This post is about my second great grandaunt, Louisa Jane Alexander. She was born on September 1, 1846, in Jackson County, Indiana. Her parents were John Henry Alexander and Mary Frances Carter. Mary was also known at Frankie in her early days. The marriage was the second marriage for both of them.
The first problem I ran into while trying to keep track of Louisa and her siblings was the 1850 census. She and her sister were missing. I found her parents and a baby Isaac right where they should be. Louisa and Mahala were missing for several years in my research. Then a gen-friend emailed me about the 1850 census. She had found Mahala Alexander, 5 years old and Louisa J. Alexander, 3 years old and in the house of a Nancy Hutchinson in Brownstown, Indiana. In 1860 they were both back in the home of their parents. I have not connected Nancy to the family yet and the only recognizable name in her household is an Elizabeth King. Louisa 's grandmother was Sally King Alexander. Maybe a connection, maybe not.
On October 27, 1867, a 21-year-old Louisa married Ephraim Cole Wilson in Brownstown, Indiana. Ephraim had been a corporal in the Union army. Their marriage produced five children, Minnie Belle, Orland C., Dillard, Willard, and Pirtle.
In the 1870 census, Louisa and Ephraim are farming out in Jackson County, Indiana. I thought I had lost them as I could not find them in the 1880 census. I am sure they did not go out of county or state, so I am going to keep trying to find them in 1880. It must have been during this time that the changes were taking place, a change of career for Ephraim, and the beginning of a family business.
In 1900 I found them living on Spring Street in Brownstown, Indiana, not out in the county. Ephraim was listed as a Livestock Dealer. Living with them are son Pirtle, 18, who is listed as a butcher. Clyde is there listed as a son but is really a grandson. He is 10 years old. Orlean, 27-year-old son, his wife Kate, and baby Hubert are there too. Orlean is also a butcher. This was the beginning of something that is still going on in the Wilson family in 1841, in Brownstown.
By the 1910 census, Ephraim and Louisa are still in Brownstown on Bridge Street. He is no longer working. Grandson Hubert is 10 and still with them. His mother Kate (Moreland) died in 1901. Perhaps Louisa only cared for him while his father worked. His father Orland had remarried in 1906, and I know that the new wife (Rebecca Cummings) worked with him at the Wilson Market.
Ephraim died on January 31, 1915. His death certificate says he died of Chronic Cystitis. He was 68 years old. His obituary says he was sick for some time. He and Louisa had been married for 49 years. I can only imagine her grief.
Five years after Ephriam's death, in the 1920 census, Louisa is 72 and still living in Brownstown. Herbert is still with her at age 19. This is going to be the last time she will be in a census.
She dies in 1926 at the age of 79 of heart disease. She had been ill and bed-ridden for 9 months. She was living at the home of her eldest daughter, Minnie Eisele, when she died. She was buried beside Ephraim in the Fairview Cemetery there in Brownstown.
I think a part of her and Ephraim still continues. If you take a trip to Brownstown, Indiana, you can still do business with a Wilson. You see, you will find on Bolles Street, a little place called Wilson's Slaughtering & Processing (established 1892). It's nice to know it continues.
SOURCES for this post:
1. "United States Census, 1850, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHJV-TCN); Nancy Hutchinson; Brownstown, Jackson, Indiana; Dwelling 769, Family 772, Line 2.
Hutchinson, Nancy 43, Rebecca 14, Elizabeth King 45, Malaha 5, Louisa 3.
2. "United States Census, 1860"
Alexander, John 1860 U.S. Census
Jackson County, Indiana Hamilton TWP
Series: M653 Roll: 268 Page: 761
Dwelling 840 Family 819
Alexander, John 41, Francis 55, John H 17, Mahala 16, Louisa 13
3. "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZQR-YSL : 21 January 2016), Ephraim Wilson and Louisa J Alexander, 27 Oct 1867; citing Jackson, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,314,625.
4. "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXXB-1DT), Ephram Wilson; Owen Township, Jackson, Indiana, United States; Dwelling 806, Family 806, Line 20, Page 117.
Wilson, Ephraim 24, Louisa 24, Minnie B. 6mos.
5. "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MM1T-QGT), Hubert Wilson in entry for Epherum Wilson, 1900; ED: 66, Sheet: 12, Line: 1, Dwelling: 241, Family 254.
Wilson, Epherin 54, Louisa 54, Pirtle 18, Clyde 10, Orlean 27, Cate 27, Hubert (grandson) 1.
6. "United States Census, 1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKP3-CJX), Ephrim Wilson, Brownstown, Jackson, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 58, Sheet 14A, Dwelling 194, Family 196, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 357; FHL microfilm 1,374,370.
Wilson, Ephraim 65, Louisa 63, Hubert (grandson) 10.
7. "United States, Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF7G-3VY : Wed Jan 22 17:07:45 UTC 2025), Entry for Louisa Jane Wilson and Hurbert Wilson, 1920.
Wilson, Louisa 72, Hubert (grandson) 19.
8. "Article; Newspapers.com"; Jackson County Banner, Brownstown, Indiana, Obituary - Louisa Wilson; 28 July 1926; Page 5.
9. "Indiana Archives and Records Administration"; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1926-1927; Roll: 10 Ancestry.com. Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2017 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Registered No. 20 [23655];
Brownstown, Brownstown, Jackson, Indiana.
Death; July 25, 1926 Informant: Mrs Geo. Eisele Cause: Heart Disease
10. "Find a Grave", database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197824694/louise-jane-wilson), memorial page for Louise Jane Wilson (1 Sep 1846–24 Jul 1926), Find a Grave Memorial ID 197824694, citing Fairview Cemetery, Brownstown, Jackson County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by The Lone Ranger (contributor 47228659).
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