Wilson -James W.

Source: Atlas of Montgomery County (Chicago: Beers, 1878) p 51

James W. WILSON, PO Potato Creek; Farmer and STock Raiser; Sec 13, son of Cornelius and Betsey Ann Wilson; was b. in Brown CO Ohio, Dec 14, 1829 and settled on Sec 8, Sugar Creek Twp with his parents 1835; marr. Sarah C. ERMENTROUT Sept 28, 1854; two children; Elizabeth P and Jennie M.

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Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke & Fountain counties, Indiana. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1893.

James W. WILSON, a representative farmer and highly respect citizen, of Kirkpatrick, Montgomery County, Ind., is well known throughout Madison Township as a most genial gentleman and obliging friend and neighbor. The family record of his ancestry shows him to be of Scotch and Irish descent, a fact fully verified by the ready with and quaint humor of our subject.

Away back in the latter part of the seventeenth century, among the rugged hills of "Old Scotia' David WILSON, the paternal ancestor and great-great-grandfather of James W., was born. A sturdy lad, full of native energy and manly resolution, he early became self-supporting, and seeking where best to establish himself during the future struggle of life, left Scotland, and drifted into the neighboring kingdom of Ireland. In "Erin´s Isle' he found employment and a life-time home. Earning his daily bread by steady, honest toil he prospered, and with prudent management was enabled to marry and rear a large family of ambitious, enterprising and self-reliant children.

William WILSON, a son of the old Scotchman, was born in Ireland, in the 1722, and there pursued the uneventful tenor of his way, in due time marrying, and providing for the large family which soon surrounded him. One of his sons, Solomon WILSON, the grandfather of our subject, became deeply interested in the success of the colonists beyond the sea, and, satisfied that he could better his fortunes in the New World, resolved to emigrate thither. Bidding friends and relatives farewell, he embarked for America, and soon left his native shores far behind him. The journey across the stormy Atlantic was in those days exceedingly tedious, and often perilous, but Mr. WILSON was young, hopeful and courageous, and occupied his time on ship-board planning for his future.

Landing safely upon this side of the ocean, the young Irishman settled in the "Old Dominion' and following the custom of his family, married early in life and in Virginia founded the American Wilsons, direct descendants of the Old Scotchman David WILSON. Solomon WILSON took an active part in the struggles for independence from the mother-country, and no colonist was more enthusiastic in the holy cause of liberty that he. There is recorded in a faithful diary kept at that time, and now in the possession of the family, the interesting historical fact that Mr. WILSON'S patriotism was further practically demonstrated by his donation to the cause of freedom of a most valuable possession, the weights of the old family clock, which had peacefully ticked away the hours in the Virginia home. These weights, weighing respectively sixteen and fifteen pounds, were molded into bullets, and handled by the resolute patriots of the Revolution.

Cornelius WILSON, son of Solomon Wilson, was the father of our subject. He was a native of Hardy County, Virginia, and was born in 1802. He married at an early age Miss Betsey TAYLOR, also a resident of Virginia, and with his wife migrated to Ohio, where he located in Brown County. In 1834 the attractions of Montgomery County, Ind., caused his removal thither, and with wife and children about him he lived to a good old age, enjoying the respect and confidence of the entire community which surrounded him. Cornelius WILSON held a commission under Gov. Jeremiah MORROW, as First Lieutenant, the time of service extending from 1825 to 1834, when Mr. WILSON exchanged his home in Ohio, for one in Indiana.

James W. Wilson, born December 14, 1829, was the second child in a family of ten, and now resides near the spot where he spent the days of boyhood. In 1854 he married to Miss Sarah C. ERMENTROUT, a daughter of one of the early pioneers of the county. Two children were raised to maturity, in their pleasant home upon the farm, which our subject has cultivated many years. The WILSOMS have been Presbyterians from time immemorial, and in old Scotland devoutly attended the nearest "kirk.'

Our subject is not a politician, but he votes for "the best man' and both he and his good wife are interested in the welfare and prosperity of the world at large. Passing year after year in their quiet home, they have witnessed so many events in the upward progress of their State that they are possessed of a wonderful and most interesting store of reminiscence.

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