Horace E. Wilson, clerk of the Hancock circuit court, and one of the best-known men in Hancock county, was born in Greenfield and has lived there practically all his life. He was born on January 14, 1876, son of James W. and Martha W. (Johnson) Wilson, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky.

James W. Wilson was born on a pioneer farm near Greensburg, in Decatur county, this state, October 19, 1846, and was but a boy when his father, Henry B. Wilson, moved with his family to Hancock county and settled on a farm in Green township, where he made his home until he resigned from the active labors of the farm and moved to Greenfield, where he died on July 28, 1913, he then being past eighty-nine years of age, his birth having occurred on June 13, 1824. Henry B. Wilson was an active member of the Bradley Methodist Episcopal church and was a member of the official board of the same. He was a Mason and took an active interest in Masonic affairs. James W. Wilson was reared on the home farm in Green township and when a young man took employment in New Brothers' store at Greenfield, later going to C. M. Jackson's store and thence to the J. Ward Walker Company store, where he remained the rest of his life, his death occurring on October 25, 1891, at the age of forty-six years. He was a Democrat and had served as justice of the peace. He was a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Bradley Methodist Episcopal church. His widow is still living at Greenfield. Martha W. Johnson was born in Boone county, Kentucky, March 12, 1850, and was but a child when her parents came to Indiana and located in Hancock county, settling on a farm in Green township, later moving to Greenfield, where she was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Wilson on October 27, 1870. To that union four children were born, the eldest of whom died in infancy, the others being Edwin P., manager of the J. Ward Walker Company store at Greenfield; Horace E., the subject of this biographical sketch, and Gilbert K., of Oak Park, Illinois.

Horace E. Wilson was reared in Greenfield and received his education in the city's schools, after which he became employed in the blacksmith ship of Everson & Cooper and for five or six years was engaged there. He then became a clerk in the J. Ward Walker Company store and was thus engaged in that establishment for five years, at the end of which time he went to Chicago, where for more than a year he was employed as shipping clerk for the Gifford & Mabe Company. In 1902 he returned to Greenfield and for four years thereafter was employed with the Greenfield Novelty Works Company, after which he returned to his former place in the Walker store and was there until he entered upon the duties of the office of county clerk on January 1, 1915, having been elected to that office on the Democratic ticket the previous November, by one of the largest pluralities ever returned for a candidate on that ticket in an election in this county, receiving nearly twice as many votes as both the other candidates for the office.

On October 20, 1907, Horace E. Wilson was united in marriage to Margaret C. Tobin, a clerk in the J. Ward Walker Company store at Greenfield, who was born in Hamilton county, this state, December 1, 1874, daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Breen) Tobin, both natives of Ireland, who came to this country in the days of their youth and later met at Dayton, Ohio, where they were married and where they made their home for some time, later coming to Indiana and settling on a farm in Hamilton county, where they are still living. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Bradley Methodist Episcopal church and takes an earnest part in the various social and cultural activities of his home town. Mrs. Wilson is a member of St. Michael's Catholic church. Mr. Wilson is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar, as well as noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and for years has served as secretary of the Greenfield lodge of Masons and of the chapter of that order. He is also a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of the Improved Order of Red Men and of the Haymakers and takes a warm interest in the affairs of all these organizations.

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Page 1040-1042.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI October 31, 2001.

Return to 1916 Index | Return to Hancock Co. Main Page