Wilson - John Lockwood
Hon. John L. WILSON
Source: History of Montgomery County, Indiana. Indianapolis: AW Bowen, 1913, pp. 784-90.
HON. JOHN L. WILSON In the largest and best sense of the term, the late John Lockwood Wilson, United States Senator from the state of Washington, proprietor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, one of the greatest of American newspapers, and for many years one of the most prominent and useful citizens of Montgomery county, Indiana, was distinctively one of the notable men of his day and generation, and as such his life record is entitled to a conspicuous place in history, both local and national. As a citizen he was public spirited and enterprising to an unwonted degree: as a friend and neighbor, he combined the qualities of head and heart that won confidence and commanded respect; as a newspaper proprietor he had a comprehensive grasp upon the philosophy of journalism, and he brought honor and dignity to the public positions he filled with distinguished success; he was easily the peer of his professional brethren throughout the Union, and as a servant of the people in high places of honor he had no superiors. Hon. John L. Wilson was born August 7, 1850. He was the son of James Wilson, who was the son of John Wilson, for whom the Senator was named. The grandfather came from Kentucky to Montgomery county, Indiana, when this section of the state was a wilderness and sparsely settled, and here James Wilson grew to manhood, and after his marriage he built a home in Crawfordsville on the north half of the quarter of the block which skirts the west side of Grant avenue between Wabash avenue and Pike street. It was a one-story house which later was purchased and repaired and which is now the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. Here Senator Wilson was born. Later his father built a house on West Wabash avenue. It is asserted by some of the older citizens that James Wilson was the first white child born in Crawfordsville. When James Wilson grew to manhood he became one of the leading lawyers and most powerful speakers in western Indiana. He was the associate and practiced his profession at the same bar with Daniel W. Voorhees, Benjamin Harrison and Joseph McDonald, and was the peer of any of these distinguished citizens. In a race for Congress, Mr. Wilson defeated Mr. Voorhees. This campaign was a hotly contested one and the joint debates of these candidates is still a subject of interest to the older citizens of the country. James Wilson was later appointed minister to Venezuela, South America, by President Andrew Johnson, and while living there he died, and was buried there, but his remains were later removed to Oak Hill cemetery, in Crawfordsville. John L. Wilson grew to manhood in Crawfordsville, and here received his educational training in the public schools and Wabash College, taking the classical course in the latter and was graduated with the class of 1874. He was a staunch supporter of his alma mater ever afterward. He never forgot Crawfordsville, and he told a friend just before his departure for Washington City of his plans to purchase a suburban home near the city of his birth and spend his declining years in it. He had even carried the plan so far as to have the place he wanted to buy selected. In October, 1880, Mr. Wilson entered upon his political career when he was elected to the legislature of the state of Indiana. He there met the late Benjamin Harrison and a strong friendship grew out of this acquaintance. It was through the influence of Mr. Harrison when he was a United States senator that Mr. Wilson was named land agent at Colfax, which was then a frontier village in the territory of Washington. When our subject received this appointment he was in the abstract business in Crawfordsville and he fully expected to return when he left. But he failed to do so. He was sent to Congress as a delegate from Washington and was elected to Congress when that state was first admitted into the Union. Later he was chosen United States senator and held his office for four years, giving eminent satisfaction to his constituents and winning a national reputation as an intelligent, far-seeing, honorable statesman, who had the welfare of the people at heart. He discharged his duties with an ability and fidelity that won the admiration and confidence of all classes. In 1910 he started on a trip to Europe, but was recalled when he reached Crawfordsville, Indiana, by an urgent telegram from some of his influential political friends in Seattle, who insisted that he make the race for senator again. He reluctantly consented to sacrifice his personal comfort and give up the trip and went back to make the race for the nomination, but was defeated by a narrow margin. This ended his personal political activities. The Senator's domestic life began when he married Edna Hamilton Sweet, a lady of talent and culture, and a daughter of Samuel Hartman, a well known Crawfordsville business man. She survives as does one daughter, Mrs. H. Clay Goodloe of Lexington, Kentucky. Henry Lane Wilson is the only brother surviving. Howard Wilson, another brother, died in Crawfordsville about twenty years ago. Henry Lane Wilson is the present ambassador to Mexico. Senator Wilson and the Post-Intelligencer, the great newspaper he built up in Seattle, were a power in the formation of the northwest. He was absolutely fearless in conducting his paper and many a man unworthy of the political preferment he sought felt the sharp sting of the editorial lash in that influential journal. Senator Wilson and his wife had started on a trip around the world, and they spent several days in Crawfordsville, visiting old friends, early in November, 1912, and from here they proceeded to Washington, D. C., where the Senator was suddenly stricken and died with little warning on Wednesday