Difference between revisions of "John Thomas Wilson"

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John T. Wilson, born in 1917, was the third of seven children of [[Bert Winiford Wilson]] and [[Clara Mabel Wimer]].  He was born while his parents still lived with his Wilson grandparents, [[James Luther Wilson]] and [[Elizabeth Annabel Stoughton]], near West Liberty in rural Worth Twp., Butler Co. PA.  Eventually his parents moved to property across the road from his grandparents.  Both his father and grandfather worked at forestry and had a sawmill. Being around this activity resulted in John's having a life-long love of woodworking and carpentry.  They also worked at oil drilling.  Later his grandparents moved to Slippery Rock, and for a time.  His grandfather was a partner in a car dealership until the Great Depression ruined the business.    John Wilson's maternal grandparents, [[Isaac C. Wimer]] and [[Margaret Jane Robinson]], lived on a farm down the hill from the Bert Wilson place in Worth Twp.  John and his brothers and sisters would follow the creek down to the Wimer farm where his Grandpa Wimer raised field crops and had a barn full of cows.  The Wilson children attended the McClymonds school.  <br>(See [[John T. Wilson Biography|Complete Biography]])In West Liberty and Slippery Rock, several aunts and uncles and cousins lived.  The men enjoyed hunting, and one year they brought home a young bear cub.  Grandpa Wilson chained it to the barn and they raised it.  When John was a small boy, he wandered too near the bear and it grabbed him and wouldn't let go.  John's sister Ruth managed to pull him out of his coat and get him free from the bear.  Soon after, the bear was sold to Ringling Brothers Circus. <br>In about 1930, when John was 12 or 13 years old, the family moved north to a farm at Nickleville, Richland Twp., Venango Co. PA.  His father wanted to be nearer the oil fields.  John went to high school at the new Crawford High School in Emlenton, sometimes driving or carpooling with other kids from the area.  He met his future wife, [[Ella Mae Beals]], at the high school, and they started spending time together at school events in 11th grade. There was no money for dating or going anywhere.  John actually decided not to return to high school after 11th grade and dropped out for a year. His sister Ruth convinced him to return  by offering him a pocket watch if he would graduate. Thus Ella graduated a year ahead of him, she in 1935, he in 1936. <br> John  worked with his father for a couple years, dressing bits for oil drilling. Ella did housekeeping for a variety of families in the area, as well as in Washington D.C.  In 1937, he gave Ella a diamond ring, and a cedar chest he made, with the carved letters of her name fitted into a diamond shape on the front.  <br>On 15 Aug 1937, they took their first train ride, to the Cleveland Exposition.  Other weekends they went on picnics and rides; John bought his first car in July that year.<br> When REA (Rural Electrification Administration) came through Nickleville, PA in 1938, a lineman allowed him to try on the cleated boots and climb a pole. John hired on with the crew,and that began his lifelong work with the agencies building power lines in rural areas.  He began with REA in PA and OH in 1938. It would be ten years later, after WWII, that he found steady work with TVA in 1948. Meanwhile he did short jobs if various places for REA and for small private power companies, and whatever other work he could locate.  REA had work in Vermont and North Carolina; at one point to avoid going to Vermont in winter John accepted a posting to North Carolina.  He and Ella decided to be married before he left to go south.  Ella did her shopping in Washington where she was working, and the wedding took place in Venango County, at the parsonage, of 2 February 1940. John's brother Russell was his best man.  They took a honeymoon to Niagra Falls, and then both had to return to work, Ella to Washington.  On 14 February John stopped by Washington on his way to Laurens, North Carolina. In late spring the job ended, he returned to Venango Co. PA for a bit of work in Polk.  Being shuffled back and forth across the country doing jobs for REA set a pattern of his life of being comfortable with mobility, and later in life they would travel throughout the mid-west and the west coast visiting children and sightseeing.<br> When John was sent south again by REA, Ella's job in Washington had ended and she joined him, for a period of living in boarding houses in one small town and another. They put up with the occasional bedbugs and irksome neighbors. Occasionally she found work waitressing or babysitting, but largely it was a lonely time for her in a strange culture, where they were the "yankees".  Then in Monks Corner, SC, the lease became available on a cafe and gas station, the Green Gables, and as his job was ending, they took the lease.  It was always a close call whether they would earn enough to be able to refill the gas tanks before they went dry. They could only restock as much beer as they had bottles to return; if customers didn't return the bottle, local children would find and bring the discarded bottles in and sell them to the cafe.  