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Below is a family biography included in The History of Fayette County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  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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Frank A. Wilson, a merchant of Hickory Withe, Fayette County, was born December 31, 1824, in Anderson County, S. C., and is one of three sons and a daughter born to David and Elizabeth (Wilson) Wilson. Our subject and a brother are still living. The parents were born in Newberry County, S. C., married and farmed there a few years, then moved to Anderson County where the mother died in 1828. The father then married Lucretia Dollor, and by this marriage had a son and a daughter; the son is living. In 1832 they moved to Illinois and farmed in Hamilton County, where this wife died in January, 1834. The father afterward married Martha Kettle, of Gallatin County, Ill., and one son and two daughters were born to this marriage, all of them living. This wife died in 1870 and the father died in 1874 in Hamilton County, Ill. Our subject remained with his parents until twenty-two years old, then moved to Fayette County, Tenn., and commenced merchandising at Hickory Wythe. March, 1862, he enlisted in the Thirty-eighth Tennessee Infantry (Confederate Army), and two years later went into the Fifteenth Tennessee Calvary under Gen. Forrest, where he remained until the war closed. In 1869 Mr. Wilson bought an interest in the store of A. Weber, but at the end of three years he commenced merchandising on his own responsibility. November, 1880, he sold his stock and commenced burning brick and farming until October, 1885, when he again went into the mercantile business at Hickory Withe, and now carries a stock valued at $1,800 January 29, 1850, he married Hadassah Boyd, of Fayette County. They had one son who died in infancy. Mrs. Wilson died March 1, 1879, and in 1883 he married Cordelia Boyd. He is a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, and upright in all business transactions.

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This family biography is one of 77 biographies included in The History of Fayette County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed.  The History of Fayette County was included within The History of Fayette and Hardeman Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Fayette and Hardeman Counties, Tennessee

View additional Fayette County, Tennessee family biographies here: Fayette County, Tennessee

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