Life of Richmond Pearson’s first wife to be reviewed

EAST BEND — Ann Shelton Black, of Yadkinville, will deliver the annual Richmond Pearson lecture on Saturday, July 17, at 1:30 p.m., at Historic Richmond Hill Nature Park, 4641 Law School Road. She will review the life and times of Margaret McClung Williams (1814-1855), the first wife of NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Richmond Mumford Pearson (1805-1878).

Black will describe Mrs. Pearson’s early life in Knoxville, Tennessee, her courtship and marriage to Judge Pearson, the birth of their 10 children, plantation life at Richmond Hill, and the mysterious illness which led to her death.

Black is also a native of Knoxville and a long-time resident of Yadkin County. In 2001 she graduated from Salem College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She serves as the secretary of the Joint Board of Directors for the Yadkin County Historical Society and Charles Bruce Davis Museum. In 2014, she published The Healing of Ivy Rose and served as the editor of The Journal of the Yadkin County Historical Society. In 2021, she reprinted the S. Carter Williams book, Yadkin County Record Book 1939.

The Yadkin County Historical Society, Charles Bruce Davis Museum and Historic Richmond Hill Law School Commission will sponsor this event, which is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Andrew Mackie at 336-428-8471 or andrewmackie@yadtel.net.