McDonough ILGenWeb

WILSON, John W., who, for the past ten years, has been engaged in farming operations in Emmet Township, McDonough County, Ill., was born in Leeds, England. March 8, 1836, a son of Mark and Bessie (Nayler) Wilson, both natives of England. The grandfather, Robert Wilson, was an Englishman, who married a lady named Willis, also of English birth. In early life, after finishing his school studies, John W. Wilson learned the trade of a molder. In his twenty-first year, he came to the United States and worked at his trade in Boston, Mass., until the following year, when he went to St. Louis, and was there employed as a molder for two years, afterward being engaged in coal-mining for several years. When he came to Emmet Township he bought an eighty-acre farm, to which he soon after added forty acres more, which contained a vein of coal called the Randolph Mine. The mining portion he subsequently sold and purchased forty acres additional, and on this tract of 120 acres, he is engaged in general farming and raising cattle, hogs and horses. He is an industrious, careful and thrifty farmer.

On September 27, 1859. Mr. Wilson was married to Mary Teasdale, who was born and educated in Kendall, England. They became the parents of the following named children: George (deceased), Mark, John, Albert, Willis M., Mary (deceased), Laura and Frederick. In his religious associations, Mr. Wilson is a Methodist, and politically, has cast his fortunes with the Populist party. He has held the office of School Trustee and Director, and has also served as Justice of the Peace.

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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907, volume 2, page 1047, extracted 26 Oct 2020 by Norma Hass.