The 2013 Wilson-Greer Reunion, Part 2

by Glenn N. Holliman

A 2013 Gathering at the Ancestral Home of Earl and Mayme Wilson Donnelly....

This is the second of several posts on the Wilson ancestors that gathered in July 2013 deep in the mountains of Ashe County, North Carolina.  Below, two cousins reuniting are Peggy Sue Huber, left, and Shirley Sorrell.  In this post, a word or two concerning Peggy Sue's lineage.

Peggy Sue's mother is Mary Wilson Barlow, b. 1923, who is a daughter of Oscar (1889-1985) and Olive Kilby Wilson (1904-1976).  Oscar, for whom the road to the original Isaac (1822-1864) and Caroline Greer Wilson (1828-1911) farm is named, is a son of Robert Boyd (1860-1949) and Ellen Wilson Wilson (1866-1952).  Robert (Bob) is one of the son's of Isaac and Caroline.  Peggy Sue now makes her home in Pennsylvania.

Below, a 1955 photograph of Oscar Wilson, Peggy Sue's grandfather.

From the Diary of Frances Wilson Osborne, who lived in 1928 in Bristol, Tennessee, we have this entry.  'Frankie' is this writer's great grandmother.

“May 6 1928…Went to Damascus, stayd a Week…Went to NC to Mrs. J W Wilsons at Sutherland the 12th.  I wast church for mother day the 13…nice day…ate diner with Oscar Wilson.”

Frankie noted in her Diary that the bus from Bristol to Damascus cost $1.25 and from Damascus, Virginia to Trade, Tennessee 75 cents.  From Trade to Sutherland, North Carolina, another 50 cents. One wonders when bus service began and what company provided the transportation?  When Frankie and her family migrated from Cove Creek, NC in 1897 to Tennessee, they traveled by horse and wagon, there being no train service.  Several decades later, Frankie was able to return regularly by motorized vehicle to these less isolated mountain valleys along the North Fork of the New River. 

Jackie Farrington, a grand daughter of Torrence Wilson, remembers traveling alone by bus from Virginia as a child in the early 1950s, changing buses in Jefferson for Sutherland!  Unfortunately, no  commercial bus service is available today for the area.

Below is a picture of Oscar's mother, Ellen and his Aunt Rebecca Wilson Wilson taken at a different time.  Rebecca was married to Bob's brother, John Wilson.  Judging from Frankie's Diary, Becky Wilson was a good friend of hers.

Below the graves of Peggy Sue's grandparents, Oscar and Olive who lie in the Wilson Cemetery adjacent to their former home.

 

More information on the relationships of Greers, Wilsons, Osbornes, Stansberys and others can be found at this writer's Ancestry.com site. Please write glennhistory@gmail.com for access or to add information.