My Genealogy Hound

Eugene Wilson, proprietor of one of the largest bakeries and confectionery establishments in Forrest City, was born in St. Francis County, in 1870, and is a son of S. C. and Mary (Beck) Wilson, also residents of that city. Mr. Wilson and his partner, John Reno, do a large business in their line, their trade amounting to an average of $200 per week. The latter is a baker by trade, besides whom they also employ an experienced baker to meet the demands of a large trade, having, in connection with the bakery, an ice-cream parlor (that is liberally patronized), and the finest delivery wagon in the city. S. C. Wilson was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1825, but was reared in Pennsylvania, where his parents moved when he was a small boy, settling on a farm, on which he worked when not attending school until sixteen years of age. At that time he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter’s trade, serving three years in Lowell County, Ohio. After familiarizing himself with its varied details, he worked two years in New Castle, and then went South, locating in Blackhawk, Miss., in 1846, where he remained about ten years, following his adopted calling. Subsequently he was engaged in the saw-mill business until the war broke out, when he joined the Confederate army, serving in Stevenford’s battery until the close of the war. He was captured at the battle Missionary Ridge, and taken to a Federal prison, being confined six months. He participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Murfreesboro, and a number of skirmishes. After the war, returning to Mississippi, he was employed by J. H. Pait in his saw-mill until 1869, at which time he came to Arkansas, and located in St. Francis County, about three miles north of Forrest City. He erected a new saw-mill and operated it in connection with a grist-mill, until removing to the city, in 1881, since which time he has been occupied in the mercantile business, with substantial success. He has acquired some property, owning six houses in the city, besides other possessions. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are the parents of three children, all residents of this county: Mary E. (wife of William M. Hannah), Charles M. and Eugene (the principal of this sketch). S. C. Wilson is the son of Dr. Andrew and Mary (Simpson) Wilson. His paternal grandfather was of Irish parentage, and his maternal grandfather was born and reared in England, running away from home when a young man in order to marry the girl of his choice, an Irish lady, and a sister of Thomas Nugent, the noted warrior. They eloped and came to America, and were married in New York City, after which they settled in Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming. Mrs. Wilson died in March, 1889, and was a prominent member of the Baptist Church, to which she had belonged for over thirty years. Mr. Wilson is a prominent resident of Forrest City, and is the present deputy United States marshal of this district. He is Grand Master of the I. O. O. F. He is the patentee and inventor of the “patent car coupler,” of which he is the sole owner.