PEARSON clan: Woodpark/Oldtown/Lismonaghan

My great great grandparents were Gibbons Pearson and Jane nee Wilson Pearson. Gibbons Pearson was born around 1809 and his wife Jane Wilson was born in 1812. They were married on 11 April 1831 in theParish Church of All Saints (Church of Ireland?), at Newtowncunningham, Co. Donegal, Ireland by Rev. William Ewing. They had 7 children: Gibbons/Alexander/Eliza Jane/Mary/Thomas/William Gibbons/James, all born in Leck Parish.

There is a mystery about this family's emigration to the U.S. In 1847 Jane nee Wilson Pearson traveled from Liverpool to New York City with all of her children. For unknown reasons, she and her children traveled under her maiden name WILSON. Her husband, Gibbons Pearson, was not listed on the ship's manifest. Eventually Gibbons Pearson did come to New York, but not long after his arrival he left his family in New York City and traveled upstate in search of work. A written account of his disappearance some years later around 1862-63 stated that "Gibbons Pearson was a man somewhat unsteady in his habits." This leads us to beleive that heprobably suffered from alcoholism. About a year later his wife received news that her husband had been killed in a hunting accident. A record of his death indicated that he had died in 1849 in Mount Pleasant, NY. He was listed as a "pauper".

Our genealogical research places Gibbons Pearson in the townlands Woodpark, Lismonaghan and Oldtown. The Pearson clan are Presbyterians. We are interested to know if there are any Pearson descendants still living in the Letterkenny area. We would also like to know where we might find Presbyterian church records for the area dating from 1800-1860 that might give us more clues about the Pearson family in Leck Parish, County Donegal.

Thank you very much for any help you might be able to provide.