Clark County WA Archives Biographies.....Wilson, W. R. November 11, 1859 - 
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Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 33-34
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     Among the old residents of the Columbia River Valley, who have done their 
full part in the development of this section of the state and have been 
successful in their individual affairs, stands W. R. Wilson, who for thirty-
five years has lived on his well improved place near Vancouver, where he has 
carried on a prosperous butchering business.

     Mr. Wilson was born on the 11th of November, 1859, on Sutter street, 
between Kearney and Montgomery streets, now the heart of the business and 
financial district of San Francisco, and is a son of Robert and Martha (Lyons) 
Wilson, the latter of whom was born in County Donegal, Ireland. The father was 
born in Newark, New Jersey, where he was reared and educated, and there 
learned the trade of hat finisher. Subsequently he joined the Fourth Regiment 
of United States Infantry, with which he crossed the plains in 1854, the train 
being one and a quarter miles long. They wintered in Salt Lake City and then 
proceeded to San Francisco, where they remained until the outbreak of the 
Rogue River Indian war in 1855-56, when they went to that locality and took an 
important part in the quelling of the uprising, after which they returned to 
San Francisco. Mr. Wilson was then honorably discharged from the service and 
resumed work at his trade as a hat finisher in that city. At the outbreak of 
the Civil war he enlisted in the ordnance department and was sent to 
Vancouver, Washington, where he served until 1864, when he was discharged. He 
then became a government messenger under Major Francis, serving in that 
capacity until 1870, and during that time he made trips, usually with an 
escort of soldiers, to Fort Boise, Fort Walla Walla, Camp Harney, and Camp 
Three Forks, in Idaho, which fort he helped to build. On leaving the service 
Mr. Wilson returned to Vancouver, where he resided until his death, which 
occurred in September, 1881. He was survived a number of years by his widow, 
who died in 1899. They were the parents of four children, namely: W. R., of 
this review; Mary, who became the wife of M. W. Warren, of San Francisco; 
Robert and John, both of whom are deceased.

     W. R. Wilson received his education in the public schools and at Holy 
Angels College in Vancouver, and his first job was as a driver of a water 
cart, selling drinking water to the people of Vancouver in 1873-4. In the 
following year he went to Eagle Cliff, where he was employed in a salmon 
cannery, and was later engaged in fishing at Astoria, being in that country 
about five years altogether. He then returned to Vancouver and during the 
following two years, 1880-82, followed the butchering business. He then bought 
a homestead at Yacolt, in the midst of the forest, where he engaged in farming 
for ten years, at the end of which time he sold out and purchased his present 
place, comprising five acres of the old Thornton claim, and here he has 
engaged in the butchering business continuously to the present time. He buys 
stock, which he kills and dresses and sells to meat dealers. He thoroughly 
understands his business and the prosperity which is his has been gained 
through his close attention and persistent industry.

     In 1882 Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Thomes, who was 
born at Indian Creek, California, and is a daughter of Harmon and Mary Thomes, 
the latter of whom was a native of Virginia. Her father was born in Maine and 
his ancestors came to this country from the north of Scotland. On coming to 
the Pacific coast he engaged in mining in California and other parts of the 
west and was fairly successful. Mrs. Wilson and her mother came from 
California to The Dalles, Oregon, at which time the former was about two and a 
half years old. In 1862 her mother placed her with the Orphan Asylum 
Association of Oregon and Washington at Vancouver, later known as the House of 
Providence, and there she remained until about sixteen years of age. She still 
remembers with pleasure many of the kindly Sisters of that home. Mrs. Wilson 
then engaged in the teaching of music in private homes in Portland, but later 
lived for awhile with her cousin, Charles Thomes, who operated a large cannery 
at Astoria. She remained there two years and then returned to Vancouver, where 
she became the wife of Mr. Wilson.

     To them have been born five children, as follows: Mary Martha is now the 
wife of John Kissel, of Portland, and they have a son, Kenneth. Charles, who 
enlisted in Company D of the Twentieth Engineers and served with the allied 
armies in France for two years, is now married and lives in Oswego, where he 
is employed in railroad work. Robert L., who is sheriff of Valley county, 
Idaho, and lives at Cascade, is married and has two daughters, Grace and 
Roberta. Michael Warren, a steel worker at present employed in Cle Elum, 
Washington, but residing in Minnehaha, Clark county, married Florence La Pine 
of Portland. William Oscar, also a veteran of the World war, was a member of 
Company F, of the Twentieth United States Engineers, and was on board the 
steamship "Tuscania" when it was torpedoed, entailing the loss of two hundred 
lives. He was saved and served two years, being in the army of occupation 
after the signing of the armistice.

     W. R. Wilson has always taken a deep interest in the affairs of his 
community, being a progressive and wide-awake citizen, and in 1911 he was 
elected justice of the peace. So eminently satisfactory has been his service 
in that capacity that he has, by successive reelections, been retained in that 
office to the present time. He also served as deputy county assessor for two 
years, 1920-21. He and his wife are members of Minnehaha Grange, and all of 
their sons are members of the Knights of Pythias. When Mr. Wilson bought the 
place on which he now lives there was on it an old vertical sawmill, driven by 
water power, which was one of the first sawmills established in the northwest. 
There was also an old tannery, probably the first in the northwest, which 
burned down in 1862, the vats being still in the ground, while near by was an 
old gristmill, both of these standing on Burnt Bridge creek. Mr. Wilson has in 
his possession a valued heirloom in the shape of a high silk hat which was 
made by his father in San Francisco in 1857, and also has an old desk which 
was brought around Cape Horn in an early day by Major Francis. He has two 
copies of the Vancouver Chronicle, published in July and September, 1861, and 
which are printed on linen instead of paper, and has other relics of the early 
days, which will become more valuable as time passes. By his worthy and 
consistent life, Mr. Wilson has gained the sincere respect and good will of 
his fellowmen and has long been one of the most popular residents of his 
section of the county.

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