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Below is a family biography included in The History of Adams County, Illinois published by Murray, Williamson & Phelps in 1879.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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WILSON, JAMES, proprietor Wilson’s European Hotel, 4th street, between Hampshire and Vermont; was born in County Donegal, Ireland, 1812. He served as valet to a nobleman for several years, and came to the United States, 1840. He married Emma McDonald in 1850. She was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1801. She married a Mr. Hutchins in 1817, in the city of London. He was a lawyer by profession. He died in 1832, leaving seven children, whom she also lost by the cholera, in Montreal, Canada, the same year. They opened the Wilson House, on the European plan, in 1869, which is conducted as a first-class house, on that plan, equal to any west of Chicago or in that city. Prices reasonable. He is a Democrat.

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This family biography is one of 1444 biographies included in The History of Adams County, Illinois published by Murray, Williamson & Phelps in 1879.  View the complete description here: The History of Adams County, Illinois

View additional Adams County, Illinois family biographies here: Adams County, Illinois Biographies

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