JAMES EDWARD WILSON.
James Edward Wilson, farmer, of Lancaster township, Atchison county, was born December 14, 1865, on the farm which he now manages. He is a son of Charles and Mary K. (Brown) Wilson, who were the parents of eleven children, as follows: Sarah E. died in infancy; Louise C. died when two years old; William M., deceased; Andrew J., Hill City, Kan.; Martha E., deceased; Nancy J., deceased; James E., subject of this sketch; Julia A. Martin, Wabaunsee county, Kansas; Charles T., Atchison county, and Samuel H., deceased. The father, Charles Wilson, was born February 7, 1827, in Bartholomew county, Indiana, a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Wilson, who migrated to Missouri. Charles Wilson left the farm in Buchanan county, was married and came to Kansas. In 1855 he settled on the farm which his son now owns in section 14, Lancaster township, Atchison county. The father with his wife and infant child went through many hardships in their pioneering days.
The family came from Buchanan county, Missouri, in a covered wagon, driving a yoke of oxen. He preëmpted 160 acres, the site of his son’s present farm. He built a small log cabin to shelter his family, and, with the aid of two other men, he began to break the prairie. This was slow work with oxen, and during the first year they cleared but ten acres each. Fifty acres of the farm was in fine wooded land along the creek. This furnished them plenty of lumber with which to build their cabin and other buildings. They planted the land, which was in tillable condition, in corn, and were soon able to live in some degree of comfort, but it was still a wild country. An old trail ran near the farm, now known as the “Military trail,” and the Indians following this frequently camped along the trail near the farm. They prowled around the house frequently, and the father always kept close to his house to protect his family from possible danger. Those were the true pioneer days, and they had to go to Atchison for their provisions. It was a lonely trip, only one house being between the Wilson cabin and Atchison. But in those days people only bought the barest necessities of life which were all that they could afford. They paid two dollars a bushel for corn meal during the second spring there. Wild game was plentiful and furnished much of the food. Badgers and wolves were numerous and gave danger to the sheep of the pioneers. Many nights were spent with loaded gun within reach in preparedness for the wolves which could be heard howling about. On the trips to Atchison to trade travelers and pioneers often stopped at Mormon Grove for a rest. The place was about seven miles west of Atchison, and took its name from the fact that the Mormons, on their way to Utah, frequently camped in this grove over night. Travelers along this road always watered their horses from the pond there.
After two years the settlers began to feel the need of educational advantages for their children, as there was no school near enough for the children of the pioneers to attend. For the two years they had lived here they had no school advantages, and the men of the neighborhood joined together and built a log school house. It was in the district now known as old Huron school district No. 24. A postoffice also was established near the school house, but when the railroad was built through that section of the county, the postoffice was moved to Huron, where the station was located.
Charles Wilson died in 1897, at the age of seventy years. His wife, Mary K. Wilson, was born October 31, 1831, in eastern Tennessee. She was a daughter of Joseph and Polly (McCurry) Brown. They were natives of Tennessee. The mother is now living with her son, James, the subject of this sketch. She had a great deal to do with the success of her husband. When she came into the wild country with her young husband she was facing a new life, and one which was to test her courage and strength, but she was equal to the occasion. She toiled early and late on the new farm and helped shear sheep and spun wool. The paternal grandparents of James Wilson were Martin and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Wilson, both natives of Indiana.
James Wilson was reared on the farm where he now resides. He was educated in the district school and went to work on his father’s farm, and is now farming the place, renting it from his mother. He operates about 115 acres of it.
Mr. Wilson was married in 1880 to Martha Louisa Culpepper, who was born in Dallas county, Iowa, September 5, 1867. She is a daughter of Benjamin and Amanda (Lowery) Culpepper, natives of Alabama. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are the parents of eleven children: Charlie, deceased; Anna Edwards, Dardanelle, Ark.; Archibald, living at home; Edna Gragg, Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas; Frank, living at home; Marie, at home; Eva, Thelma, Leslie and Vera, all living with their parents, and one child died in infancy. Mr. Wilson is a Republican and is now a member of the school board for his district. He attends church, although he is not a member of any denomination. Mrs. Wilson, mother of James E., is the oldest living pioneer settler of Lancaster township.