U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Wilson, Lewis (1818-1902) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Barbour County, West Virginia, From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by Hu Maxwell The Acme Publishing Company, Morgantown, W.Va., 1899 Pages 508-511 Lewis Wilson, son of William F. Wilson, was born on Bill's Creek, then Randolph, now Barbour County, October 18, 1818. His marriage occurred May 20, 1844, and his wife was Ann M., daughter of Alexander and Rachel (Thompson) Keyes. The names of their children were, Elizabeth, Jane and Thomas Alman. When Mr. Wilson was about three years old he removed with his father's family to Ohio, and remained there two years, then returned to Bill's Creek, in Barbour. When he was twenty-one years of age he set out for the West and went to Wisconsin, which was then a territory, and remained there two years. The principal part taken by him was to cast his vote in a sod shanty for delegates to a convention to form a state constitution, preliminary to admission of Wisconsin into the Union as a State. He returned from Wisconsin in 1841, and two years later became half owner of a flour mill and carding machine at Philippi. This building stood on the site of the present mill owned by him; and in it the court met to organize Barbour County in April 1843. It was a snowy time, and when the weather was not too cold the court held its sessions under an apple tree in the lower end of town, and when a snowstorm threatened the court adjourned to the mill. When the oil excitement took place in Wirt County, Mr. Wilson went to the region of Burning Spring in company with L. D. Morrall and J. W. Payne, and began boring for oil with every prospect of success. But it was an inauspicious time, for the war was at hand. Soon bands of Confederate guerrillas began to infest the country, and made it very unpleasant for Union sympathizers. They wore white bands round their hats, and would put in their appearance at unexpected places and at times entirely too frequent to suit Mr. Wilson. He abandoned his mill and left the country, not even bringing his tools with him. He sent back for them, but they were never recovered. When he returned to Philippi the Confederate forces which had been stationed there under Colonel Porterfield had retreated; and the State Government was being reorganized. Nearly all the officers of the county had gone South, and the offices were vacant. On September 27 of that year, 1861, an election was held to fill the vacancies and Lewis Wilson was "chosen County Clerk and filled the position eighteen years; and during a portion of that time was Circuit Clerk, also. He was the second County Surveyor of Barbour, serving ten years. He succeeded his father who was the first County Surveyor and who resigned on account of his age. Mr. Wilson served two terms in the West Virginia Legislature, delegate from Barbour. In 1863 he was appointed Notary Public, and has held the office thirty-six years. While Clerk, Mr. Wilson was also Commissioner in Chancery. He is now one of the directors of the Tygart's Valley Bank, and still takes a supervisory interest in his mill and carding machines. Mr. Wilson belongs to a family which, during several generations, has been influential in business and politics. The family is Scotch, coming to America through Ireland, the founder of the name in America being William Wilson, great grandfather of the subject of this sketch. The father of Lewis Wilson was William P. Wilson, whose long and useful life left its impress upon Barbour County. He married Jane, daughter of Daniel Booth, who is buried near Belington, and lived for a time on Bill's Creek, then at Philippi. Their children were, Isaiah, Asher, Almond, Maria, Lewis, Albert, Daniel, Granger, Alpheus, Sarah Jane, Rezin B. and Eugenus. Of these children only two are now living, Lewis and Sarah Jane. She first married William M. Simpson, then Henson L. Yoke, and is now the wife of Sabeus Main. William P. Wilson owned the land on which Philippi was built, and he owned, at different times, property elsewhere. Like so many of the Wilson family, he was a mill owner. It is a fact worthy of note that the Wilsons were the pioneer mill builders in this part of the State. The second mill, within the limits of what is now Randolph County, was built by Colonel Benjamin Wilson, uncle of William P. Wilson. The first mill on Bill's Creek was built by Moses Wilson, and the second, on the same Creek, by William F. Wilson. John, brother of William F., built a mill, to run by horse power, six and a half miles southeast of Philippi. Some years later a mill was built near Belington by William F. The first mill, and also the first carding machine on the site of Philippi, was built about 1818 by William F. Wilson. He also built the first wagon road in what is now Barbour, east of the river. It extended from Philippi to Bill's Creek, and was seven miles long, and was built about 1800 by him for seventy-five cents a rod. It went up and down hills to avoid digging. William F. Wilson died in 1857. The father of William F. Wilson was William Wilson. He was born in Hampshire, now Hardy County, February 8, 1754, and died January 1, 1851, thus lacking only five weeks of being ninety-seven years old. For many years he was chairman of the Randolph county court, and was the first representative from that county in the Virginia Legislature. He married a sister of Jonas Friend, the old Indian fighter and Revolutionary soldier who lived at the mouth of Leading Creek.