Besides the shortage of cash, time was an issue.  The cafe was open 24 hrs a day.  John and Ella slept in shifts, but if a customer required a hot meal, Ella had to get up and fix it.  After ten weeks, they gave up the lease, but found that after the sale of whatever stock and equipment they had, they came out with  a thousand dollars.  They returned to Venango County with their profit, and soon used a small part of the earnings to buy their first trailer.  (It was probably 8 ft wide by maybe 12 ft long.  Over the years  with TVA they upgraded periodically to longer models, and wider. Their last trailer bought in the late 1950's was ten ft wide and forty ft long. This was a period when trailers were truly mobile, before the day of the stationary double-wide "mobile home".)  <br>They returned south to jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky, whether with REA or private companies is unclear. In 1943 their first daughter was born in Tennessee.  She was taken home to see the grandparents on Mothers' Day.<br> John worked for Holston Defense in Kingsport TN, trying to avoid the army draft by working in critical industry, but in August of 1943 he was drafted.  They took the trailer home and parked it at the Wilson farm, as Mrs. Wilson was ill and Ella was needed to keep house.  John went into training, then to officer training at Furman University in South Carolina.  As the war progressed, apparently a decision was made that officers were not what was needed.  His class had been pronounced the best that ever went through the accelerated training, but then the entire class was "washed out" without their commissions.  John went to Texas for training as a tail-gunner on a B-17 bomber.  Ella visited him occasionally in the different training locations, but gas rationing and crowded trains made travel difficult, especially with an infant.  On 23 March 1944 Mrs. Wilson died. John came home for the funeral; his brother Ray had already been deployed to Europe and couldn't come home. They moved the trailer to the Beals farm.  Ella and the baby moved into the "apartment" side of the farmhouse. (The apartment was added for Ella's grandmother [[Anna Elizabeth Frederick]] when her husband died and her daughter & son-iin-law, Ella's parents, bought the house and farm. <br>By January 1945 John was shipped out from Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia, and by mid-February was in Foggia, Italy with his crew.  On their first bombing assignment they missed their target on the first pass, so came around again.  By then the anti-aircraft fire was ready for them and they were hit so that a fire broke out in the bomb bay.  They tried to put it out, and failing that, tried to get the bombs to release over rural areas. The bombs were jammed and wouldn't release.  In the excitement of the emergency, the navigator lost track of where they were, or in trying to reach Russia perhaps they overflew the extent of their maps.  They were lost, and the bomb bay  fire worsened until the decision was made by the pilot to parachute the crew and ditch the plane.  Parachuting was not something they had rehearsed.  John tried to slide out  feet-first instead of the recommended head first dive, and wrenched his back in the process.  He also apparently pulled his parachute cord too soon, and found himself floating slowly downward in freezing cold atmosphere, with snow.  He'd lost one glove, and kept shifting the other one from hand to hand. When he reached the ground, it was a clear sunny day.  They had landed in Hungary and were one-by-one rounded up by farmers with pitchforks. Someone in the group could translate as it was discussed whether to kill them or not.  They ended up in German prison camp, and for the duration of the war, they were marched from one location to another trying to evade the advancing allied armies. Ella was notified by telegram that her husband was missing in action.  The pilot, Harvey Mitchell, had been injured and sent to a hospital, so he could communicate with his parents. Mrs. Mitchell then wrote the other POW families that the crew were all alive and well when Harvey last saw them.  John lost thirty pounds, and later recalled how good a bowl of barley soup could taste, when they could get it. His primary memory was of hunger, and of walking and walking. He was liberated at Mooseburg, 20 April 1945.  At his first good sufficient meal, his stomach couldn't handle it and he vomited.  Together, prisoners and liberators made their way back across Germany to France, on their own for food and lodging.  One of John's crewmates pulled a handmade red & black cross stitched white tablecloth from a German farm clothesline for carrying eggs taken from the barn. John brought the cloth home with him, with a yolk-stained corner, to give to Ella.  In France there weren't enough transport ships for all to return at once, so the offer of some spending money was made to those who would wait.  John figured it was his only chance for sight-seeing, and stayed.  