SEVENTH GENERATION

306. Robert "Lester" Wilson⁽¹⁾ was born on 14 Apr 1905 in Overton County, Tn. He died on 19 Jan 1990 in Campground Cemetery, Fentress County, TN. REMBRANCES, Page4, Wednesday, February 21, 1990, Fentress Courier, by Luther Atkinson

Not long ago a close friend and neighbor of mine was laid to rest in the Campground Cemetery. Lester Wilson was a friend to all. Actually I never did hear anyone say anything against him. He was probably known by more people than anyone else in the Martha Washington Community. He as a man of action, a man of the woods and the streams. He liked to hunt and he, Buck Ashburn, and Arthur Wilson did a lot of hunting in the roughs of this area. I have heard him talk of his good coon dogs. He probably knew this area better than anyone around. He also did some trapping along Slate and Hurricane Creek.

He lived on the Baldwin School House trail which crossed Slate Creek near his home. A school stood across the road from where his old house stood. This is thought to have been the first school in Martha Washington and later burned.

He married Ruth White and they had one child, Lowell. She was the daughter of Sherman and Florence Baldwin White. He had mined for 38 years in Wilder, Spring City, and probably other mines. He was a member of the Martha Washington F.W.B. Church for 40 years and a mason for 50 years. He liked to sing and sang bass in a quartette for a long time. Besides Lester, the quartette consisted of Rufus Baldwin, Florence White, and Leffie Wilson, the wife of Rev Claud Wilson.

He used to raise Sequoia potatoes and always plant his own seed. He also planted "Shelley" beans. People would come and buy seed from him. He played softball with the Adult Softball Team of Martha Washington. They played on Sunday afternoons in front of the old school house. He was a good auctioneer and would sell pies when the school had pie suppers.

After retirement, he went on fishing trips to Burgess Falls, Rock Island, etc. Many times he would go up to Walker's store, talk to Warner Phillips and Jimmy McDonald and watch the boys play checkers. he had an unusual laugh and I plus many others will never forget him.

He was born to William Billdad Wilson, in Overton County. They moved to Campground and Martha Washington in the early twenties. William really a a voice and sang the old type way. You could hear him singing for a long way in revival meetings. Lesters's sisters were Alice Brown, wife of Harley Brown, Lina, wife of Charlie Vaughn. His brothers were Claud, who married Leffie White; Solen who married Nancy Lou Taylor; Dave who wed Eva Parrott; John who wed Golda Key, and Clure who married Bernice Norris.

William's dad was Dave. To show you what type of man Dave was. My Aunt Lou Atkinson Tabor was orphaned at an early age. One family mistreated her. They even fastened her all day in a dugout one time, but after Dave's family took her in, she was treated real well. Before her death she often told me about treated so well at Dave's. All this tribe of Wilsons were friendly and good to people.

Further notes -- William and Dorothy lived across the road from the Campground Cemetery for a while, they moved below the Martha Washington Church across from Larry York's residence. My great grandmother, Lewis Atkinson's wife, Arcenia Wilson, I have often wondered if this family of Wilsons are related to the Atkinsons.

He was married to Leona "Ruth" White (daughter of Sherman White and Florence Baldwin) on 14 Aug 1927 in Overton County, Tn. Leona "Ruth" White ⁽¹⁾ was born on 22 Nov 1905 in Overton County, Tn. She died on 1 Jan 1989 in Campground Cemetery, Fentress County, TN. Robert "Lester" Wilson and Leona "Ruth" White had the following children:

431 i. Leslie G. Wilson⁽¹⁾ was born on 28 Sep 1928 in Fentress Co., TN. He died on 1 Mar 1974 in Fentress Co., TN, Campground Cemetery.
432 ii. Lowell Wilson (Private).

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