Pearson was born in Glen Alpine, North Carolina, in Burke County. He completed school through the fourth grade. Interested in mining, he moved to Jellico, Tennessee, where he enlisted in the Army. He served as a Buffalo Soldier from 1893-1898 in Fort Robinson, Nebraska during the Spanish-American War. After being discharged from the Army, he lived in Chicago, where he supplemented his early formal education by taking correspondence courses on insurance, business, religion, and law, including courses at the Chicago Correspondence School of Law.
Business ventures
Pearson began development of Asheville's Burton Street and Park View neighborhoods as African American subdivisions. These neighborhoods have continued to be predominantly African American. He also sold real estate for development in this area as an agent on behalf of developer and librarian Rutherford Platt Hayes, son of President Rutherford B. Hayes. In addition to his real estate ventures, Pearson operated a general store, organized the Mountain City Mutual Insurance Company and ran a mail order shoe business called Piedmont Shoe Company. The general store in West Asheville served as the home base for these operations.
Agricultural fair
Pearson's commitment to improving the lives of African Americans in Asheville also extended to recreational activities and community life. Part of his property in the Burton Street neighborhood included Pearson Park, which he donated to the City of Asheville. In 1914, he organized the Buncombe County and District Colored Agricultural Fair there. One of the largest agricultural fairs in the Southeast, it attracted visitors of all races from all over Western North Carolina and South Carolina, and included amusement park rides, games, livestock shows, and cash prize competitions in categories ranging from baked goods to flower arrangement. It was held annually until 1947, a year after Pearson's death, and later revived as the Burton Street Agricultural Fair.
Baseball
In 1916, Pearson formed the Asheville Royal Giants, Asheville's first black semi-professional baseball team. The Royal Giants played at Oates Park on Asheville's south side and sometimes at Pearson Park. Baseball was not a full-time career for his players, many of whom held jobs at Biltmore Estate, on trains, or in hotels like the Grove Park Inn, Battery Park Hotel, and the former George Vanderbilt Hotel. In 1921, Pearson also founded and became president of the Blue Ridge Colored Baseball League.
Other organizations
Pearson was very involved in community organizations. In 1933, he organized and was first president of the Asheville branch of the NAACP. He also served as president of the Asheville chapters of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the North Carolina Negro Improvement Association. Additionally, Pearson was a member of several fraternal groups, including the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Freemasons, among whom he held the office of Grand Master.
Family
Pearson and his family lived in a home behind the general store he operated in West Asheville. His wife was Annis Bradshaw Pearson. They had two daughters, Iola Pearson Byers and Annette Pearson Cotton, and one son, Edward W. Pearson Jr.
Legacy
Pearson's legacy has been commemorated in Asheville with a community identification sign in 2008 as well as larger-than-life mural painted on the back of Burton Street Community Center in 2014 for the 100th anniversary celebration of the agricultural fair that Pearson first organized in 1914. The fair was revived and renamed the Burton Street Agricultural Fair in 2012.