He bought a small hand-painted Quimper dish to bring home. (Also among his souvenirs of the war were various European coins, a map of part of Germany, his prison camp armband with swastika, and a wooden shoe on which he wrote the dates and places of his war experience, and names and addresses of his crew members. He arrived back in Pennsylvania that spring. They continued to live in the farmhouse apartment.  There was no work.  Ella's brother, Loy Beals, who had a garage in Emlenton, let John work with him.  In August John and Ella's second daughter was born.<br> Finally in 1948 John secured a position as lineman with TVA.  The agency was organized into crews that built the dams on the Tennessee River, maintenance crews that maintained the dams, and construction crews that built the steel towers and power lines to carry electricity to the rural southern communities. John hired on as a construction lineman in the Western Division, headquartered in Jackson Tennessee, but building lines throughout western Tennessee, Kentucky, and northern Alabama and Mississippi.
+
John T. Wilson was six feet tall, of slender to medium build, blonde, blue-eyed, with fair complexion.  He enjoyed working outdoors, and thus found his eventual career working in the southern states agreeable. After his childhood and teenage years during the Great Depression, living on farms and helping his father and grandfather at work in the sawmill and at oil drilling, he married his high school sweetheart from a nearby farm.  He served in WWII, mainly as a POW, and afterward lived a very mobile life building power lines for TVA - the Tennessee Valley Authority.   His later TVA years and retirement were spent in Scottsboro, Alabama. <br>(See [[John T. Wilson Biography|Complete Biography]])
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He began as a lineman, but fell 30 ft. from wone of the towers onto a concrete base and injured his back. After hospitalization, rather than being placed on permanent disability, he was promoted to foreman, so that he didn't have to climb.  His crews built steel towers and strung high voltage lines, changing location often as jobs were finished. One of these lines crossed the lower Mississippi River, and he pointed out in later years that a tall tower built on a large concrete base on the eastern bank of the river was by then in mid-river, the river's course having shifted. <br>See REA:http://newdeal.feri.org/tva/tva10.htm<br>
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Utilities_Service<br>See TVA:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority<br> In 1948 John and Ella moved from place to place every few weeks.  In the fall of 1949 the older daughter started first grade in a two-room schoolhouse in Jackson, TN.  After that, during the school year, they moved less often.  John would commute home longer distances from work sites. Still, a typical school year included at least 4 and as many as 6 schools. In 1956 the job was in Scottsboro, Alabama. The oldest child was entering 8th grade, and the decision was made to stay there permanently, so that both children could complete the requirements of high school graduation.  Over the years John and Ella had saved enough to send both children to college.  <br>After retirement from TVA, they purchased a piece of hillside property and with the help of a good neighbor who owned a home construction company, they built a house.  John returned to Pennsylvania and cut the cherry trees from the woods on the Beals farm, and had it cut into paneling and flooring.  He bought and disassembled a two-story log house in Tennessee and transported it to the building site for reassembly. On both floors, a door opened at middle of house into what had been an open breezeway, but became an entryway and hall downstairs, and stair landing and hall upstairs. The doors opened onto porch and balcony that ran the length of the house.  A stone fireplace  anchored the living room. Cherry-wood floors and paneling warmed the dining room, which looked out over the valley. John added a laundry room beyond the kitchen, and a large garage. Upstairs three bedrooms provided for family visits and grandchildren. A "mountain" rose behind the house, and at the base of this ran a creek. In the creek's bottom land John planted a large garden, which he plowed with a tractor.  Enough produce was frozen each summer to deliver freezer chests of vegetables to both the children's families.  John removed the rear seat from an old Volkswagon, and would load it up with styrofoam chests full of frozen food, and drive to Wisconsin or North Carolina or wherever the children were living.  His other hobby was refinishing old furniture, some of which he purchased over the years from locations where he worked.  Other pieces were old family items from Pennsylvania.  When his first grandchild was born, he delivered a handmade cherry cradle to California. The next year he refinished a chest of drawers with mirror for her, strapped it onto the roof of his VW, and drove it to Arizona. In the back seat area, he carried  a handmade bookcase, ends the shape of a teddybear, made to fit a set of children's books. 
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<br style="clear:both;"/>
 
