By K. W. Clendenin

Quite often I hear a person make the remark: "I wouldn't want to look too far into my family because I might discover some of them might have been hung or shot.

This could be true in the case of the Wilson family, only they should feel proud that such a thing was brought to light.  Possibly some of our American Wilsons can claim Private John Wilson of the 84th regiment of the British army as one of their ancestors.

Private Wilson was charged with the strangest mutiny ever attributed to a soldier.  His "Act of Rebellion" consisted of a refusal to accept his daily ration of rum. which is customary in the British army as each soldier is allowed a "grog ration" daily.  At his court martial which took place in Bangalore, India, in November, 1815, a plea was entered for him that he had been a lifelong teetotaler.  Nevertheless he was found guilt and shot.

Private Wilson lies buried in the Agram cemetery in Bangalore, where a suitable epitaph has been graven over his tomb.  The late Robert Ripley, of "Believe It Or Not" fame this so unusual that he featured in one of his articles a few years ago.

I use it to add further proof that all through the ages people bearing the surname of Wilson have, as a rule, been steadfast in their convictions, and this gentleman died for them.

Let us see how this surname originated.  It seems simply the son of Will, Will being a pet form of William.  William itself was applied to a person, anciently, who was resolute or we might even say "head strong".

Naturally there are many branches of the Wilson family due to the fact that it is a fairly common English and American surname.  I am choosing this week the coat-of-arms of the Wilsons of Yorkshire county, England, because it is one of the oldest branches and has descendants here in America, and this locality today.

Uses Black Shield

This branch uses for their coat-of-arms a black shield upon which in its center is placed a gold wolf wearing a collar.  In the top third of the shield is placed three gold six-pointed stars or mullets.  The crest is also part of a wolf supporting with his left paw a small black shield upon which is placed one gold star.

The family has two mottoes: "Res Non Verba," which means "facts, not words", and "Loyal En Tout" which means "loyal in everything".

The wolf anciently was reckoned as the animal that could go without for the longest time and would fight to the death for its family.  It would avoid a fight if it could but when it was forced into one it was a dangerous and courageous adversary.  The original Wilson knight who bore this coat-of-arms must have had very honorable characteristics to have earned such a device on his "coat".

Mathew Wilson was one of the most prominent merchants of London in his time, which was around the 1620.

On the American side many Wilsons can claim, through marriage, relationship to Edward Winslow, one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony.

One of the first bearing the name to settle in West Virginia was James Wilson, of Scotch-Irish descent, who migrated into what is now West Virginia from Pennsylvania.

Among those who fought in the bloody "Battle of Point Pleasant" Oct. 10, 1774, were Benjamin Wilson, Edward, James, Capt. John, George, Thomas, Sergeant William, Capt. Samuel, all bearing the surname of Wilson.

For years the Wilsons have been prominent in many ways in our state, particularly in the development of the petroleum and timber industry.  America welcomes those bearing the ancient "arms" and surname of Wilson.