Johnson County KS Archives Biographies.....Wilson, W. J. 1843 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 21, 2008, 2:12 am

Author: Ed Blair (1915)

  W. J. Wilson, now deceased, was a Johnson county pioneer and a Civil war
veteran, and for many years was an honored resident of Gardner. Mr. Wilson was
born in Washington county, Ohio, September 12, 1843, and was a son of Joseph and
Sidney (Cottell) Wilson, natives of Ohio. The Wilson family came west in 1859,
and took up a claim in Johnson county. They were well-to-do and prosperous, for
those times, in a new country. They were much better off than their less
fortunate neighbors. The parents spent their lives in Johnson county and both
died and are buried here. They were the parents of five children of whom W. J.,
whose name introduces this sketch, was the oldest. He was a lad ten years of age
when the family settled in Johnson county, and here he grew to manhood on the
farm and attended the pioneer schools, such as they were. When the Civil war
broke out he responded to his country's call, and in January, 1862, enlisted in
a company of Kansas artillery, and served three years, or until the close of the
war. During his term of service he participated in many important battles, and
made an unusually good military record. He returned to his Johnson county home
in 1865 and served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. He then engaged
in the blacksmith business at Gardner, where he conducted a shop throughout his
life. He died October 30, 1909. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, The Grand Army of the Republic, and a life-long Republican. He was a
successful business man and one of the best citizens of Johnson county. Mr.
Wilson was united in marriage, January 1, 1876, to Miss Elizabeth R. Jacks, a
daughter of David and Elizabeth Jacks, of Washington county, Ohio. The Jacks
family came to Kansas in 1866, and settled at Olathe, where the father followed
blacksmithing. To Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Wilson were born five children as follows:
Carrie J., teacher, Olathe; Elma E., married Edwin Eaton; Joseph D., Gardner;
Jessie L., married F. B. Lyon, Gardner; and Frank W., dentist, Gardner.

Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF Johnson County Kansas
BY
ED BLAIR

AUTHOR OF
Kansas Zephyrs, Sunflower Sittings and Other Poems and Sketches

IN ONE VOLUME

ILLUSTRATED
STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
1915


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