{| class="wikitable"  
 
{| class="wikitable"  
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=Children=
 
=Children=
−
(2 daughters with [[Ella May Beals]]
+
(2 daughters with [[Ella May Beals]])
 
{| class="wikitable"  
 
{| class="wikitable"  
 
! Name || Gender || Date of Birth || Birthplace || Spouse || Notes || Sources
 
! Name || Gender || Date of Birth || Birthplace || Spouse || Notes || Sources
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|Worth Twp., Butler Co. PA  ||  1917-~1930  ||with parents || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|Worth Twp., Butler Co. PA  ||  1917-~1930  ||with parents || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|'''High School, work with REA<br>during Great Depression'''  ||    ||  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
+
|Nickleville, Richland Twp.,<br>Venango Co. PA  || ~1930 -  1938 ||high school in Emlenton,<br> work with REA during Great Depression   ||<sup class="reference"></sup>  
−
|-
+
−
|Nickleville, Richland Twp.,<br>Venango Co. PA  || ~1930 -  1938 ||  ||<sup class="reference"></sup>  
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|OH, NC  ||1938-1940 ||line work for REA <br>or private power companies  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|OH, NC  ||1938-1940 ||line work for REA <br>or private power companies  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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| Nurenberg, Ger.  ||25 Mar    1945    ||POW  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
| Nurenberg, Ger.  ||25 Mar    1945    ||POW  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Moosburg, Ger.  ||  20 Apr  1945   ||POW ([http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/indeng.html camp history website]) ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_VII-A Wikipedia's Stalag VII-A site]), Liberated on 29 Apr 1945  ([http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/14theng.html description of the events surround the liberation itself])|| <sup class="reference"></sup>
+
| Moosburg, Ger.  ||  20 Apr  1945 ;<br>Liberation 29 Apr 1945  ||POW ([http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/indeng.html camp history website]) ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_VII-A Wikipedia's Stalag VII-A site]),<br> ([http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/14theng.html description of the events surround the liberation itself])|| <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Landshut, Ger.    ||4 May    1945    ||  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
| Landshut, Ger.    ||4 May    1945    ||  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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|St. Vallery, France    ||17 May    1945    ||  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|St. Vallery, France    ||17 May    1945    ||  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Richland Twp., Venango Co. PA  || 1945-1948    ||Depression Era persisted;<br>worked in brother-in-law's garage in Emlenton; lived with in-laws, then rented Joe Rose house, Mariasville  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
+
| Richland Twp., Venango Co. PA  || 1945-1948    ||Depression Era persisted;<br>worked in brother-in-law's garage in Emlenton; <br>lived with Beals in-laws, <br>then rented Joe Rose house, Mariasville  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|}
 
|}
 
The following chart serves as a record of the work career of John T. Wilson with TVA; an indication of school locations for his daughters; and a guide to dates/locations for some of the photographs. Locations in parentheses indicate additional work locations while in one residence location.
 
The following chart serves as a record of the work career of John T. Wilson with TVA; an indication of school locations for his daughters; and a guide to dates/locations for some of the photographs. Locations in parentheses indicate additional work locations while in one residence location.
 
{| class="wikitable"  
 
{| class="wikitable"  
−
! Location || Dates || Notes || Sources
+
! TVA Career Location || Dates || Landlords || Sources
−
 
+
−
|-
+
−
|'''TVA Career'''  ||    ||Landlords  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
+
 
|-
 
|-
 
|Russelville, AL  ||4-28 Feb, 1948    ||Edward Pace  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|Russelville, AL  ||4-28 Feb, 1948    ||Edward Pace  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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| Louisville MS  ||1 Sept - 14 Nov  1953  ||Millers Trailer Pk, Mrs. Elva Roberts  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
| Louisville MS  ||1 Sept - 14 Nov  1953  ||Millers Trailer Pk, Mrs. Elva Roberts  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Pontatoc MS  ||14 Nov - 2 Jan  1953/54  ||(Houston & Jack)?,<br>across from Jerry's Drive In  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
+
|Pontatoc MS  ||14 Nov - 2 Jan  1953/54  ||Houston & Jack ? (illegible),<br>across from Jerry's Drive In  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
 
