The 2014 Wilson, Greer and Associated Families Forum 5

by Glenn N. Holliman

 In July 2014 a number of descendants of Greers, Wilsons and Osbornes gathered in Boone, North Carolina to share and learn more about their ancestors who had braved in the late 1700s the wilds of the southwestern Virginia and northwestern mountains of North Carolina.  Here are some photographs and lineages of those in attendance.  Any errors belong to this writer, and I welcome corrections and additions. - GNH

 Left, Gloria Wilson Heimburger and her husband, Wilbur, drove down from Illinois to attend the opening dinner.  Gloria is the daughter of Boyd (1911-1972) and Lexie Lawrence Wilson (1912-1982), grand daughter of Arlie G. (1885-1956) and Bessie Wilson (1887-1976), who was a daughter of John (1855-1928) and Rebecca Wilson (1862-1952). 

 Therefore, Gloria is of the generation of whom Isaac (1822-1864) and Caroline Greer Wilson (1828-1911) are great, great grandparents.

Right, back row, left to right: Gloria Wilson Heimburger as a young teenager with Robert Wilson, Lexie Wilson and Boyd Wilson. Front row kneeling: William 'Bill' Wilson and Ann Wilson Trivette.  This picture was taken on the 4th of July, 1950 at the Wilson farm.  Sadly Bob Wilson died on August 16, 1950 of leukemia, a few weeks short of his 18th birthday.
Photograph courtesy of Gloria W. Heimburger.

Below, a year later in 1951, Rebecca Wilson's surviving children met a year before Becky's death in Sutherland, North Carolina. Left to right sitting Conley (1882-1959), Rebecca and Bessie (Gloria's grandmother).  Standing left to right are Mayme (1892-1975), Preston (1900-1989), Robert (1906-1987, Ruth (1903-1999, Cal (1898-1999), 'Meg' Margaret 'Maggie' (1894-1992) , Don (1890-1975) and Minnie (1896-1997). Picture courtesy of Shirley Sorrell.

 Next posting, more on the lineages of those who attended the July 2014 gathering in Boone, North Carolina.

All are invited to join in building the family tree at Wilson-Greer-Osborne-Forrester-Donnelly and Associated Families of Western NC at Ancestry.com.  Just write to glennhistory@gmail.com for an invitation.

From the Scrapbook of Shirley Sorrell 4

by Glenn N. Holliman


Continuing our tour of Shirley Sorrell's Family Album....

Our continued thanks to cousin Shirley Sorrell for sharing this magnificent collection of Wilson family photographs of the descendants of Isaac (1822-1864) and Caroline Greer Wilson (1828-1911).  These families lived along the North Fork of the New River in Ashe County, North Carolina surrounded by mountains and lush forests.


"The earliest settlers to Ashe County cleared small patches of upland soil and cultivated it by scratching the surface with crude home-made implements.  When the cleared patches decreased in productiveness they were said to be 'worn out' and then new land was cleared and brought under cultivation.  Within one or two seasons the abandoned land became covered with grass, mainly clover and blue grass.  

This development tended to increase stock raising but, as a matter of fact, there was not great demand for livestock for many years.  Apparently each settler was interested in just enough work stock for his individual use, and cattle, sheep, and hogs were raised to supply the home demand for beef, milk, butter, mutton, and bacon." - p. 208, Ashe County, a History by Arthur Lloyd Fletcher, McFarland Publishers, Jefferson County, North Carolina, 1963 (reprinted 2006).


While limited agricultural land meant that some children of prolific parents such as Wilson descendants had to move west, others remained to engage in age-old subsistence farming.  These turn of the 20th Century photographs capture the last generation of an agricultural era now gone. By World War II, most of these farms were uneconomical.  Seasonal homes, gated communities, Christmas Tree farms, tourism and work in service industries have replaced the family farm.

Edgar Osborne and Conley Wilson, ca 1910. Edgar, born 1893, the son of Walter Raleigh and Effie Lewis Osborne, was one of the many who migrated to Oregon. Conley, a son of John and Rebecca Wilson Wilson, elected to stay in North Carolina and farmed until his death in 1957.

