Richmond Mumford Pearson was born June 28, 1808, in Rowan County. A politician and lawyer, he became the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1859, a post he held for nearly two decades. During the Kirk-Holden War, Judge Pearson issued writs of habeas corpus for many individuals who found themselves in military custody. Pearson never enforced the writs filed against George W. Kirk demanding that he turn in the prisoners and Pearson later oversaw, and possibly helped defend Governor Holden during the latter's impeachment trial. Pearson died in Winston on January 5, 1878.