|Corinth MS<br>(& Tiptonville)  ||2 Jan - 30 May  1954  ||Horton Groc.  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|Corinth MS<br>(& Tiptonville)  ||2 Jan - 30 May  1954  ||Horton Groc.  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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|Huntsville AL  ||21 June - 2 July  1955    ||Whispering Pines  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|Huntsville AL  ||21 June - 2 July  1955    ||Whispering Pines  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Benton KY  |2 July - 20 July|   1955  || Mrs. Eggner || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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|Benton KY  ||2 July - 20 July  1955  || Mrs. Eggner || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Huntsville AL  ||24 July - 7 Aug  1955  ||Mrs. Williams,<br>401 McKinley  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
| Huntsville AL  ||24 July - 7 Aug  1955  ||Mrs. Williams,<br>401 McKinley  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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|Sheffield AL  ||10 Mar - 21 July  1956  ||Walter Kelly, 1701 High St.  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|Sheffield AL  ||10 Mar - 21 July  1956  ||Walter Kelly, 1701 High St.  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Scottsboro, AL  ||22 July 1956 - retirement after ~ 1965/70; died 1985  ||built house on Hwy 72  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
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| Scottsboro, AL  ||22 July 1956 - retirement after ~ 1965/70; died 1985  ||Hwy 72 ponds & bait shop || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 +
|-
 +
| Scottsboro, AL  ||after retirement; died 1985  ||built house on Hwy 72  || <sup class="reference"></sup>
 
|}
 
|}
  
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= Sources =
 
= Sources =
 
{| class="wikitable"  
 
{| class="wikitable"  
−
! Ref. Num. !! Description !! Image of original
 
−
 
 
|-  
 
|-  
 
! '''1'''  
 
! '''1'''  
−
| '''1870 United States Federal Census''',  
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| '''[[Source:_1920_United_States_Federal_Census|1920 United States Federal Census]]''', Worth Township, Butler County, PA, Enumeration District 66, Page 7, lines 84-88 lists ''Bert W. Wilson'', 28, married to ''Clara M. Wilson'', 28. Their daughter, ''Ruth M. Wilson'', 7, and two sons, ''Edwin D. Wilson'', 4, and ''John T. Wilson'', 2 years and one month, are listed as well.  Bert is listed as having been born in PA. His profession is listed as "Laborer" on a rented farm.  His census record is immediately followed by that of his father, [[James L. Wilson]], suggesting that they lived on adjacent property.  This census page is dated 23 and 24 January 1920.
 +
| [[Image:1920 census pa butler worth d66 pg7.jpg|50px|center]]
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
! '''2'''
 +
| '''[[Source:_1930_United_States_Federal_Census|1930 United States Federal Census]]''', Richland Township, Venango County, PA, Enumeration District 61-40, Page 6, lines 65-73 lists ''Birt W. Wilson'', 39, married to ''Clara M. Wilson'', 38.  They live with six children and a live-in farm laborer: daughter ''Ruth M. Wilson'', 17; son ''Edwin D.'', 15; son ''John T. Wilson'', 12; son ''Russel W. Wilson'', 9; son ''Ray B. Wilson'', 6; daughter ''Allene N. Wilson'', 3 years and 10 months; and laborer ''Lester Lawrence'', 43.  When Birt W. Wilson and Clara M. Wilson got married, he was 20 and she was 19.  All of the children except Allene attended school within the census year.  Everyone but Allene can read, write, and speak English. Everyone and their parents were born in PA.  Birt W. Wilson's occupation is listed as "Farmer."  This census page is dated April 15th, 1930.
 +
| [[Image:1930_census_pa_venango_richland_d61-40_pg6b.jpg|50px|center]]
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
!'''3'''
 +
|'''Memoirs of Ella May Beals (Wilson)''' ,wife of John T. Wilson,  including the WWII training locations, and listing of TVA locations & landlords.
 
|
 
|
 +
|-
 +
! '''4'''
 +
| '''Personal correspondence''' from [[Elizabeth Ann Wilson|Elizabeth Wilson Williams]], daughter of John T. Wilson, including transcription of WWII service locations and dates from the wooden shoe, and family photographs. Personal recollection includes living on the Beals farm in Venango Co. PA, the TVA locations, and high school in Scottsboro AL.  Her notes include John T. Wilson's war stories and his descriptions of his early life in Butler Co. PA.
 +
| <div width="*" style="text-align: center"></div>
 +
|}

