Maidens for the Sound Country". The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. Vol. 5, no. 1. JSTOR 20609599. Retrieved February 18, 2022. On Puget Sound the scarcity of women was a serious matter. It affected the social, industrial and moral condition of the several communities. It was a subject of frequent discussion and a matter of earnest regret.
lynch, frank (January 15, 1958). "Seattle Scene: A Pioneer Saga of Whidbey Island". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. 19. Daniel Orlando Pearson was a Civil War vet. In 1968 he sent for his childhood sweetheart, Clara Jane Stanwood.
She came from Lowell to Whidbey via the Isthmus of Panama—by steamer, foot and Indian canoe.
In 1877 Daniel Orlando Pearson moved missus and worldly goods to a spot on the mainland—between the outlets of the Skagit and Stillaguamish Rivers. The place was known vaguely as "Centerville." He renamed the place.
So it came to be that D. Carl Pearson came to be the first white child born in Stanwood.
"Biographical – Daniel O. Pearson". An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties. Interstate Publishing Company. 1906. pp. 975–976. Mr. Pearson and Miss Clara Stanwood, of Massachusetts, were united in marriage on Whidbey Island in 1868, she having crossed the continent to become the bride of the young man who was seeking his fortune along the westermost frontier. They had known each other from childhood in the Old Bay state. She was born in 1818, the daughter of William E. and Rachel (Page) Stanwood. When a child she lost her mother and after the latter's death lived with her father until he went to California in 1850, her grandmother then rearing her to young womanhood. Seven children have been born to Mayor and Mrs. Pearson, of whom two are dead; the others are: Guy, of Seattle; Eva; Fred, living in Tacoma; D. Carl, the first white child born in Stanwood after the re-christening of the place, ex-county auditor of Island county and editor of the Coupeville newspaper; and Rachel, who lives at home.
Engle, Flora A. P. (October 1915). "The Story of the Mercer Expeditions". The Washington Historical Quarterly. Vol. 6, no. 4. JSTOR 40474463. Retrieved February 21, 2022. The two Mercer expeditions were without doubt important events in the history of the Puget Sound basin: First, they resulted in attracting to Washington Territory many who otherwise would not have sought homes on the Pacific Coast, and who in their turn were instrumental in bringing others to this north-northwest corner of our United States.

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[StanwoodMarks100-1] Moriarty, Leslie (June 25, 2003). "Stanwood marks 100 years with July Fourth celebration". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 22, 2022. When the town was first settled, it was called Centerville because it was in the center of the commerce area along the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. But D.O. Pearson, who ran a general store and the post office, kept getting the wrong mail. There were just too many Centervilles in the U.S. So he moved to rename the town Stanwood, after his wife Clara's maiden name.

[IslandLifeCamano-2] Stripling, Sherry (April 22, 2004). "Slow down and enjoy island life on Camano". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 22, 2022. West Stanwood still has a flurry of little shops, as well as historical buildings, including the museum and the D.O. Pearson House, a three-story Second Empire Victorian home built by Stanwood's first mayor, who named the town for his wife, the former Clara Stanwood.

[Echoes2002-3] "D. O. Pearson House History" (PDF). Stanwood Area Echoes. Stanwood Area Historical Society (21): 1–4. Winter 2002. Retrieved March 22, 2022. In 1868, D. O. was joined by young Clara Stanwood whom he knew from Lowell. She traveled through the Isthmus of Panama by herself and they were married.
They farmed on Whidbey Island until 1877 when D. O. leased a tract of land in Centerville from Henry Oliver on the mouth of the Stillaguamish River where he built a wharf, store and warehouse.
At this time Centerville wasn't yet a regular steamboat stop and the mail came twice a week from Utsalady on Camano Island. He took over the postmaster duties in this small trading post and was apparently requested to change the post office designation to something less common – and chose "Stanwood" to honor his wife.

[TwoCargosOfMaidens-4] Bagley, Clarence B. (March 1904). "The Mercer Immigration: Two Cargoes of Maidens for the Sound Country". The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. Vol. 5, no. 1. JSTOR 20609599. Retrieved February 18, 2022. On Puget Sound the scarcity of women was a serious matter. It affected the social, industrial and moral condition of the several communities. It was a subject of frequent discussion and a matter of earnest regret.

[SeattlePI1958-5] ynch, frank (January 15, 1958). "Seattle Scene: A Pioneer Saga of Whidbey Island". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. 19. Daniel Orlando Pearson was a Civil War vet. In 1968 he sent for his childhood sweetheart, Clara Jane Stanwood.
She came from Lowell to Whidbey via the Isthmus of Panama—by steamer, foot and Indian canoe.
In 1877 Daniel Orlando Pearson moved missus and worldly goods to a spot on the mainland—between the outlets of the Skagit and Stillaguamish Rivers. The place was known vaguely as "Centerville." He renamed the place.
So it came to be that D. Carl Pearson came to be the first white child born in Stanwood.

[1906History-6] "Biographical – Daniel O. Pearson". An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties. Interstate Publishing Company. 1906. pp. 975–976. Mr. Pearson and Miss Clara Stanwood, of Massachusetts, were united in marriage on Whidbey Island in 1868, she having crossed the continent to become the bride of the young man who was seeking his fortune along the westermost frontier. They had known each other from childhood in the Old Bay state. She was born in 1818, the daughter of William E. and Rachel (Page) Stanwood. When a child she lost her mother and after the latter's death lived with her father until he went to California in 1850, her grandmother then rearing her to young womanhood. Seven children have been born to Mayor and Mrs. Pearson, of whom two are dead; the others are: Guy, of Seattle; Eva; Fred, living in Tacoma; D. Carl, the first white child born in Stanwood after the re-christening of the place, ex-county auditor of Island county and editor of the Coupeville newspaper; and Rachel, who lives at home.

[StoryOfTheMercerExpeditions-7] Engle, Flora A. P. (October 1915). "The Story of the Mercer Expeditions". The Washington Historical Quarterly. Vol. 6, no. 4. JSTOR 40474463. Retrieved February 21, 2022. The two Mercer expeditions were without doubt important events in the history of the Puget Sound basin: First, they resulted in attracting to Washington Territory many who otherwise would not have sought homes on the Pacific Coast, and who in their turn were instrumental in bringing others to this north-northwest corner of our United States.