The Pearson family was English. Two sons of Lawrence Pearson, Edward and Thomas, wanted to migrate to the colonies due to religious persecution of Quakers in England. William Penn had received a charter from King Charles II in 1681, which he used to establish a colony for Quakers. He decided he needed people who knew a trade, so in order to emigrate to Pennsylvania Edward trained to be a mason and Thomas to be a blacksmith. In 1682 Thomas and his family were among the first 100 immigrants of Penn's to arrive in the colony on the ship Welcome. Edward, my direct ancestor, and his family followed in 1687 and settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he became a successful builder.
According to family lore, the grandson of Edward, Enoch Pearson II, studied surveying under George Washington in Virginia where he met his wife, Tabitha Jacocks. They eventually settled in Union County, South Carolina around 1765. He served in the South Carolina Militia during the Revolutionary War, although his sons initially sided with the British. He was a Quaker until just before his death when he joined the Baptist Church. He is buried in a family cemetery in what is now Sumter National Forest.
Margaret Elizabeth Bishop, mother of Ralph B. Swink Sr, was the great-great-granddaughter of Enoch Pearson II.
Highlighted names show the direct ancestor line of Ralph B. Swink, Sr.