From the Scrapbook of Shirley Sorrell, Part 10

by Glenn N. Holliman

As observed in early posts, the majority of the 20th Century  descendants of Isaac (1822-1864) and Caroline Greer Wilson (1828-1911), left family farms and pursued occupations in the communities and cities usually far from ancestral roots in Sutherland, Ashe County, North Carolina. 

In the United States, the number of persons employed in agriculture fell constantly from the Civil War to 1950 as agricultural mechanization and specialization increased, and as jobs in the growing industrial and manufacturing sectors proved more lucrative and attractive than subsistence farming.  Such was the case with the ancestors of Shirley Sorrell who kindly shares these photographs.

Above at the Wilson-Greer and Families Seminar in 2014 in Boone, North Carolina, left Shirley Sorrell and right, distant cousin Jeanette Suggs.

The lineage of Shirley Sorrell

Her parents:   Deronda (1918-1966) and Barbara McCall Donnelly (1922-1965)

Her parental grandparents:   Thomas Earl (1892-1964)  and Mayme Wilson Donnelly (1892-1975)

Her great grandparents:  John (1855-1928) and  Rebecca Wilson Wilson (1862-1954)

Her great great grandparents:  Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson (the same as this writer)

Below, Shirley's father, Ronda Donnelly who served in India and Panama during World War II.  Ronda and wife, Barbara McCall, lived in Boone, North Carolina (where Shirley was born) and later moved to Richmond, Virginia.    Shirley's mother also served in World War II.  She joined the WACs as a secretary during the war and lived in Washington, DC when in Army.  Sadly, both Shirley's parents died young.

Below, left to right in the 1940s, Roger Donnelly, his mother, Mayme Donnelly, John Sutherland and his wife, Mayme's daughter, Becky Donnelly Sutherland. 

Roger (1928-2011) moved to West Virginia, married Pauline Wilson Roark, who had one son from a previous marriage.  Later, Roger worked in coal mines and road construction in Tennessee and owned a place in Shady Valley, Tennessee. He served in the Korean War.

John Thomas Sutherland of Sutherland was a descendant of the family that founded the community along the North Fork of the New River in Ashe County.  Neighbors married neighbors.   John (1918-1991) moved to Raleigh when he and Becky Donnelly wed, and drove a Greyhound bus until his retirement.  Becky graduated from Appalachian College in Boone and taught school a few years before marriage.

                                         The Grandchilden and Great Grandchildren 
                                             of Rebecca Wilson Wilson, 1940 ca

Extreme back: Verd Wilson

Back row: Marie Wilson Marsh, Boyd Wilson, Don Wilson in hat, Roger Donnelly, Argus Wilson

2nd row: ?, Shirley Marsh, Virginia Hurt, Becky Donnelly, Ernest Wilson, Meredith Duncan, Shirley Hurt, Joe Donnelly

Front row: Bill Wilson, Marie Wilson, Rebecca Wilson, Robert Wilson, (in chair) Anna Bell Wilson, Becky Wilson, Becky Hurt, Betty Wilson

Readers are invited to help with identification of persons in this picture, and please send along any memories or information on any relatives.


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 or to provide information on the reunion photograph.  Thanks!

From the Scrapbook of Shirley Sorrell 7

by Glenn N. Holliman


The sun was shining brightly on a September's day in Wilson Cove in Sutherland, Ashe County, North Carolina in 1935 when this picture of John and Rebecca Wilson Wilson's descendants was taken.  Shirley Sorrell has saved this and other photographs and has identified these family members. 

Below, the grandchildren of John and Rebecca.

Below are the son-in-laws of John and Rebecca Wilson. Front row, left to right are Earl Donnelly married to Mayme and Shirley Hurt, wed to Ruth.  Back row, left to right are Chall Osborne married to Minnie, William Wilson married to Cal,  Bower Duncan wed to Margaret (Maggie) and Arlie Wilson whose wife was Bessie.

When one analyzes the occupations of the son-in-laws, we begin to see the increasing economic diversity of the North Carolina highlands.  Several had moved to medium size cities for employment.  Two had become educators.  Only one remained a farmer in this generation.

Earl Donnelly was a hardware store salesman.  Shirley Hurt was a paint company salesman in Greensboro, NC and did landscaping. Chall Osborne was a farmer in Ashe County although he and Minnie had gone out west to tend sheep. William Wilson married his first cousin Cal.  He graduated from Trinity College (now Duke), class of 1914.  He served in the U.S. Army and worked for Liggett and Myers Tobacco in Durham from 1920 to 1959.  His father was the Methodist missionary to Japan who wrote the Wilson family memoirs of the violent 1860s. Bower Duncan served as a teacher principal and superintendent in Ashe County schools.  He attended Appalachian and Wake Forest, served in World War I and as a magistrate for many years.  

Arlie Wilson ran a store in Mabel community, and taught in Watauga and Wilkes county schools.  He and Bessie later moved in with Rebecca Wilson Wilson to care for her.

 In 1935, the U.S. Congress passed the Social Security Act ensuring retirement benefits to older Americans.  The descendants of John and Rebecca Wilson Wilson, unlike Rebecca, would be able to live their senior years more independently.

Below, a picnic at the reunion.  Shirley Sorrell has identified several of the persons as Deronda Donnelly, Ernest Wilson,  Don Wilson, Becky Donnelly and Geraldine Wilson in the middle of the photograph.  Additional identifications welcome.

 We invite you to rediscover your heritage at a Wilson, Greer, Wilcoxson, Osborne, Forrester, Adams and other families Forum, Saturday, 9:30 am, July 19, 2014 in the community room of the Boone, North Carolina public library.  Sunday, July 20th is also the annual Wilson Homecoming at Sutherland United Methodist Church in Ashe County.  The Family Forum begins at the Rustica Restaurant, Boone, NC. 6 pm, July 18th.  Email glennhistory@gmail.com for reservations, please.

 For details and schedule on the above event, contact glennhistory@gmail.com.  Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson are great, great grandparents of this writer.