Revision as of 09:19, 3 December 2008

John T. Wilson was six feet tall, of slender to medium build, blonde, blue-eyed, with fair complexion. He enjoyed working outdoors, and thus found his eventual career working in the southern states agreeable. After his childhood and teenage years during the Great Depression, living on farms and helping his father and grandfather at work in the sawmill and at oil drilling, he married his high school sweetheart from a nearby farm. He served in WWII, mainly as a POW, and afterward lived a very mobile life building power lines for TVA - the Tennessee Valley Authority. His later TVA years and retirement were spent in Scottsboro, Alabama.
(See Complete Biography)


Date Location Notes Sources
Birth 10 Nov 1917 Worth Twp., Butler Co. PA
Marriage 2 Feb 1940 Richland Twp., Venango Co. PA To Ella May Beals
Military 19 Jan -17 May 1945 Europe WWII Army Airforce, Cpl.
B17 tail gunner, 483 Bombardment Group,
815 Squadron, based in Foggia, Italy 		caputred near Lenti, Hungary;
POW, Austria & Germany
Death 18 May 1985 VA Hospital, Birmingham AL
Burial 22 May 1985 Nickleville Presby. Cemetery,
Richland Twp., Venango Co. PA 


 Generation 1               Generation 2             Generation 3
 
                                                 +-- Bert Winiford Wilson
                                                 |   (1891-1971)             
                        +-- John Thomas Wilson --+
                        |   (1917-1985)          |
 Elizabeth Ann Wilson --+                        +-- Clara Mabel Wimer
 (1943- )               |                            (1891-1944)
                        +-- Ella May Beals
                            (1917- )
 Sources:

Children

(2 daughters with Ella May Beals)

Name Gender Date of Birth Birthplace Spouse Notes Sources
Elizabeth Ann Wilson F
living Wilson F


Places of Residence

Location Dates Notes Sources
Birth & Childhood
Worth Twp., Butler Co. PA 1917-~1930 with parents
Nickleville, Richland Twp.,
Venango Co. PA 		~1930 - 1938 high school in Emlenton,
work with REA during Great Depression
OH, NC 1938-1940 line work for REA
or private power companies
Early Marriage
Laurens, SC 14 Feb 1940 - late spring line construction, REA/ Miller Baxter
Polk, Sandy Creek Twp.,
Venango Co. PA 		1940 REA
or private power companies
Cornelius, SC; Lexington & Madison, NC Oct 1940-1941 REA
or private power companies
Ellwood City,Lawrence Co. PA late summer 1941 helped a cousin build a house
Monks Corner, SC 1941-42 REA or private power companies;
leased Green Gables Cafe & gas station
for 10 wks, $1000 profit
Smyrna, NashvilleTN
Gallatin TN ("Green River Line"),
Scottsville TN;
Glasgow, Newport KY;
Kingsport TN (Nov 42- Mar 43)		 1942 Bought 1st trailer
worked for REA or private power companies,
Holston Defense in Kingsport; laid off in March
Pittsburgh, PA Spring 1943 private employer, not recorded
Military Training 14 Aug 1943, drafted
Greensboro NC Aug 1943-?
Greenville SC by Christmas 1943- 1944 Furman Univ.; accelerated officers training;
entire class "washed out"
Midland TX 1944, after Mar training as tail-gunner
Alexandria LA 1944, including Dec training
Lincoln, NB 1944, including Dec for shipment overseas
Military Service, WWII 14 Aug 1943, drafted
Camp Patrick Henry, VA 19 Jan 1945 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Patrick_Henry
Gibraltar 5 Feb 1945
Algiers, N. Africa 8 Feb 1945
Naples, Italy 12 Feb 1945
Foggia, Italy 17 Feb 1945 base of operation,
483 Bombardment Group,
815 Squadron
Pilot, Harvey A. Mitchell
Lenti, Hungary 14 Mar 1945 taken POW
Bratislava 19 Mar 1945 POW
Vienna, Austria 20 Mar 1945 POW
Nurenberg, Ger. 22 Mar 1945 POW
marching, location unrecorded 23 Mar 1945 POW
Nurenberg, Ger. 25 Mar 1945 POW
Moosburg, Ger. 20 Apr 1945 ;
Liberation 29 Apr 1945 		POW (camp history website) (Wikipedia's Stalag VII-A site),
(description of the events surround the liberation itself)
Landshut, Ger. 4 May 1945
Reims, France 6 May 1945
St. Vallery, France 17 May 1945
Richland Twp., Venango Co. PA 1945-1948 Depression Era persisted;
worked in brother-in-law's garage in Emlenton;
lived with Beals in-laws,
then rented Joe Rose house, Mariasville

