McDonough County Genealogical Society
Every county has its “firsts”—births, marriages, and deaths. In McDonough County, the first recorded marriage was that of John Wilson and Martha Vance.
John Martin Wilson was born in 1806 in Jackson County, Tennessee, the son of Hugh Sr. and Susan (Skiles) Wilson. He came to the area with other pioneer families seeking land and opportunity. Martha Ramsey Vance, born between 1804 and 1806, was the daughter of James Sr. and Margaret (Reno/ Reneau) Vance.
John and Martha were married by Rev. John A. Logan on Thursday, October 30, 1828, in what is now southeastern Industry Township. At the time, McDonough County had not yet been formally organized, so their marriage license was filed in nearby Schuyler County, which still held jurisdiction over the region.
A charming detail of the wedding survived through family memory. In 1938, their grandson, Lawrence D.
Wilhelm, told the Industry Press that on their wedding day the couple walked barefoot most of the way to the fort, carrying their shoes and stockings. They put them on for the ceremony, then took them off again for the walk home—a simple solution in a place where such items were hard to come by.
John and Martha shared 53 years of married life.
Martha passed away first, and John followed her five years later. They raised twelve children—six daughters and six sons—and helped anchor one of the county’s earliest families. John, Martha, and their first seven children now rest in Vance Cemetery in Industry Township.
They children were: Elizabeth Wilson Young, Mary Vance Wilson Springer, Hugh Wilson, Jr., Sarah Wilson Cordell, James Vance Wilson, Susannah A. Wilson Wilhelm, William Vance Wilson, Christopher Columbus Wilson, twins – Rufus Ramsey Wilson and Lewis Ramsey Wilson, Margaret Ramsey Vance Wilson Shannon, and Martha R. Wilson Reed.
Pioneers of the Past by Julie L. Terstriep, of the McDonough County Genealogical Society, facebook.com/ mcdcgs, www.mcdcgs.com/pioneers-of-the-past/
