by Glenn N. Holliman

From the Scrapbook of Bruce and Torrence Donnelly....

Cousin Jennifer Leigh Knight Bundy, left, recently has made available some mid-20th Century photographs of the Wilson and Donnelly families of Sutherland, North Carolina.  What follows is her family lineage and snapshots from the Bruce and Torrence Wilson Donnelly scrapbook held by Jennifer's family. 

Jennifer's lineage is as follows. She is the daughter of Meredith Lewis Knight and Jackie Ruth Lewis Farrington. Jackie Ruth Lewis Farrington is the daughter of Master Sgt. Morris Franklin  (a Bataan Death March Survivor) and Virginia Dare Donnelly Lewis. Virginia Dare Donnelly Lewis is the daughter of Bruce and Torrence Wilson Donnelly. Torrence Wilson Donnelly is the daughter of Bob and Ellen Wilson. Bob Wilson is the son of Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson.

Jennifer, her husband and son, and twenty other cousins toured Sutherland, the Wilson Cemetery and the Donnelly Store in June 2012.  These Wilson photographs augment the numerous family pictures printed in Neighbor to Neighbor (2007) available at the Appalachian State University book store.

Today the original mid-19th Century farm of Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson is subdivided into several homes and farm steads.  The topographical maps name the road into the cove as the Oscar Wilson Road, leading off State Highway 88 in Ashe County, North Carolina. - GNH

Isaac (12/16/1822-6/17/1864) and Caroline Greer Wilson (12/16/1828-9/8/1911) had seven children, one being Robert 'Bob' Wilson.  Caroline had an 8th child, Sarah Marilla Wilson Osborne, several years after her husband's murder by 'bushwhackers' in June 1864.  In this article, we trace one branch of the family. 

Bob Wilson (1/4/1860-2/7/1949) married a cousin, Sara Ellen Wilson (1866-1952).  One of their children was Torrence Wilson who married a neighbor, Bruce Donnelly.  Bruce's parents were Gustavous and Flora Latham Donnelly who lived in Sutherland. 
Bob and Ellen Wilson lived at Green Valley.  Their house and the one Torrence was raised in is still there.

Above taken prior to Bob Wilson's death in 1949, left to right are Flora Latham Donnelly, Gustavus Donnelly, Robert Wilson, the son of Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson, and Robert's wife, Ellen Wilson, mother of Torrence Wilson who married Bruce Donnelly.

Above the children of Robert and Ellen Wilson in 1956.  Left to right are Lee Wilson, Grover DeWitt Wilson (2/4/1885-3/24/1957), Edna Wilson Osborn, Edgar Wilson, Neva  Wilson Hashe (7/7/1905-11/23/2003), Oscar T. Wilson (2/24/1889- 8/28/1985) and Torrence Wilson Donnelly.  Torrence is the great grandmother of Jennifer Bundy.  

Another photograph of same children left to right back row - Witt, Oscar, Edgar, Lee and front row - Torrence, Edna and Neva.  These photographs are believed taken at the Wilson-Donnelly farm in Sutherland.  Below a chimney and barn still stand at the site of the old homeplace. The photo was taken by Jennifer Bundy in 2010.

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Next post, more photographs from the Bruce and Torrence Donnelly Scrapbook....

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.