morning, November 6, 1912, at the age of sixty-two years. The body was brought back to Crawfordsville, Indiana, for interment in Oak Hill cemetery besides the graves of his father and mother. The funeral was one of the largest ever seen in this section of the state, and the floral tributes were never surpassed in either number or beauty, many of them coming from Seattle, Spokane, and other parts of the nation where the Senator was held in high esteem. Among the distinguished men attending the obsequies were Gov. Thomas R. Marshall and Charles W. Fairbanks, ex-Vice-President of the United States. Of the deceased the latter said: "We have learned with inexpressible sorrow of the death of Senator Wilson. This comes as a distinct shock to me for it was only a few days ago that I had the pleasure of chatting with him in this city. He was one of the best men I ever knew-a friend whom I esteemed in the very highest degree." President and Mrs. Taft were among those who sent elaborate floral tributes, in memory of the great man who reached the highest office in the gift of the American people save one, a man who had a mind and a love for public affairs. His was an extraordinary series of achievements, made in competition with bright and ambitious minds in a community not exceeded in the world for enterprise and enthusiasm for success. We must ascribe to the man who did so much in thirty years certain qualities which differentiate him from the ordinary man. He climbed with dauntless persistence from comparative obscurity to large and honorable publicity. In the course of his funeral oration, Dr. George Lewes Mackintosh, president of Wabash College, said, among other things: "Senator Wilson was sincere and devoted in friendship. To him a friend, even a political friend, was not a mere stepping-stone. He hated ingratitude and avoided it. In the most passionate and selfish game known to men he came through with the heart whole and the hands clean. Even when out of office and apart from direct political influence, no man was more sought by those desiring advice and help. The people of the country in which he lived and wrought for thirty years believed in him. No one could ask for a greater reward. "We would expect a man of Mr. Wilson's temperament to be of generous disposition. Here we shall not be disappointed. He believed in the great human right, a decent living. He urged that a fair day's work demanded fair pay. But what is far more important he illustrated his theory in every-day life. In the great publication enterprise he helped to fashion and perfect in the city of Seattle every man he paid to the limit of his earning, and every bit of machinery is the latest and most efficient type. But this is mere justice to employees and the public. Generosity is something finer and of a more subtle beauty, even than justice. It is akin, if not identical, with mercy and mercy is the crowning quality of God himself. It is a great good fortune to those who are nearest our departed friends that they can think of him as one who loved much, who forgave much and was kind. God is merciful and far down the highway which all humans must travel and beyond that turn in the way which we call death we confidently hope to find those whom we have loved and lost. In parting with Senator Wilson, one who labored much, loved much and was generous, though he doubtless failed some, we say goodbye, but not farewell." In private and political life Senator Wilson was a man of the strictest integrity, a bitter opponent of dishonesty, both public and private, a militant apostle of the Republican party which his father helped to found, died as he had lived, fighting for the principles he had espoused. The son of a father who had devoted his life to public service and helped to form the greatest political part of the United States, Senator Wilson will long be remembered as a man of fearless honesty, one who performed great services for the young state which he represented at the national capitol, a fighter for all that was just and helpful to the commonwealth. In 1894 when he appeared before the state convention at Spokane, he said of the trust reposed in him as Congressman from the state, "You have clothed me with honors and authority, and now I return the trust to you, unblemished, just as you gave it to me." The utterance characterized his life. Pending formal action by the board of trustees of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, of which Senator Wilson was an active member, the committee on state legislation of which the former Senator was chairman, and the committee on national affairs, of which he was acting chairman, together with the offices of the chamber met and adopted the following resolutions: "In the death of Senator Wilson the state of Washington and the Chamber of Commerce sustained a loss which in many ways is irreparable. Since his retirement from active participation in politics two years ago, Senator Wilson had devoted practically all of his talents, time and indomitable energy toward the promotion and upbuilding of this state, and the territory of Alaska. He spent the whole of last winter and the preceding fall as the agent of this chamber, in organizing and combining the commercial bodies of the entire Pacific coast in behalf of Alaska and pressing that territory's claims for relief before the various Congressional committees in Washington City. It is the simple truth to say that in three months Senator Wilson spent at the nation's capital in behalf of the measures in which the city of Seattle and the territory of Alaska are vitally concerned, he accomplished more in the way of actual results than all other efforts combined in the past five years. He wielded an influence at a time when he was an active member of the upper body. "His intense loyalty to this city, state and the entire Pacific coast is exemplified