Simon Pearson

Born into a family of whale hunters, Simon Pearson hopes to go to sea, but the decline of whaling sends him into other work. He serves in the US Navy and later recalls voyages to Java and Sumatra, as well as fifty days trapped aboard a plague-stricken ship. Financial trouble leaves him at the mercy of loan sharks until Dutch van der Linde's gang rescues him. By 1899, he is the gang's butcher and cook.

At Colter, Pearson helps Susan Grimshaw establish the gang's camp in the abandoned settlement. With food running low, he tells Arthur Morgan that supplies are nearly gone. Charles Smith takes Arthur hunting, and Pearson helps skin the two deer they bring back. At Horseshoe Overlook, he presses the gang to contribute provisions and spends his days preparing stew at the chuckwagon.

At Clemens Point, Pearson quarrels with Sadie Adler over her camp duties. Arthur takes Sadie to Rhodes for groceries and posts Pearson's letter to his aunt Cathy, in which he embellishes his fortunes. Pearson later reports an O'Driscoll proposal for a parley, but remains at camp when Dutch, Arthur and Micah Bell go to the meeting. After Arthur returns wounded from the trap, Pearson apologizes. The move to Shady Belle leaves him unhappy, though he can join Arthur searching the surrounding swamps for crayfish and gator eggs.

Pearson welcomes Arthur back at Lakay after Guarma, standing with Abigail at his butcher table. At Beaver Hollow, Susan orders him and Bill Williamson to dispose of Molly O'Shea's body. As the gang disintegrates, Pearson drinks heavily and loses hope. He leaves with Mary-Beth Gaskill and Uncle before the end. By 1907, he and his wife Ethel run a general store in Rhodes, where he keeps a photograph of the gang near the counter and warmly receives John Marston.