David Wilson

Compiled by George B. Wilson, Jr., 1993; updated by Laine Farley, 2018

David Wilson was born on October 5, 1828, in Sumter County, Alabama.  He married Mary Ann (or Marian) Jurusha Bullard in 1853.  She was the daughter of James R. and Jurusha Bullard.  The couple settled at Headsville, Limestone County, Texas, possibly even in the same year. They probably chose that place because she was the granddaughter of Richard Head, brother of James Alfred Head who founded Headsville. 

Their eleven children were:

1) William Jefferson, died in infancy (1856-1863)

2) Lucinda Elizabeth (1857-1901), married Henderson A. Ball

3) James Riley (1859-1919), married Lillie Belle Monaghan

4) Mary Ann (1861-1937), married James M. Clark

5) George David (1864-1926), married first Roxana L. Clark, second Mollie M. Webb

6) Ara Salatha (1866-1942), married Lewis B. Seale, Jr.

7) Thomas Matthew (1869-1935), married first Zilla Parten, second Emma White

8) Icy Roseta (1871-1961), married William T. Manning

9) Seleta (Letha) (1874-1906), married John Huey Laurence

10) Leona May (1876-1878), died in infancy

11) Emma Malinda (1878-1949), married first John Wesley Alston, Jr., second Jay Spence Sherrod. 

David Wilson emigrated to Texas in the early 1850s, but was in Johnson County, Texas by 1859 according to county tax rolls and deed records.  He is listed as living at Comanche Peak in the 1860 Census and his occupation was stock broker.  He enlisted in the Confederate States Army at Buchanan in Johnson County in 1862 and served in Company “C”, 12th Texas Cavalry (Parson’s Regiment).  The regiment fought primarily in Arkansas and Louisiana.  A short time after the war’s end, he and his family moved to Sebastian County, Arkansas, where several children were born.  Although he was listed on the Limestone County Voter Registration in 1869, the family resided in Arkansas until 1876 when they returned to Headsville.

David’s mother and most of his siblings remained in Alabama, even during the difficult period following the Civil War.  In a series of letters in 1891-1893 from his half sisters and brother, it is clear he tried to convince them to join him in Texas but none ever did.

Mr. Wilson was primarily a farmer, working his own land, but he was very familiar with the ways of the frontier.  His property in the southern part of Johnson County near the Brazos was described as a ranch with “several thousand head of cattle, and several hundred head of horses and milked from 50 to 75 cows” by W. O. Wynn who worked there as a cowboy.  Wynn also told a harrowing story of an encounter with Indians while he was rounding up horses for Wilson.  When he moved back to Limestone County, however, Mr. Wilson lived next door to Lee Kimik, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, who had established a pottery shop.  In 1882, Mr. Wilson purchased the business and operated it for several years.  His brother-in-law, Wiley Bullard, also worked for Kimik.  David Wilson was a member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church at Headsville as well as the Pottersville Lodge No. 351, A.F. & A.M.

His first wife, Mary Ann, died in 1886. His second wife, Nancy Emeline Pentecost Harrell, preceded him in death by four days. He died October 29, 1900 and is buried at Ebenezer Cemetery with a wife at each side.