by such monuments as the Puget Sound navy yard, Seattle assay office and other government institutions, the existence of which are due wholly or largely to the influence, resourcefulness and persistence wielded by him in the halls of Congress. "All his public utterances in the past two years have been an appeal to the patriotism of the people of this nation, and particularly to the younger men. The lofty sentiments which he expressed in recent addresses in this city, particularly at times when disloyalty and disrespect to the American flag was being evidenced in some quarters proved an inspiration to all patriotic men. His reverence for the constitution and its underlying principles as the foundation upon which the liberties of the American people rest, was breathed in his every public utterance." The following appeared editorially in the Post-Intelligencer, and is from the pen of Scott C. Bone, present editor of that great daily, he having formerly been a resident of Indiana, and a man who knew the lamented Senator very intimately: "To write of Senator Wilson today is more than heart can bear. So many memories of him crowd clear and fast; so many visions of him as he was last among us, that words lag, thoughts grow dim, wavering in tear mists, and the hand, hardened to the play of life and death wants courage for the task. We in this office knew him best and loved him best. Here he was father, brother, comrade, friend, and now, when grief is heavy on us, when silent sorrow is sweet with consolation, we must treat, who was so dear, as part of the dark day's work. "He is gone. This we know. Never will he be with us again. All the machinery of this newspaper, which was a part of him, his pride and his ambition, will move today, tomorrow, and the next day. But 'the Senator' will be no more. The nation has lost a patriot, the state a loyal, tireless servant and the city an eager friend, but the Post-Intelligencer has lost a heart and soul, a big, warm heart and a fine, clean soul. We cannot stop to mourn him, we to whom he was so very dear in life. We can but go on as he would have wished us, telling the news of the day, the big and the little things of life, making a newspaper. And so, though dulled with pain, we will. "No man in this state heard the news that John L. Wilson was dead but to pause and pay a tribute to him who had marked himself so deeply in the history of this common-wealth. Yet how idle to say that he will be missed and mourned. How futile any computation of the widespread regret! How empty-sounding the generalities of encomiums! Every person in this state knows what manner of man John L. Wilson was, some better and more truly than others, perhaps, but all know him as a big, honest, fearless citizen, and can appraise their own loss. "John L. Wilson loved his God, his country and his fellow man. He was true to himself, and of consequence to all else was true. The old strain of Nonconformist blood that ran in his veins held him fast to his ideals. Right to him was a thing to be fought for without compromise, and friendship was a duty, holy and enduring. It was for what he held to be right and in the cause of friendship that he fell and died as he himself would have wished, amid the clash of big events. Warned long since that his heart could stand no strain, certain only of defeat, Senator Wilson, weak and weary though he was, against all pleas and advice went into the national contest undaunted. And now like a good soldier he lies, taking his rest. "To make any adequate summing up of his life would need be the work of a biographer less hurried than a newspaper writer. To even enumerate his services to state and city is beyond newspaper limitations. Time will do him full justice and his name will loom large among the men of Washington. "Just now there is small solace in that thought to those in whose lives he played a daily part. We can't forget that he will not come bantering and genial, into the editorial rooms at night, with a playful word for a copy boy, an anecdote for a report, or a mock anger to tease some editor. "The easy boss has said his last Good night, boys and has gone out into the long darkness and we hope he hears us when we say, Good night Senator!"
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WILSON, John Lockwood, 1850-1912 Senate Years of Service: 1895-1899 Party: Republican
Source: Directory of Biographies of the United States Congress
John Lockwood Wilson (son of James Wilson of Indiana [1825-1867]), a Representative and a Senator from Washington; born in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Ind., August 7, 1850; attended the common schools; messenger during the Civil War; graduated from Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1874; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1878 and commenced practice in Crawfordsville; member, State house of representatives 1880; appointed by President Chester Arthur as receiver of public moneys at Spokane Falls and Colfax, Washington Territory 1882-1887; upon the admission of Washington as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first Congress; reelected to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses and served from November 20, 1889, to February 18, 1895, when he resigned to become Senator; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate on February 1, 1895, to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1893, but did not assume his senatorial duties until February 19, 1895; served until March 3, 1899; was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1898; chairman, Committee on Indian Depredations (Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses); published the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, Wash.; died in Washington, D.C., on November 6, 1912; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, Ind.
