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A. L. Wilson Reaches 100thMilestone; Daughter From Switzerland, Others PresentArthur Lee Wilson celebrated his 100th birthday, Sunday, April 11, in Ennis Nursing Home with his nine children and their families visiting him Mr Wilson was born April 11, 1876, north of the WaxahachieC’reek, soon after the War between the States,’ wherv this country was celebrating its first century.wThe modest home of his young Confederate father sat in themidst of ‘a million wild flowers-Bluebonnets, wine cups, paintbrushes and daisies, for the great prairie, ’beautiful to see’, had not been plowed ’ As a child he watchei! the flowers turnedunder for the planting of endless rows of cotton. He recalls also that small game birds ranged the prairie grasses, and of seeing coveys of quail shot, for breakfast, on the path to the barn, from his back doorstep.In his first century, Mr. Wilson has literally lived (except for a few years) ‘Six of the Seven Ages of Shakespeare.’ He has begun the Seventh Age.He has grown luxurious cotton in the communities of Ennis, Waxahachie, Ovilla, Walnut Grove and Midlothian He watched this area of his county become a charming, friendly countryside, as it is today. In nearly all of these communities he helped to build better schools and Baptist churches. He has been an ordained deacon for seventy-three years, following in the footsteps of his father, William Franklin. William Franklin was one of the first deacons and founders of Waxahachie First Baptist ChurchWilliam Franklin Wilson wasdispleasure of his father. John Daniel Wilson, who transported his entire family to the Waxahachie prairies, where cotton would probably grow as it did in Mississippi, and where large future families could acquire enough land Arthur Lee was the third of twelve sons born to William Franklin and Leona Parker Wilson There were also four daughters. Leona was fifteen at the time of their marriage in Holly Spnngs, Miss. She is said to have descended through a long line of educators from Archbishop Matthew Parker, first Archbishop of Canterbury, founder of Cambridge University and the Protestant Episcopal Church.John Daniel Wilson was born in North Carolina and was married also to a Scot, of the Gunn Clan.Arthur Lee Wilson was married to Miss Lizzie Jane Floyd, “the prettiest girl in Ellis County’’ in 1898 To them were born 10 children, nine of whom are living: May (Mrs.C.T. Crenshaw, Midlothian; Thelma (Mrs. EE Sisson), San Antonio; Herbert C. Wilson. Austin; Naomi (Mrs. H LFranklin) Dallas; Mrs. Irvin a tireless worker, despite his Ewbanks, Cedar Creek; Ruth(Mrs. Sid Nielsen), Zurich. Switzerland, and Ruel of Teague, twins; Bob, Hamilton,permanant wounds of the Civil War when he was left for dead on a Southern battlefield Ayoung man of great wijlpower Texas and Sue (Mrs W. 0. he managed to reach his home Calhoun), Freeport, Texas. The near Oxford. Miss., where he oldest child, Floyd, died in joined forces to route the infancy.‘carpet baggers,'after which he Mn. Wilson’s survivingand his three brothers joined in brothers, Lewis and Henry;other night raids, to the Mrs. Henry Wilson, and manyfriends from the area were present for the cutting of the great cake as was the Rev. Eddie Ricks, pastor of AnthonyDrive Baptist Church, after which they departed for the oldEnnis house, once a farm house, to prolong their feasting andvisiting.Letters of well wishes were read from President Ford and Gov. Briscoe.One of Mr. Wilson’s oft repeated stories is that of a relative, Cynthia Ann Parker, who became the mother of thelate Indian Chief Quannah Parker. This story reached him as a child to ‘excite and honor’ a small school boy.
Newspaper Details
Ennis Daily News
Ennis, Texas, US
Wed, Apr 21, 1976
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Metropolitan L.
Oklahoma, USA 01 Jan 2019
Other Publications Near Ennis, Texas
Ennis Weekly Local
Ennis Daily News
