John Carey Wilson

DEAN, LOVELL, MAHAN, SAWHILL, WILSON

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/14/2004 at 10:34:56

“The History of Madison County, Iowa”
Unions Historical Company, Des Moines, 1879
pages 605, 606

J. C. Wilson, Douglas twp., farmer, Sec. 5; P.O. Winterset; born in Ohio, July 16, 1819; he emigrated to Iowa in 1845 and settled in Des Moines county, and remained there until his removal to this county in 1866; owns 578 acres of land; has held office of town trustee, etc.; he married Miss Ann Mahan in 1845; she was born in Ohio; has six children: Cyrus Lawson, Chester S., Eva P., Margie, William O., Mary O.
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“A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa”
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1896

Transcribed and edited by Kent G. Transier, 08 Jan 2010

J. C. Wilson, one of the well-to-do and highly respected farmers of Madison county, Iowa, resides in Douglas township, where he owns a fine farm comprising nearly 500 acres, his residence being on section 5.

Mr. Wilson was born in Highland county, Ohio, July 16, 1819. His father, A. B. Wilson, was one of the pioneers of southern Ohio, was a native of North Carolina, coming to Ohio as early as 1814, and for a time was engaged in teaching school, but after his marriage settled down to the life of a farmer. His father, John Wilson, was of Scotch-Irish descent and was born in Pennsylvania. A. B. Wilson was married in Ross county, Ohio, in 1817 to Miss Margery Dean, a native of that county. Her father, Abram Dean, was one of its early settlers, having come down the Ohio river on a flatboat, from Pennsylvania, and located at Chillicothe when that town could boast only four houses. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Wilson located on a farm in Highland county, where they passed the remainder of their lives, he dying at the age of sixty-six years and she at eighty-four. They had four daughters and seven sons, the subject of this sketch being the second son and second child.

Mr. Wilson was reared on his father’s frontier farm and remained an inmate of the paternal home until his marriage, in 1845. His educational advantages were meager, being Limited to about eighteen months altogether, in the district school. Five days after his marriage he came with his bride to Iowa, first settling at Burlington, Des Moines county, which continued to be his abiding place until 1864, when he sold out and moved to Washington county. Two years later he purchased land in Douglas township, Madison county, and since 1866 he has resided at his present location, engaged in agricultural pursuits. From a small tract of land and a cabin home he has increased his holdings and improved his property until today his fine farm comprises 488 acres, with excellent improvements thereon.

In 1845 Mr. Wilson married Miss Ann E. Mahan, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, and reared there. For Many years she shared with her husband the joys and sorrows of life, at all times proving herself a worthy helpmate, passing away in 1892. Of their children, eleven in number, we enter record as follows: Harriet D., deceased; Amanda A., deceased; Cyrus L., a resident of Winterset, this State; Chester S. residing at Marathon, also this State; Eva V., wife of I. J. Lovell, Douglas township, this county; Margery E., wife of Lewis Sawhill, of Colorado; Frances E., deceased; Cora V., also deceased; William O.; Mary O., who presides over her father’s home; and one that died in infancy.

Although Mr. Wilson had but limited educational advantages in his youth, he has by observation and by actual contact with the world acquired a broad knowledge, and is better posted on public affairs than many whose early advantages were far superior to his. Politically he acts with the Republican party. He has always been a strong Union man, and in the days of slavery he was connected with the “underground railroad,” and was well known as a friend of the oppressed, as indeed he is yet known, with reference to the emergencies that come up around him and in the labor and political issues of the day.