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Source: Dictionary of American Biography.
John Lockwood Wilson (1850-1912) -- also known as John L. Wilson -- of Spokane, Spokane County, Wash. Grandson of John Wilson; son of James Wilson. Born in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Ind., August 7, 1850. Republican. Member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1881; U.S. Representative from Washington at-large, 1889-95; U.S. Senator from Washington, 1895-99. Died in Washington, D.C., November 6, 1912. Interment at Oak Hill Cemetery, Montgomery County, Indiana.
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Source: History of Montgomery County, Indiana. Indianapolis: AW Bowen, 1913 p. 584
Hon. John Wilson, one of the early pioneers of Indiana, and a prominent citizen of Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, was born on the twenty-ninth day of November, 1796, at Lancaster, Lincoln County, Kentucky. His father was the Rev. James Wilson, D.D., a noted Presbyterian minister in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, prior to his removal to Lancaster, Kentucky. His mother was Agnes MCKEE, daughter of Col. William McKee, of the eminent and distinguished family of McKees of Virginia and Kentucky. The Wilson family came very early to Virginia and settled at Staunton, Augusta County. They are of Scotch-Irish descent, men of high ideals and gifted to a high degree of intellect. They served the Church and state well, many of them sitting in the House of Delegates prior to the Revolution. One of them, Col. James Wilson, of Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, was the colonel of a Virginia regiment at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Another member of the family served in Congress for a number of years from Virginia. John Wilson's grandfather, Col. William McKee, was commissioned an officer in the British army by Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, and was with Braddock's army at the famous battle known as Braddock's defeat. Col. McKee also engaged in the Indian wars of that day. He had command at the battle of Point Pleasant and defended the fort against the Indians. This was one of the bloodiest with Indians ever fought on this continent and, in memory of this battle, McKeesport, near Pittsburg {sic}, received its name. At the beginning of the Revolutionary war, Colonel McKee resigned his commission in the British army and accepted a commission in the Continental army, and at the close of the Revolutionary was held the rank of colonel. Colonel McKee was afterwards elected to the Constitutional Convention of Virginia and voted to ratify the Constitution in its present form, against the protests of his constituents who afterward said the vote was right. This angered Colonel McKee, and being granted for his services in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars a bounty of four thousand acres of land, he removed from Virginia to Lancaster, Kentucky, where he passed the remainder of his days. John Wilson's uncle Samuel McKee, was an eminent lawyer, and served in Congress from the state of Kentucky, for a period of fourteen years. A cousin of John Wilson, William B. McKee, was colonel of the Second Kentucky regiment in the Mexican war and at the battle of Buena Vista was killed. John Wilson, having the misfortune to lose his father, was compelled to make his own way. Becoming a Whig in politics, and on account of his utter hate and detestation of the institution of slavery, he removed from Kentucky to Illinois in 1821. In 1822 Mr. Wilson came to Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana, and accepted a position in the United States land office from his brother-in-law, Judge Williamson Dunn, Judge Dunn being register of the United States land office at that place. In 1823, John Wilson married Margaret COCHRAN, an early pioneer of Fountain County, who came from Rockingham County, Virginia, on March 7, 1823. John Wilson became the first postmaster in Crawfordsville, having his office in a log cabin. Only a few months prior to this the Legislature had passed an act defining the boundaries of Montgomery County. At that time there was {sic} only sixty men of voting are in the County. In 1823 John Wilson was elected the first clerk of the circuit court of Montgomery County, a position he held continuously for a period of fourteen years. At that time all that wide district of territory lying north of Montgomery County as far as Lake Michigan was called the Wabash country and was attached to Montgomery County for judicial purposes. In 1825, or about one year prior to the creation of Tippecanoe County, one William Digly was induced by John Wilson, Isaac C. Elston, and Jonathon W. Powers to lay out the town of Lafayette on his small tract of land on the east bank of the Wabash river, which they presumed would be near the center of what would be a reasonably sized County with a view that ultimately it might become the County seat of the projected County, which was done on May 27, 1825. Digly was not a man of enterprise or forethought, and he sold the entire town plot and other land on the same day the town was layed {sic} out to Samuel Sargent. On the next day the original town plot was sold to John Wilson, Isaac E. Elston, and Jonathon W. Powers, all