Correspondence with J.D.
Wilson who has provided the following information on the Wilson Family of
Sullivan Co. In. He can be reached through rootsweb at the link to his
information which follows.
Yesterday I came across two
items that lead me to believe that John Harvey Wilson and Henry Kautzman Wilson
were the sons of Adam Wilson and Margaret Magill and not the sons of John
Wilson, Jr and one of his wives.
The first item is the
following biographical sketch of John Harvey Wilson:
From: History of Greene and Sullivan Counties,
state of Indiana : from
the earliest time to the
present, together with interesting biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes,
etc. Pages 741 & 742:
JOHN HARVEY WILSON, a native
of Eastern Tennessee, was born in Greene
County, near Greeneville,
January 27, 1811,
a son of Adam and Margaret
(Magill) Wilson. and grandson of John and Susanna
(Kautzman) Wilson. His grandparents were of German ancestors, while his mother
is of Scotch parentage, as her name suggests. On both sides of the house his
grandparents were natives of the Old Dominion, and both grandfathers served
their country with fidelity in her struggle for liberty with Great Britain.
Both families moved to East Tennessee at a
very early day, the mother of Adam Wilson, who was born in the year 1784,
carrying him on horseback the entire distance.
John Wilson died at his new
home in Tennessee, but his widow, with the
family of Adam Wilson, emigrated to the Hoosier
State in 1831, and settled near
Carlisle, but about eighteen months later removing to what is now Cass Township,
near the head-waters of the Busseron. Here her death occurred in the year 1857,
at the advanced age of about ninety-four years. Adam Wilson was a wheelwright
by trade, but a farmer by occupation, and for about fifteen years served as
Justice of the Peace for Jackson
Township, which at that
time comprised two Congressional townships. He and wife were honored citizens
and members of the Presbyterian Church, and the parents of a family of eight
children, of whom John Harvey is the eldest, five of whom still live. The
father died in 1857, and the mother in 1848. John Harvey Wilson was reared to
manhood in his native State, and for the day received a fair education. His
early years were passed assisting his parents on the home farm, and with them
he came to Sullivan County, Ind., the fall of 1831. He has always made his home
here since that time, and until the death of his parents he remained single and
at home. He pedaogued it here at an early day for upward of three years, his
first schools being held in one of the pioneer log schoolhouses, stick-and-mud
chimney, greased paper for window lights, puncheons for seats, etc. In 1840, he
was made Sheriff of the county, and after serving one term of two years was
re-elected to the office, serving in all four years. During a part of this
time, the county seat was at Merom, but subsequently was removed to Sullivan.
In 1845, he was elected to represent the people of Sullivan County
in the lower branch 'of the State Legislature, and again he was elected
Representative in 1850.
Since 1857, he has been a
resident of the town of Sullivan,
where he now lives a retired and quiet life. On the 25th of November, 1862, he
was united in marriage with Mrs. D. A. Patton, the daughter of Arbuthnot H. and
Dorcas
(Higgins) Lyons, and the
widow of James G. Patton. Mr. Wilson is a Democrat in politics, a member of the
Royal Arch Chapter in Masonry, and he and wife belong to the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Wilson(*should be Mr. Lyons) was born March 21, 1831, in Coshocton County, Ohio.
The following notice of his death appeared in one of the local newspapers:
"Died at his home in Jackson
Township, on the 1st of
August, Mr. A. H. Lyons, aged near seventy-six years. Deceased was born in Belmont County, Ohio,
in November, 1800; was married to Dorcas Higgins April 25, 1822. About the year 1827, he
removed from Belmont County to West Carlisle, Coshocton Co., Ohio, where he continued to reside until the year 1854,
when he removed to this State, and settled in Jackson
Township, Sullivan County.
The deceased made a profession of religion and connected himself with the
Presbyterian Church in his twenty-third year; shortly afterward he was made an
Elder in the church, which office he continued to fill until his death. Father
Lyons, as he was familiarly called, was a very earnest and devoted Christian,
warmly attached to the church, alive to the discharge of every Christian duty,
and always found at his place in the church during public worship. He lived at
peace with his neighbors and possessed their confidence and regard. He died-as
the devoted Christian dies-full of trust and faith in his Redeemer."