"Prior to 1872, all plows hoes, shovels and other implements used in Ashe County were homemade from iron ore taken from the mines of Ashe and forged in Ashe County forges." - p. 208, Fletcher.

 

Above, 1907 ca Sutherland, North Carolina Callie, Minnie, John, Don, Preston and Ruth Wilson.  John Wilson (1855-1928) and his wife, Rebecca Wilson Wilson (1862-1954), were the parents of ten children who grew to maturity.
 

"The cutting and shocking of corn was first practiced in 1882...Commercial fertilizer was not used prior to 1891.  There were no facilities for soil testing in those days, and Ashe county farmers saw no need for it." -  Fletcher, p. 208

Above and below, herding sheep, Bob (1860-1949) and Ellen Wilson's (1866-1952) farm in Sutherland, North Carolina. Help in identifying these persons most welcome.

"In 1925, it took 10 to 15 acres of corn to feed a team of horse.  By 1963 in Ashe County, less than one acre of corn will feed a team of horse for a year." - Fletcher, p. 213

As the 20th Century moved on and mechanism increased "One man, plus the proper machines, could do the work formerly done by ten men or more.  There was no farm work waiting for the boys finishing high school...." - Fletcher, p. 216

"The exodus from American farms marked the end of self-sufficiency and an uprooting of families from their heritage. In 1900 40% of  the U.S. work force was in agriculture. Today the number is about 2%" - Atlantic Monthly, June 2013

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From the Scrapbook of Bruce and Torrence Donnelly, Part 3....

 by Glenn N. Holliman

A Look at the Lives of the Children of Bob and Sara Ellen Wilson....

 

In recent articles, we have been posting photographs from the scrapbook of Bruce and Torrence Wilson Donnelly courtesy of their great grand daughter, Jennifer Bundy.  Jennifer's mother, Jackie Ruth Lewis Farrington, has provided us short biographies of her great aunts and uncles.

 

Sara Ellen Wilson (3/6/1866 – 3/1/1952) left and her sister, Rebecca Wilson, married brothers - Bob and John Wilson, sons of Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson. This photo was taken in the early 1950s. From the Shirley Sorrell collection.

 

 

 

 

 

Above the Bob and Sara Ellen Wilson Wilson house in Creston, North Carolina where they raised their children. The comments are composed by Jennifer Bundy from information provided by her mother. Jennifer's great grandparents, Bruce and Torrence Wilson Donnelly, eloped from this house in 1916 and lived to celebrate over 50 years of marriage!  Interestingly, three of their sons left North Carolina and moved to the West Coast.

 

Above "Ed Wilson went west and first worked for a large sheep and/or cattle ranch. Later he bought his own ranch there and ran it successfully. He married twice, but had no children. Mom stayed with Ed and his second wife Hattie a lot as a child in Oregon, and remembers them as wonderful loving people who were very good to her. She learned about Ed’s first marriage many years later. She thinks he met Hattie when he worked on the first ranch, and said Hattie was a cook on that ranch.  The first marriage ended when Ed's wife began running, well, a very risque road house!" 

 

Above "Witt also went west and worked for a while, but he came back to NC and farmed on Bob’s farm.  He and Neva lived at home with Bob and Ellen and farmed and took care of their parents."

Above "Neva lived at home until her parents and Witt had died. She was about 50 when she married a Hash and moved to Tennessee with her husband. After his death, she came back to NC and lived in Jefferson for many years."

 

Above "Edna married Charles Osborne and they lived on the Peak Rd. at Creston and farmed."

 

Above "Oscar farmed in the hollow at Sutherland, North Carolina where Isaac and Caroline had lived."
 



Below "Torrence and Bruce Donnelly farmed at Creston. Bruce also ran a small country store, but Mom thinks he quit the store after his children were all grown. She doesn’t remember the store when it was operating. The one there now was built where the old store was, by their son Joe. I can remember the old store building there when I was growing up, but we weren’t supposed to go inside as it was an old run down building."

 

 

Below "Lee went west and worked for one of the sheep ranches, near an Indian reservation but Mom doesn’t know which one. His wife and children lived in Creston and he came back periodically to see them but did not work in NC."

 

 

Below, the Bruce and Torrence Donnelly house in Creston in the 1970s.

 

 

Next Post, more Wilson photographs....

 

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.