of the town of Crawfordsville. At that time Lafayette was a mere city on paper, and located in a dense forest with rival towns both above and below, whose claims were not to be ignored. Cincinatus two below, Lafayette on the west side of the Wabash river and Americus above on the east side of the river had each claims that were thought by the parties interested sufficient to induce the proper authorities when appointed to locate the County seat at either place. The joint proprietors of the new city in the woods men liberal as well as enterprising, offered to give one-half of the town plot for the location of the County seat of the then projected County. On January 26, 1826, an act of the Legislature was passed and approved, entitled an act for the formation of a new County out of the unorganized territory north of Montgomery County and for the establishing of the County seat there of the new County to be known and designated by the name of Tippecanoe County. John Wilson, Isaac C. Elston, and Jonathon W. Powers were appointed commissioners to locate the County seat of Tippecanoe County. These commissioners located it at Lafayette. The choice was a wise one and has given entire satisfaction to the people of that County, because of its beautiful, central and healthy location. John Wilson was elected a member of the Indiana Legislature in 1840 and served one term. Mr. Wilson, on retiring from the office of clerk of the circuit court of Montgomery County, became a merchant and engaged in the dry goods and hardware business. He was alone for some years, then he established the firm of Wilson, Grimes & Burbage, which did a large and profitable business for many years. In 1857 Mr. Wilson retired from business and purchased a large tract of land in Tippecanoe County known as the Pilot Grove farm where he lived until 1863, and in that year he removed to Crawfordsville and died in 1864. John Wilson was a self-educated and in every respect a self-made man, an honest, conscientious, Christian and an honored citizen. His widow survived him twenty years and died at Lafayette, Indiana, in 1884, and is buried in the family lot at Crawfordsville, beside her husband in Oak Hill Cemetery. Hon. John Wilson was the father of a large and interesting family. Hon. James Wilson, his oldest son, became a distinguished lawyer and brilliant orator. He graduated from Wabash College in 1852. At the breaking out of the war with Mexico in 1846, he enlisted as a private, and at the close of the war returned home an officer. He was a member of Congress from the ninth congressional district of Indiana. He became a colonel A.D.C. in the Civil war and was United States minister to Venezuela, South America, when he died in 1867, aged forth-two years. Col. William C. Wilson, of Lafayette, Indiana, another son, graduated from Wabash College in 1847. He afterwards became a distinguished lawyer and fine advocate, whose reputation extended throughout the state of Indiana. Colonel Wilson was deeply versed in the civil and criminal law. He rarely lost a case, such as his keen perception and acute mind in grasping the material point in a case. Colonel Wilson was not only a fine lawyer, but also a soldier. On April 17, 1861, two days after Lincoln's first call for troops to put down the rebellion, Mr. Wilson hastened to volunteer as a private soldier in the Union army. Afterwards he was mustered into the service as captain of Company D, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. While in Indianapolis he was appointed major of the regiment. The regiment was ordered to West Virginia under General Roscrans. Colonel Wilson participated in the battle of Rich Mountain and was wounded in that engagement. He was mustered out with his regiment in August 1861. In the same month Colonel Wilson recruited the Fortieth Regiment, and in September became its colonel. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland under General Thomas. In 1862 Colonel Wilson resigned on account of ill health, after a career that was very meritorious in every respect. At the time of General Morgan's raid into Indiana, Colonel Wilson raised the One Hundred and Eighth Regiment in a period of twenty-four hours, and became its colonel during the period of its enlistment. It was the desire of the regiment and other troops to capture this bold Southern leader. On May 24, 1864, Colonel Wilson was appointed colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the Twenty-third Corps of General Sherman's army in the Atlanta campaign. The regiment afterwards was among a detachment sent back to Nashville in pursuit of General Hood. Colonel Wilson was honorably mustered out of the service at the close of the, receiving a commission from President Lincoln for his honorable, meritorious, and patriotic services rendered in defense of the Union cause. Colonel Wilson died at Lafayette, Indiana, in 1891. Samuel McKee Wilson enlisted as a private in the Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry on Lincoln's first call for troops to put down the Rebellion. In Indianapolis he was commissioned captain of Company D, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the battle of Rich Mountain, and in that battle captured a sword which is still in the possession of the family. Captain Wilson was mustered out of the service