The following chart serves as a record of the work career of John T. Wilson with TVA; an indication of school locations for his daughters; and a guide to dates/locations for some of the photographs. Locations in parentheses indicate additional work locations while in one residence location.

TVA Career Location Dates Landlords Sources
Russelville, AL 4-28 Feb, 1948 Edward Pace
Wilson Dam, AL 28 Feb-8 Apr 1948 Dempsey Terry
West Point, MS 8 Apr-12 Apr 1948 Goat's Texaco Sta.
Mayfield KY 12 Apr - 9 May 1948 Richard Bagwell
Paris TN 17 May-13 June 1948 Dave Oliver
Mayfield KY 12 June-2 July 1948 Mrs. Cleve Sanderson
Mountain City TN 3 July-20 Aug 1948 Alf McQueen
Mt. Pleasant TN 21 Aug - 20 Sept 1948 Mrs. Ethel Simmons
Murfreesboro TN 20 Sept - 23 Oct 1948 Otto Green
Woodbury TN 23 Oct -11 Dec 1948 Joe Stephens
McMinville TN 11 Dec - 17 Jan 1948/49 Roy Newby
Nashville TN 17-21 Jan 1949 Pure Oil Sta.
Chattanooga TN 21-24 Jan 1949 Farniers Trailer Pk , Cherokee Blvd.
Knoxville TN 24 Jan - 2 Mar 1949 King's Grocery, Southerland Ave
Lenoir City TN 2 Mar - 16 Ma6 1949 C. E. Brachett
Elizabethton TN 16 May - 4 June 1949 Mrs. Bowen
Nashville TN 4 June - 25 July 1949 E. G. Davenport
Jackson TN 30 July - 19 Nov 1949 Mrs. W. B. Ranson
Cadiz KY 19 Nov - 29 Jan 1949/50 White Eagle Cafe
Memphis TN 29 Jan - 9 Feb 1950 Harbin's Cabins, Hwy 51
Tupelo MS 9 Feb - 11 Mar 1950 Rockway Inn, Hwy 45
West Point MS 11 Mar - 1 Apr 1950 Goat's Texaco St.
Tupelo MS 1 Apr - 27 May 1950 Rockway Inn, Cecil Cafe
Corinth MS 27 May - 3 July 1950 Randolph Yancy, 1411 Wick St.
Jackson TN 3 July - 15 July 1950 Mrs. W. B. Ranson
New Johnsonville/Camden TN 15 July - 18 July 1950 J'ville Trailer Pk
Jackson TN 19 July - 24 July 1950 Mrs. W. B. Ranson
Macon MS 24 July - 16 Dec 1950 Mrs. M. B. McLemore
West Point MS 16 Dec - 15 Jan 1950/51 Goat's Texaco Sta.
Somerville TN 15 Jan - 19 May 1951 H. G. Myers tourist home
Memphis TN 19 May - 15 June 1951 J. C. Harbin's, Rt. 51
Jackson TN 15 June - 24 July 1951 Mrs. W. B. Ranson
Lexington 24 July - 16 Aug 1951
Jackson TN 16 Aug-7 Sept 1951 Mrs. W. B. Ranson
Benton KY 23 Sept - 23 Feb 1951/52 Herman Kanatzer
Fulton KY
(McKenzie, Martin,) 		23 Feb - 31 May 1952 Star Cafe,
Hwy on state line
Benton KY 31 May - 16 Oct 1952 Ben Hunt, Rt.3 (till 16 Sept)
Will Eggner, Mrs. Farmer
Jackson TN
(Lexington, Union City) 		16 Oct- 6 June 1952/53 Mrs. W. B. Ranson
Tupelo MS 6 June - 8 July 1953 Rockway Inn
West Point MS 8 July - 1 Sept 1953 T.J. Earnest, Prairie Jct.
Louisville MS 1 Sept - 14 Nov 1953 Millers Trailer Pk, Mrs. Elva Roberts
Pontatoc MS 14 Nov - 2 Jan 1953/54 Houston & Jack ? (illegible),
across from Jerry's Drive In
Corinth MS
(& Tiptonville) 		2 Jan - 30 May 1954 Horton Groc.
Waverly TN 30 May - 21 Aug 1954 Wm. "Plunk" Gould
Dickson TN 21 Aug - 27 Oct 1954 Ludy & Lorraine ___
Bolivar TN 27 Oct - 2 Jan 1954/55 foster Motel,
Elgie & Inez
Russellville AL 2 Jan - 23 Feb 1955 Bendix Standard Sta.
Holly Springs MS 23 Feb - 18 Mar 1955 LaFever Holly Courts
Covington TN 18 Mar - 7/8 Apr 1955 Mrs Adams
(with Ruth & Dan Price)
Sheffield AL 9 Apr - 21 June 1955 Tri-Cities Trailer Ct.
Huntsville AL 21 June - 2 July 1955 Whispering Pines
Benton KY 2 July - 20 July 1955 Mrs. Eggner
Huntsville AL 24 July - 7 Aug 1955 Mrs. Williams,
401 McKinley
Russellville AL 7 aug - 3 Dec 1955 M. H. McMurray Cafe
Athens AL 3 Dec - 10 Mar 1955/56 Old Spinning Wheel Motel,<br.Mitchell Wallace
Sheffield AL 10 Mar - 21 July 1956 Walter Kelly, 1701 High St.
Scottsboro, AL 22 July 1956 - retirement after ~ 1965/70; died 1985 Hwy 72 ponds & bait shop
Scottsboro, AL after retirement; died 1985 built house on Hwy 72