The second item is the death
announcement for John Harvey Wilson:
Jan. 21, 1904 Thurs. Sullivan Democrat
-Sullivan County's Grand Old
Man has Passed Away Tributes Paid to Honored Citizen, Whose Four score and Ten
Were Well Spent-one of Nature's Noblemen.- John Harvey Wilson, died Monday
January 18 at 6 o'clock in
the afternoon in Sullivan. He died of pneumonia, the result of a several cold.
He was born 27 January 1810, Greenville,
Tenn. came to Sullivan county in
1832. Helped lay out town of Sullivan,
taught school. 1840 elected Sheriff. 1845-1850 represented county in the
Legislature. forty years member of the local Mason lodge (Jerusalem Chapter #
8, Royal Arch) Elder of Presbyterian church. Nov.
25, 1862 Harvey married Mrs Dorcas A. Patton, daughter
of Arbuthrot H. and Dorcas Lyons. He was
a brother of Henry K. Wilson.
The son, John Wilson, listed
in the will of John Wilson, Jr (son of John Wilson & Susannah Kautzman) was
deceased at the time that the will was recorded (January 3, 1850):
In the will - "....
which interest came to me by the death of John Wilson my son who died without
heirs...."
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Thank you for the additional
information. I contacted D.A.R. last
week and was given a list of D.A.R. applications for your John Wilson:
"Here are the DAR
national numbers for descendants of your patriot ancestor who have joined our
society: 187409 (Elizabeth W. Pirtle who
joined in IN), 490419, 509376, 585506, 808641, 808642, 808643. Other than Elizabeth's, names of the members are
restricted to this site. "
"Elizabeth joined back in the early days of
DAR when proof of information was not required and her application may or may
not have much information in it. The
other descendants, however, have joined since our strict guidelines of proof
were started."
"
DAR # 585506 joined through
child Adam, all the others through child Peter.
When ordering be sure to
give complete information on John Wilson as to year and place of birth,
death. This will help ensure you get the
application you are paying for. As you
can imagine there are numerous patriots in our database with that name. If you fax your order, you will receive it in
one to two weeks, vs six to eight weeks by snail's mail."
I would like to have your
opinion on something that is in the will of Peter Wilson (son of John &
Susannah, brother of Adam, John, George & David):
"....and I hereby make
and ordain my worthy and esteemed friend Adam Wilson
Executor of this my last
will and testament. In witness
...."
Would someone refer to his
brother as "my worthy and esteemed friend" in his will instead of
"my brother"? I have not been
able to find an Adam Wilson of the correct age range in or near Sullivan County circa 1850 other than Peter's
brother.
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Some further information on
sources: DAR Application: Leah Carty Kemppainen made application on Jan, 5,
1974. Living in Florence,
Ky.,(across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Oh.). She was a descendant of Adam Wilson, through
Sullivan Co, Cochran's. States in
application, that information comes from Adam Wilson's family Bible. She sent photo copies to National DAR.
Adam Wilson, son of John and
Susanah, was born 6/16/1761
in Hampshire Co. Va., no Hardy Co. W. Va.
This DAR application is where listing on web-site of John and Susanah's male
children comes from.
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Attached is an image of what
I believe is a fragment of Susannah Kautzman Wilson's headstone at Claiborne Cemetery. My cousin Katherine Wilson Burns & her
husband, Walter, took photos of every head stone in Claiborne Cemetery
that existed in 2000.
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Subject: FW: John W. Wilson
Indian Prairie Cemetery http://genealogyworld.com/coxgene/ipcem12.htm
has many Wilson
burials.
It also lists 7 Dec 1856 as
a death date with 80 years and 6 days.
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=jdwilson
Specific question: You and others have indicated John W. Wilson
(Jr) was
born on December 1, 1788. The Sullivan
County Historical Society Cemetery
Index (Vol II, Page 113)
indicates that John died on December 7, 1856 and
was 80 years and 6 days old
at the time of his passing. What is the
source
of your information on John
birth data?