William Allan Wilson

William A. Wilson was co-founder of the What Cheer Gospel Hall, as well as involved in the nearby Forbush Gospel Hall, both in short-lived mining towns in Iowa which after the mines dried up in the early 1900's, the two assemblies merged and relocated into what was last known as Centerville Gospel Chapel. William was also involved in the early days of Sparta Gospel Hall in nearby Illinois, where he occasionally preached. He was said in a history of Southern Illinois, by George Washington Smith, on which a significant portion of this biography is based, to be "a man of broad and noble principle and his life has been exemplary in every respect." He was also quoted in a resolution made early in life, "Never be idle" and when not engaged manually, he was mentally.

Early Life

William Allan Wilson was born June 9, 1863, to John Wilson, a coal miner by occupation. Ancestry was from Aberdeen, Scotland, and the Allans, maternal ancestors of this subject were from near Edinburgh. John Wilson died in Scotland, and subsequently, his widow followed her children to America. Mrs. Wilson died in What Cheer, Iowa, survived by four children in addition to William:

John Wilson - worked for the coal company in Sparta
George A. Wilson - also worked for the coal company
Agnes Wilson - married William Dalziel of Albia, Iowa
Ann Wilson - married Lewis Jones of Renton, Washington

Occupation

He left Scotland in 1880, on the ship Anchoria, from Glasgow to New York City, and proceeded immediately to the Carbon Run mines in Bradford county, Pennsylvania where he remained several months before moving to Iowa. He was integrally involved in the What Cheer mine for ten years, and two years at Forbush. Around 1892, he left mining for three years to evangelize miners in his home country of Scotland. Returning in 1895, he served as superintendent of the Baker & Lockwood Tent & Awning Company, in Kansas City, Missouri, for awhile. In 1899, he moved to Sparta, Randolph county, Illinois where he served as the founding general manager of Wilson Brothers Coal Company, where his brothers John and George A. worked with him.

William also served two years as the official mine inspector of Randolph county during which, he was invited to make an inspection report to the president of the Eden Mine Company. This report resulted in his leasing and renovating the mine property for its eventual sale to the Willis Coal & Mining Company, which leased to the Wilson Brothers to operate the mine in 1906. This served as one of the leading properties in the region of coal mining. William also subsequently opened Mine #4 for the Illinois Fuel Company, as well as the Moffat mine of Sparta.

He also served one term as member of the Sparta council, "during which the saloons made their exit from the community." At the "urgent request" of a St. Louis company, he went to Arkansas to manage its property, returning in ill health. John Mitchel, when president of the U.M.W.of A., sent a special delegate from the Indianapolis convention requesting William to work for the U.M.W. of A., either in West Virginia or Illinois, saying, "We get more out of the operators when they recognize our man to be fair minded." He firmly refused the offer, preferring the home life.

Education

William did not receive much young schooling, entering coal mining at an early age where his father was employed. While in Iowa, he spent five terms in Oskaloosa College, and one summer term taking private lessons in Greek. He took an irregular course, but his "thirst to read the Bible in Greek kept him at that study all the time." During the era of 1895-1999, when he was living in Kansas City, Missouri, he attended night classes at Brown's Business College. While in Sparta, he pursued a course in mining in the I.C. Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Marriage and Family

In November of 1890, in What Cheer, Iowa, William married Christina Moffatt. She was born March 20, 1869 in Lanarkshire, Scotland, to John (b. 1835) and Christina (1840-1920) Moffatt.

Children:

Christina B. Wilson - born Aug. 31, 1892 in Center, IA. She served as a public school teacher in Sparta, IL.
Elizabeth A. Wilson - born Feb. 29, 1896 in Forbush, IA.
Frank D. Wilson - born Feb. 5, 1900, died 1985 in Keystone Heights, FL.
William E. Wilson - born 1908 in Sparta, IL; working in 1930 as a lineman in Rockford.
John Charles Wilson - born 1911 in Sparta, IL; working in 1930 as a painter in Rockford, IL, rooming with his brother William. In 1940, in Rockford as a tree trimmer, and had married Anna, with two children: Betty Ann Wilson (b. 1932) and William C. Wilson (b. 1937);

Christina, the mother, died December 14, 1917 in Sparta, Illinois where she is buried. It is presently unknown when or where William died.

Sources

"A History of Southern Illinois: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People, and its Principal Interests", by George Washington Smith, M.A., Vol. III, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1912; pp. 1166-1167;
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