My Genealogy Hound

Constant P. Wilson, farmer of Upper Township, Sebastian Co., Ark., and native of the county, was born in 1856, being a son of Thomas E. and Mary A. (Dillard) Wilson, who were born in Kentucky and Virginia, July 6, 1804, and April 27, 1822, respectively. The father removed from Kentucky to Fort Gibson, and in 1832 located at Fort Smith, Ark., where he was engaged in surveying, and acted as sutler for the soldiers. He owned a large farm of 1,200 acres, and from fifteen to twenty slaves. The following are his children: Neosho L. (deceased), Thomas E., Virginia T. (Baxter), John D., Constant P., Sallie P. (Falconer), and Macha M. He has one step-daughter, Mrs. Marcus Boyd. Mr. Wilson’s death occurred September 11, 1880, his wife dying on the 11th of January, seven years later. Her parents, John and Sallie P. (Moore) Dillard, were born in Virginia, and in 1822 removed to Arkansas, where the father engaged in merchandising, farming and stock dealing. He was one of the prominent men of his section of the country, and represented his county in the State Legislature. He died in 1846. His maternal grandparents, Benjamin and Polly (Price) Moore, came from Virginia to Arkansas in 1821, and the descendants of this noble couple are among the leading citizens of Arkansas. Constant P. Wilson, whose name heads this sketch, has spent his entire life in Sebastian County. He was married on the 30th of May, 1881, to Miss Nellie Collins, who was born July 4, 1860. From 1877 to 1885 he was in the saloon business at Fort Smith, but since that time has been manager of the Wilson and Collins farms, comprising 1,600 acres of land, and is the most extensive planter in Northwestern Arkansas. Throughout life Mr. Wilson has been the architect of his own fortune, and is of a very energetic and determined disposition. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and in his political views is a Democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Samuel J. Tilden. Mrs. Wilson’s father, James M. Collins, was born in Virginia in 1830, and died on the 2d of March, 1887. He was reared and educated in Pennsylvania by his grandfather, Christopher Riley, and after attaining man’s estate went to Texas and engaged in the stock business on a large scale. While in the “Lone Star State” he became acquainted with and married Mary J. Whitsett, a daughter of Dr. William C. and Elizabeth L. (Edmunds) Whitsett. Although not in the army, Mr. Collins gave valuable assistance to the Confederate cause in furnishing the army with provisions. In 1866 he came to Fort Smith, and engaged in the mercantile business, and also purchased 1,200 acres of land in Sebastian County, on which he located in 1869. Here he died March 2, 1887. His parents John and Elizabeth (Riley) Collins, were natives of Virginia. His wife’s parents were born in Kentucky August 7, 1812, and December 15, 1815, and died January 9, 1882, and January 22, 1883, respectively, and her paternal great-grandparents, Gen. William and Emily (Haden) Whitsett, were Virginians, the former dying in 1841. Her maternal grandparents, William and Mary A. (Penn) Edmunds, were Virginians, Mary A., being a descendant of William Penn, of historical renown.