A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Horace Everett Wilson
Horace Everett Wilson was apparently named for Horace Everett, who married into the extended family (he was married to Mary Leonard, Horace's much older first cousin). Perhaps the Wilsons had a close relationship with Horace Everett, though maybe another possibility is that they were especially close to Mary Leonard Everett. In a letter from Mary Reeves Wilson to Jeanette Reeves Leonard dated 12 Feb 1856, Mary wrote "... I dont believe I have a child that I love any better than I did little Mary Leonard." In fact, the child before Horace, Mary L. Wilson (who died young), was probably Mary Leonard Wilson.
From Find A Grave (listing for MAJ Horace Everett Wilson):
1900 Serving in Philippines. Army paymaster.
1910 - In New York City with wife May
1920 - In Philadelphia
1930 and 1940 - In Berkeley, Alameda Co., California
[Wife May is also with him in the 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses.]
[It is perhaps worth noting that Horace's occupation is given as paymaster, U.S. Army, in the 1910 census, and he is described as a paymaster in the U.S. Army in obituaries for his brother Adair, who died in 1912.]
Horace’s probable listing in the 1880 census (H. E. Wilson in St. Joseph, MO) lists his occupation as traveling salesman (actually, it appears that he is listed twice in the 1880 census, at two different addresses in St. Joseph). Note that the biography of William Adair Wilson in the 1881 "History of Saline County" said that son Horace E. Wilson was living in St. Joseph. A brief obituary of Horace's brother Leonard, in the Find A Grave listing for Leonard W. [sic] Wilson, says that Leonard was in business with his brother H. E. Wilson in Nance Co., NE, for a number of years (see the notes for Leonard Wilson). Perhaps this was in the early 1880s. Leonard moved to Denver by 1884 or 1885, but Horace must have stayed longer since he was married in Nance County in 1886. He must have joined the army relatively late in life, since he was apparently in business in Nance County till at least 1886, when he was 31 years old, but then he was a paymaster in the army in 1900, when he was 45 years old.
The Army Register of 1940, available on Fold3.com, shows that he was a paymaster’s clerk from 6 Jun 1898 to 23 Aug 1912 and then a pay clerk in the quartermaster corps from 24 Aug 1912 to 17 Jul 1916. After that, he was promoted to second lieutenant in the quartermaster corps. He reached his final rank of major in the quartermaster corps on 7 Apr 1919. The final entries are confusing. It says he was honorably discharged on 13 Oct 1919, but there are additional entries after that, ending with being relieved from active duty on 30 Jun 1921. In the 1920 census, U.S. Army is listed for his occupation. Being in the Philippines in 1900 probably implies that he went there for the Spanish–American War in 1898; since he joined the army in 1898, it looks like he probably joined because of the war. The “U.S. Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959” on Ancestry.com has an entry from 1905 indicating that he was still in Manila at that time. It also indicates that he was appointed in Nance County, Nebraska, which presumably means that is where he joined the army. He was in the army during World War I, but it is not known when or where he was deployed. However, there is a passenger list in “U.S. Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939” on Ancestry.com indicating that he left New York for France on 30 Sep 1918 as a captain. His entry in the 1930 census indicates that he was a veteran of the U.S. military mobilized for a war or expedition, and for “What war or expedition” it indicates WW SA, which presumably means he was mobilized for the World War and the Spanish–American war. It is interesting to note that Horace’s first cousin once removed, Abiel Leonard Smith, was a brigadier general in the quartermaster corps (see the newspaper article in the notes for him). It raises the question of whether Horace served under his cousin.
Berkeley Daily Gazette, 9 Sep 1940, p. 11 (obtained from the Berkeley Public Library):
WILSON--In Berkeley, September 8, 1940, Major Horace Everett Wilson, husband of May Mulford Wilson; a native of Missouri; aged 84 years.
Private family services will be held Tuesday morning, September 10, at 11:30 o'clock from "The Little Chapel of the Flowers" (Hull & Sons), Adeline Street at Ashby Station, Berkeley.
1860 census
Listed as Horace Wilson, age 4, born in Missouri. Living with his parents.
1870 census
Listed as Horace E. Willson, age 14, born in Missouri, living with brother B.H. Willson and family. Attended school within the year.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 31 October 2023