* *Jonas Friend lived to be very old, and in his last years his mind was very weak, and his memory existed nearly altogether in the past. He fancied that he was still a soldier fighting the British in defense of his country; and with his knapsack on his back and his gun on his shoulder he would go from house to house, halting occasionally, as if on picket duty, when he would raise his gun and go through the act of firing, exclaiming in exultation that there was one Red Coat less. Martin Poling married Mary ("Polly") daughter of William Wilson, 1810, and their children were, Phoebe, Absalom, Sarah, Wilson and Harvey. Mrs. Poling was born November 18, 1791. Mr, and Mrs. Poling were married by Simeon Harris. In 1794 Robert Clark was married to Mary Friend and sister of Mrs. William Wilson, and their children were, Elizabeth, Peggy, Sarah and Polly. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were married by Valentine Power. The father of William Wilson was also William, and he married Elizabeth, daughter of Archibald Blackburn, about 1746. William Wilson was born in Ireland, November 16, 1722, and his wife was born in the same country, in Ulster Province, February 22, 1725. She came to America before she and Mr. Wilson were married. They took up their residence on a small stream called Trout Run, now in Hardy County, West Virginia, and became the parents of eleven children. He died January 12, 1801, and Elizabeth, his wife, May 2, 1806. Of these children, John and Benjamin were delegates from Randojph County to the Virginia convention which met at Richmond in March, 1788, to ratify the Constitution of the United States. That was an important body, and twenty delegates were elected from what is now West Virginia John Wilson was the first County Clerk of Randolph, 1787; first Circuit Clerk, 1809; first Justice of the Peace, 1787; Major of Virginia Militia, 1787; Assessor, 1788; Sheriff in 1798, and was a man of wide influence. Colonel Benjamin Wilson had command of the militia in this part of West Virginia during the Revolutionary War, and had charge of the defense of the frontiers against the Indians, and met them in many an encounter. He was the first Clerk of Harrison County, and held the office nearly forty years. He was remarkable also for his large family, his children numbering twenty-nine. The Wilson family can be traced in Scotland two generations beyond William, the first who came to America. His father was David, and David's father was also David. Of the first David Wilson nothing is known except that he lived in Scotland and was born about 1650, and had a son David, born about 1685. This David Wilson, the second, took part in the Scotch rebellion of 1715, and being on the losing side, was compelled to leave his native country. He went to Ireland, and so far as there is any record he spent the remainder of his days there. At any rate he was still living in that country in 1722, in which year his son William was born, who settled in Hardy County. Thus the subject of this sketch, Lewis Wilson, traces his ancestry two and a half centuries unbroken, and the descent is thus summarized: Lewis Wilson was the son of William P., who was the son of William, who was the son of William, who was the son of David, who was the son of David Wilson the first. Five generations extend 250 years, which is fifty years to the generation. They are long-lived, for ordinarily a generation is only thirty-three years, and five generations would be 165 years. The descendants of William Wilson, who settled in Hardy County, counting both the dead and the living, probably number two thousand, although it is impossible now to take a full census of them. They are found all over West Virginia, and in many parts of the United States. ------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Register, Barbour County, WV (Page 111, Line Numbered 23) FULL-NAME: Lewis Wilson BIRTH-DATE: Oct 18, 1818 DEATH-DATE: Sept 16, 1902 at 85 years of age DEATH-PLACE: Philippi MARITAL-STATUS: Widower FATHER: Wm F. Wilson MOTHER: Jenette CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Old Age ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Barbour County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/barbour/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------