WILSON, David
David WILSON, after the labors of a long and busy life, is spending his
later years in ease and retirement in Wenona. He belongs to an honored old
Pennsylvania
family, members of the Society of Friends, its founder in America
belonging to William Penn’s colony. There the great-grandfather
of our subject, Samuel WILSON, and the grandfather, Daniel WILSON, were both
born.
The birth of Amos WILSON, the father, occurred in Chester county,
Pennsylvania, in 1794, and he there married Hannah BROWN, who was born in
the same county in 1800, and was a daughter of David BROWN, a native of
Ireland, who came to America when a boy. The parents left
Pennsylvania, in 1826, locating upon a farm in
Belmont county, Ohio, where the mother died the following
year, at the age of twenty-six. To them had been born five children: Joshua
B., now deceased, who was married and had ten children; Mrs. Margaret
MERRITT, of Lostant, Illinois, who has
eight children; David, of this sketch; Thomas, of Corning, Iowa,
who has fourteen children, and Mrs. Hannah B. HOGE, of Wenona, who has six
children.
After the death of his first wife, Amos WILSON married Anna MORRIS, and
in 1851, with his family, removed to Illinois, locating upon a new farm of
prairie land in Putnam county, two miles north of Magnolia, which he placed
under a high state of cultivation. He there made his home until his death
about twelve years ago, at the age of eighty-seven years. His second wife,
who survived him, died in 1895, at the age of ninety-one years. Nine
children graced their union, namely: Ruth Anna, deceased; Mrs. Rebecca
HOWARD, of
Chester,
Nebraska, who has seven children;
Sarah, deceased, who was married and had two children; Mrs. Elizabeth MILLS,
of Putnam county, Illinois, who has four sons; Morris, of the same county,
who has four children; Mrs. Mary SMITH, also of Putnam county, who has seven
children; Amos, of Putnam county, who has two daughters; Oliver, of Putnam
county, who has one child, and Laura, deceased. The father followed farming
exclusively, was a quiet, unobtrusive man of temperate habits, and in
politics was first a whig and later a republican. Both parents of our
subject were members of the Society of Friends, belonging to a liberal
church, of which the father served as elder, and he was a strong friend of
the cause of education.
Mr. WILSON, whose name introduces this sketch, was born in
Chester
county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1822, and was reared by his
stepmother in Belmont county, Ohio, where he attended the district schools.
He learned the trade of a harness maker, but also engaged in farming. In
1846 he was joined in wedlock with Eliza P. GREENLEAF, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1825, and was the daughter of John and
Ann (EVANS) GEENLEAF, the former a native of
Rhode Island, and the latter of
Pennsylvania. Her father was a distant
relative of the well beloved poet, John Greenleaf WHITTIER.
Mrs. WILSON died in 1873. By her union with our subject she became the
mother of eleven children, ten still living; Mrs. Mary A. McCARTY, living in
Iowa, has six children; Mrs. Anna B. GANTS, of
Wenona, has four daughters; Mrs. Sarah SPARGROVE, of
Normal, Illinois, has one daughter; Mrs. Ruth Ella
GRIFFITH, of Sonoma county, California, has four children; Alice is at home;
John N., of La Salle county, Illinois, has three sons; David is deceased;
Mrs. Jennette McLAUGHLIN, living in Clay county, Nebraska, has five
children; Amos lives at Wenona; Mrs. Bessie NEWBURN, of Marshall county, has
three children, and Mrs. Laura E. CARRITHERS also makes her home in Marshall
county.
For a time after his marriage, Mr. WILSON worked at his trade in Ohio,
but in the fall of 1851 came to Illinois, locating first in Magnolia
township, Putnam county, where he remained a few years, and then removed to
a farm in Evans township, Marshall county, three miles west of Wenona, which
he improved and cultivated. Going to Evans Station he there made his home
for twenty years, but since 1889, he has lived quietly at Wenona, resting
after years of ceaseless toil. His political support is unswervingly given
the republican party, and both himself and wife are devoted members of the
Society of Friends.
On the 21st of November, 1881, Mr. WILSON was untied in marriage with
Lydia A. FOULKE, a native of Pennsylvania, and a
daughter of John and Ann (SINCLAIR) FOULKE. She was educated at Sharon seminary, a Friends school near Philadelphia, and has had much experience as a
teacher. For three years and a half she served as an army nurse during the
civil war, entering a hospital in
Philadelphia
as a volunteer in 1862, and there remained for four months
without pay, while a friend boarded her for nothing, as a contribution to
the soldiers. The nurses were formed into an organized band and were
distributed among the different wards. At
Baltimore, Maryland, a warehouse on the wharf near the
railroad depot was used, and there Mrs. WILSON was next on duty. After the
battle of
Gettysburg
they had both rebel and union soldiers to care for. At length
she returned to her home for two weeks and while there received a note from
Annie WITTENYER, who had established special diet kitchens in all the
western hospitals, asking Mrs. WILSON to meet her at Louisville, Kentucky,
which she did and was placed in charge of special diet kitchen, No. 1, at
Chattanooga, where she was assisted by Miss Anna MILLER, of Iowa. They
received their supplies from the general field agent of the Christian
commission, and furnished meals
to nine convalescent soldiers who were unable to go to the general dining
room. She also visited wards daily and tried to supply any extras she could.
In January, 1865, Mrs. WILSON was transferred to
Cumberland
hospital at Nashville, Tennessee,
but was only there two weeks when she was taken ill and was cared for at the
Christian Commission Home about three weeks. As soon as able she went to Decatur, Illinois, on a
thirty days leave of absence, after which she went to
Findlay
hospital at Washington,
D. C., where she remained until the close of the war in August, 1865. She
was in that city at the time of the grand review and when President Lincoln
was assassinated. She now receives a well deserved pension from the United States
government for her unselfish and faithful devotion to the
wounded soldiers. She has often addressed public meetings, and is now an
honored member of the Woman’s Relief corps.
Source: The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois
published in 1896, page 610.
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