The Pearn Family - Search History -

The Search Begins ....

Based on the information gathered, we determined Fred Pearn was the Father, Matilda Pearn was the Mother, a Daughter Amy (married Henry White) and three Sons William, Fred and James. James was my Grand Father. A search on the Canadian Archives web site has the family homesteading in Alberta from 1915 thru 1927. The exact dates have been determined and are linked on the Homestead Page.

One of the postcards in my Grand Fathers collection was from a Fred Kullgren in California. It was a picture of a school and the only writing was "Here is the school Fred attends". Somehow my Uncle Ed and Dads research was able to locate an address and sent a letter. Only a few letter were exchanged but it was determined they were relatives and the Fred mentioned in the school picture was the person they made contact with.

No one is able to answer why the name was changes from Pearn to Kullgren but is was initiated by William. Ellis Island shows a William Pearn entering the United States in 1907. The next documentation I have has him as William Kullgren about 1925. Fred has told us that he was born in Canada and his family moved to California in 1930. A postcard from William mentioned it was imperative to change their names to Kullgren when they arrive. Amy also moved to California but she had married Henry White and did not need to change her name. Old family rumors suggested that the family was originally Kullgren's and it was changed to Pearn when they arrived in Canada.

I then started to put my hard earned dollars to work and found the 1901 census putting the entire family in England. The names listed were William Pearn as Father, Jane as Mother, Daughter Amy and the three Sons William Fred and James. All were listed as born in Plymouth except James who was born in Dartmouth. This was the first time we found that Fred also was named William. We didn't know if Jane was a different person or not. I was also able to find a 1891 census that listed only part of the family. Matilda the Mother, Daughter Amy and 2 sons William and Fred. None of the family can be found in the 1881 census. This proved the fact the family was using the Pearn name long before they set out for Canada. I then started looking for birth and marriage certificates.