Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

Pearce Atkinson was an American railway engineer from Ohio who volunteered in Cuba in 1896 to serve as Antonio Maceo's aide-de-camp. He died that year. This group of materials consists of documents held by his father, G.W.P. Atkinson, who was at the time of Pearce's death based in Toronto. Most of the documents relate to the attempt by American authorities, led by General Fitzhugh Lee (at that time consul-general to Cuba), to learn what had happened to Pearce, who by the time the search started had already died in Taco Taco, near Pinar del Río. Both G.W.P. Atkinson and Pearce's mother Margaret Pearce Atkinson petitioned consular as well as political (e.g. Sen. John Sherman) authorities to discover the circumstances surrounding Pearce's disappearance. Pearce's death was confirmed by Cuban functionary J.A. Huau in 1897, nearly a year after his death and after several conflicting reports from military, press, and consular services. This group also includes several documents in the wake of Pearce's death, regarding the disbursal of Pearce's life insurance by New York Life and the settlement of Pearce's estate--the absence of a body or immediate confirmation of Pearce's death made the process onerous for Pearce's family. The materials include two copies of a letter sent by John A. Floyd, a Georgia-born mess-mate of Pearce and a purported witness to his death, to Pearce's brother Clarence. Floyd's testimonies were used extensively by Pearce's insurers and the family's lawyers. [NB: The William L. Clements Library holds papers of Pearce Atkinson, which are described in the Pearce Atkinson Papers Finding Aid]. Máximo Gómez, life insurance, probate, American volunteers in Cuba, deaths of American military volunteers. Partial geographical list: Havana/Habana (Cuba), Chicago (Ill.), Evanston (Ill.), Guayamas (Sonora, Mexico), Washington (D.C.), Franklin (Pa.), Toronto (Ontario, Canada), New York, Pinar del Río (Cuba), Taco Taco (Cuba), Jacksonville (Fla.).