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, Horatio Nelson (1831-1892) ------------------------------------------------------------------- History of Ritchie County by Minnie Kendall Lowther Wheeling News Litho. Co., Wheeling W.Va., 1911 Pages 553-554, Horatio Nelson Wilson The village of Burnt House, which now numbers near a half-hundred inhabitants, was born in 1882, when the late H. N. Wilson and J. K. P. Stalnaker, built the store-house that is now the wagon and blacksmith-shop of Henry Smith, and launched the mercantile business here. The mill was constructed the same year by the Stalnaker Brothers, J. R., D. C., and the late Sanford, who passed from his earthly home in Dakota in 1896; and J. R. Stalnaker, at this time erected the first dwelling where his hotel now stands. H. N. Wilson. — In 1883, this dwelling and mill passed into the hands of H. N. Wilson, and here, the following spring, one of the saddest pages of Mr. Wilson's life was written when the mill exploded, instantly killing his little son, Burr, and dreadfully scalding his eldest son, L. B. Wilson. Shortly after this sad occurrence, Mr. Wilson sold his mill to the late G. W. Fling, and his step-son, A. C. Fisher; and a few months later, disposed of his interest in the store to his partner, Mr. Stalnaker, and went to Cornwallis, early in the year 1886, where he was engaged in the mercantile business for the next eighteen months, until his store was accidentally destroyed by fire; he then returned to Burnt House, and again, in 1890, opened a store here, and continued to sell goods until his death in 1892. Mr. Wilson was born near Oxford in 1831; was a member of the pioneer family of Wilsons whose history appears with the South Fork settlers. In 1859, he was married to Miss Victoria Taylor, daughter of the late James Taylor, who was at that time sheriff of the county, the ceremony being solemnized at the old jail at Harrisville, and shortly after his marriage, he settled on Straight fork of Spruce creek, on the old homestead that is now the property of his adopted daughter, Mrs. Stata Lowther Wilson Haddox, where the family have lived continuously since that time with the exception of a few years. Here he passed from earth and, here, he sleeps. His wife was laid by his side, in December, 1907. He served as Lieut. in the State Militia before the Civil war, but was not in active service during the Rebellion, as his sympathies were with the Southern cause. He filled the offices of County surveyor. Land Assessor, and served as a member of the Board of Education, of Murphy district. He was the father of eleven children: L. B., Mack, F. S., Chape, Walter, Claude, and Mrs. E. L. Hartman, the other four died in childhood. Chape, who has chosen teaching as his profession, was graduated from the Glenville Normal school in the class of 1910. ------------------------------------------------------------------- There's a large shared tombstone in Wilson Family Cemetery, Burnt House, West Virginia WILSON Mother Father Victoria M. Horatio N. 1842-1907 1831-1892 ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Ritchie County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/ritchie/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------