Benjamin Wilson

Alternate Names

  • Ben Wilson
  • Benjamin Wilson
  • Benjamine Wilson
  • Bennie Wilson
  • Benjamin J. Wilson

Land Ownership Summary

Land Lot: 2-1-168 and one acre in northwest corner of land lot 2-1-169
Acreage: 41 acres
Date of Purchase: No purchase deeds found. Borrows money on 41 acres.1
What Happened to the Land: The surviving evidence suggests he may have lost at least part of the property through financial distress or foreclosure, but that remains unproven.2
Note: Paying tax on 100 acres of land in 1912.3

Location Today

Modern Location: Portions of the Polo Golf and Country Club.4

Genealogy Snapshot

Born: About February 1868 in Georgia. Some later records suggest a birth year closer to 1866, but 1868 appears repeatedly in the earlier census trail.5

Died: Uncertain. Likely between 1920 and 1930.

Parents:

  • Father: Ben Wilson, born in Georgia
  • Mother: Mary / Mary Ann Wilson, born in Georgia6

Siblings:

  • Frances Wilson
  • Elijah Wilson
  • Romer Wilson
  • Mercer Wilson
  • Millie Wilson
  • Betsy Ann Wilson7 8

Spouse: Lula Brower / Brown, married 18 December 1887 in Forsyth County, Georgia9

Children:

  • Mabel Wilson, b. 1888 or 1889
  • Looly / Larie Wilson, b. 1890 or 1891
  • Callie Wilson, b. 1892 or 1893
  • Sophia / Sopha Wilson, b. 1894 or 1895
  • Jerry F. / Ford / William Wilson, b. 1895 or 1896
  • Essie / Bessie Wilson, b. 1897 or 1898
  • Gales Wilson, b. 1899 or 1900
  • Fannie K. / Fannie Wilson, b. 1901 or 1902
  • Paul Wilson, b. 1905
  • Johnnie M. / Johnie May Wilson, b. 1907
  • Ivey L. / Ida Sue Wilson, b. 1909 or 1910
  • Thomas Lee Wilson, b. 1915 or 191610 11

Migration: Possibly Alabama immediately after expulsion.12 By 1920, he and his family were in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was working as a laborer and living on Texas Avenue or a similarly recorded street address.13 City directories place him in Knoxville around 1920 as well.14 Some of his children later appear to have ended up in Detroit.

Burial: Not yet identified for Benjamin Wilson. His wife Lula Brown Wilson was buried at Longview Cemetery in Knoxville after her death on July 2, 1922.15

Sources

  1. Forsyth County Mortgage Deed Book M, p. 365. Forsyth County Clerk of Court, Cumming, GA.
  2. Forsyth County Deed Book 2, p. 235. Forsyth County Clerk of Court, Cumming, GA.
  3. Forsyth County Tax Digest (1912), “Colored Digest,” Vickery Militia District. Georgia State Archives, Morrow, GA.
  4. Forsyth County GIS Viewer. Accessed March 2026.
  5. United States Census Bureau. Census of the United States, 1900 (Big Creek, Forsyth County, Georgia)
  6. United States Census Bureau. Census of the United States, 1880 (Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia)
  7. ibid
  8. United States Census Bureau. Census of the United States, 1870 (Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia)
  9. Georgia Archives; Morrow, Georgia; County Marriage Records, 1828–1978, Benjamin Wilson and Lula Brower, Forsyth County Georgia. Accessed via Ancestry.com.
  10. United States Census Bureau. Census of the United States, 1900 (Big Creek, Forsyth County, Georgia)
  11. United States Census Bureau. Census of the United States, 1910 (Vickery Creek, Forsyth County, Georgia)
  12. Forsyth County Deed Book 2, p. 235. Forsyth County Clerk of Court, Cumming, GA.
  13. United States Census Bureau. Census of the United States, 1920 (Knoxville Ward 19, Knox County, Tennessee)
  14. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.
  15. Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, Lula Brown Wilson, Knox County, Tennessee. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77501982/lula-wilson