Photo Gallery



Sources

1 1920 United States Federal Census, Worth Township, Butler County, PA, Enumeration District 66, Page 7, lines 84-88 lists Bert W. Wilson, 28, married to Clara M. Wilson, 28. Their daughter, Ruth M. Wilson, 7, and two sons, Edwin D. Wilson, 4, and John T. Wilson, 2 years and one month, are listed as well. Bert is listed as having been born in PA. His profession is listed as "Laborer" on a rented farm. His census record is immediately followed by that of his father, James L. Wilson, suggesting that they lived on adjacent property. This census page is dated 23 and 24 January 1920.
1920 census pa butler worth d66 pg7.jpg
2 1930 United States Federal Census, Richland Township, Venango County, PA, Enumeration District 61-40, Page 6, lines 65-73 lists Birt W. Wilson, 39, married to Clara M. Wilson, 38. They live with six children and a live-in farm laborer: daughter Ruth M. Wilson, 17; son Edwin D., 15; son John T. Wilson, 12; son Russel W. Wilson, 9; son Ray B. Wilson, 6; daughter Allene N. Wilson, 3 years and 10 months; and laborer Lester Lawrence, 43. When Birt W. Wilson and Clara M. Wilson got married, he was 20 and she was 19. All of the children except Allene attended school within the census year. Everyone but Allene can read, write, and speak English. Everyone and their parents were born in PA. Birt W. Wilson's occupation is listed as "Farmer." This census page is dated April 15th, 1930.
1930 census pa venango richland d61-40 pg6b.jpg
3 Memoirs of Ella May Beals (Wilson) ,wife of John T. Wilson, including the WWII training locations, and listing of TVA locations & landlords.
4 Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams, daughter of John T. Wilson, including transcription of WWII service locations and dates from the wooden shoe, and family photographs. Personal recollection includes living on the Beals farm in Venango Co. PA, the TVA locations, and high school in Scottsboro AL. Her notes include John T. Wilson's war stories and his descriptions of his early life in Butler Co. PA.
Retrieved from "http://mouser.org/projects/genealogy/index.php?title=John_Thomas_Wilson&oldid=14545"
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