with his regiment in August, 1861. He entered the army again as a lieutenant in the Sixteenth Indiana Battery, and was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. After going through many battles and enduring many hardships, he finally received, at the battle of Antietam, injuries that caused his death. John Ward Wilson was first lieutenant in the Fortieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After service with that regiment for a time, he resigned and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry, and was honorably mustered out at the close of the Civil war. Miriam Elizabeth Wilson, a daughter of John Wilson, married Samuel MOORE, of the firm Moore, Morgan and Company, Wholesale Dry Goods, Lafayette Indiana, in 1866, and she died in 1867. The surviving members of this family are: Margaret Cochran Wilson, who is a member of the Society of Colonial Dames of America, also a member of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Miss Wilson resides at Lafayette, Indiana. Austin P. Wilson, a leading merchant of Lafayette for many years, is now retired from business and resides in that town. George W. Wilson is a graduate of Wabash College with the class of 1873, who, after his graduation, received a very pressing invitation to come to Lafayette from his brother, Col. William C. Wilson, with an offer of aid. This Mr. Wilson considered a fine chance, and he removed to Lafayette, expecting to find a friend and well-wisher in his brother, but instead he found in him a treacherous, hard, bitter enemy. Mr. Wilson was compelled at once to find another location without any preparation in his chosen profession. He removed to Nebraska and engaged in business in that state for a time, and is now a resident of North Dakota, where he has very large landed interests, and is engaged in the law and land brokerage business. George W. Wilson is a member of the Society of the Colonial Wars, the National Geographical Society of Washington, D.C., also a member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. His residence is at Morristown. In the Wilson homestead at Lafayette is a large and well equipped library of twelve hundred volumes, also many mementoes (sic) and heirlooms of the Wilson family. Judge Williamson DUNN, an early pioneer of Crawfordsville, married Miriam Wilson, a sister of Hon. John Wilson. Judge Dunn was the father of William McKee Dunn, ex-member of Congress from Indiana and Judge Advocate General of the United States. Judge Dunn was a strong advocate of colleges, and being a strict Presbyterian, he took a deep interest in the founding of Wabash College. He donated the first ground on which the college stood. This ground was sold and with the proceeds of such sale and other donations the present site was purchased. Hon. Theodore Ristine, in his address on the early history of Crawfordsville and a founder of Wabash College, says: "The next step, after having determined to establish a college, was to choose a location, and it was resolved unanimously in favor of Crawfordsville. There was no divided view, no other place. It was central and its 'State of Society' on account of which it was chosen, speaks volumes for the good name and social standing of the pioneers of this town and the estimation in which they were held by these men who had been educated in the best colleges of New England. To name a few of the families which contributed to that 'State of Society', referred to in the resolution selecting the town as the site for the college, may be mentioned that of Judge Williamson Dunn, Isaac C. Elston and Hon. John Wilson. In each case these names abide and the influence from them have continued and three generations of these families have helped the City, the State and Nation."
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Source: (The Political Graveyard)
Wilson, John (1796-1864) Uncle of Samuel Campbell Dunn, William McKee Dunn and David Maxwell Dunn; father of James Wilson; grandfather of John Lockwood Wilson. Born in Lancaster, Garrard County, Ky., November 29, 1796. Member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1840-41. Presbyterian. Died in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Ind., March 25, 1864. Burial location unknown.
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Source: Atlas of Montgomery County (Chicago: Beers, 1878) p 55 WILSON, John L, PO Crawfordsville; Abstracts and Real Estate settled in co. 1850.
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Source: H. W. Beckwith, 1881 History of Montgomery County, Indiana (Chicago: Beers) p 257
WILSON, John L, lawyer, Crawfordsville, was b. Aug 7, 1850 in Montgomery Co. In 1874 he grad. in the classical course of Wabash College. He spent the next two years in the pension office at Washington. Mr. Wilson was elected in Oct, 1880, by the republican to represent Montgomery Co. in the state legislature. He is a Mason, and an active, energetic young man
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Source: Seattle, Washington Republican, Jan 26, 1912 p 5
Senator John L. Wilson mourns the death of his mother, who was an octogenarian. Her home was in Crawfordsville, Indian and the Senator was at her bedside when she died. Embassador Wilson stationed in Mexico will doubtless leave his post long enough to attend the funeral.