Anna was a native of Virginia and the only surviving daughter of Eston Hemings Jefferson and his wife Julia Ann Isaacs.
Seven-eighths European in ancestry, he was legally white under Virginia law and freed in 1826 by the will of his master (and father) Thomas Jefferson.
Together with two other leaders, Pearson introduced the " 'new Standard Automatic,' a machine that reduced the cost of making screws nearly 40 percent.
"[1] In 1904 he reduced prices, which gave the company an edge with the new auto manufacturers, whose rapid expansion as an industry fed Standard's profits.
[1] The coming of World War I led to a major increase in profits, as Pearson won contracts from the British and US governments for bullets and fuses.
Pearson had established a dominance among companies that manufactured screw machine products; his skilled shops could make complex parts for many different industries, and held the edge for decades.
"[1] Walter Pearson married Helena Snyder (her name was later anglicized to Helen; born in Illinois, she was the daughter of German immigrants.)
[9] In 1974 the historian Fawn McKay Brodie published a biography of Thomas Jefferson in which she explored the evidence related to his alleged relationship with Sally Hemings.
Her book met mixed reactions: excellent reviews from literary critics and opposition to her psychological approach and conclusions about Jefferson's paternity from mainline biographers of the president.
[2] In 1976 Brodie published an article in American Heritage magazine about the grandchildren of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, and covered the Pearson family.
[10] Most historians took this result as affirming other historical evidence related to the paternity issue, and have acknowledged that the president and Sally Hemings had a 38-year relationship in which he fathered her six children of record.