I am going to start today by telling you how confused I was about today’s family. I think I now have it somewhat figured out. Here is a summary which explains my confusion. There was once a William Wilkinson, who had a son named John Wilkinson. That John had a son named William Wilkinson. Then that William had a son named John Wilkinson. It is that last John Wilkinson who is today’s birthday boy. I will also add that I was surprised to find a person named Wilkinson in our German Family Tree, especially since not only does Wilkinson not sound like a German name, but the maiden name of the mother was also not a German name.

Also, before I begin telling you the story of John Wilkinson, let me say that he may just set a record for this blog. I do not think any other character whose story was told on this blog can lay claim to being a resident of so many different locations during his life. By the time I get to the end, maybe you will agree with me on that assessment.

John Henry Wilkinson was born on March 7, 1879, making today his 145th birthday. John was the son of William Robert and Jennie (McPike) Wilkinson. He was born in Alton, Illinois. After he was born, his family moved to Perry County. Let me say at this point that this Wilkinson family is the one that established the Wilkinson’s Landing on the Mississippi River near Seventy-Six, Missouri. This family has a history of being connected to some other family members in Alton, Illinois. For today’s purposes, I will not go into detail. I will let you take a look at the magnificent home that was built by John Henry’s grandfather, John Wilkinson at the Wilkinson’s Landing. There is also a connection in this family with the Wilkinson’s Mill that was once located south of Altenburg along the Apple Creek.

After John’s parents got to Perry County, they had another child in 1884, a girl named Antonette. Take a look at the information we have about this Wilkinson family in our GFT.

According to the facts listed here, Antonette was born on July 17, 1884 and baptized on the same day. That baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Then, about a month later, John Henry was baptized, and his record is also found in the same church books. The baptism records for those two Wilkinson’s are shown below. The first one for Antonette is coincidentally on the bottom of a page.

John Henry’s baptism record is found on the next page.

Here is what I think happened here. I certainly could be wrong. I think when Antonette was born, the parents may have been fearful that she may not have lived long. I found a Perry County birth record for Antonette, which I choose not to display, that says that Dr. E.E. Buenger assisted in the birth and the birth took place in Altenburg. Perhaps Rev. J.F. Koestering, Trinity’s pastor, was told by Dr. Buenger that the child was in danger of death and needed to be baptized. Antonette also likely died as an infant. Then maybe Pastor Koestering discovered that the Wilkinson’s older son, John Henry, had not been baptized, and he talked the Wilkinson’s into getting him baptized a month later. John Henry’s record shown above notes that he was born in Alton. I have doubts that either of these baptisms took place in Trinity’s church.

In the 1880 census, John Wilkinson is already found living in Perry County. His family is found living in the Bois Brule Township where his father was a farmer.

In a plat map made around 1890, William R. Wilkinson owned several pieces of property near Wilkinson’s Landing.

When the 1900 census was taken, John was living in St. Louis with his parents. He was 21 years old. I think it says his father was in a commission business and John was called a drummer, which was a name given to salesmen, especially traveling salesmen, back in those days.

We will now take a look at the woman who would become John’s wife. Her name was Frances Rosemary Young. Frances was the daughter of Benjamin and Maria (Field) Young. The 1900 census entry below from St. Louis, says Frances was born in August of 1883, and by then her mother was a widow. Frances was 17 years old at the time.

According to a newspaper article published in St. Louis, John Wilkinson married Frances Young in May of 1902.

According to later census entries, it appears that John and Frances had two sons, and, believe it or not, those sons were named William and John. It appears that the Wilkinson’s moved back to Perry County during that decade. John enlisted in the Missouri National Guard in 1907, and the form below says he enlisted in Perryville.

The 1910 census shows the Wilkinson’s living in Perryville where John was the proprietor of a furniture store. Just one son was in their family.

The next census in which we find the Wilkinson’s indicates another move. We find them living in Decatur, Illinois in 1920, where John is called a decorator. A second young son was then included in the family.

The 1930 census finds the Wilkinson family living in Birmingham, Alabama. John was a commercial salesman for a wholesale roofing company.

Next, we find the Wilkinson household in the 1940 census living in Gulfport, Mississippi. John is called a traveling salesman. Not only do we find this family living in Gulfport in 1940, but it also says their last residence in 1935 was Nashville, Tennessee.

Frances Wilkinson died in 1945 at the age of 62. According to an obituary published in the Perry County Republican, Frances died in St. Louis, but it also says her husband lived in Mobile Alabama. Frances was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. She has an entry on Findagrave.com, but there is no gravestone photo.

John was still alive in 1950, but I was unable to locate him in a census entry for that year. A Social Security document says that John died in January of 1966, and I found a John Wilkinson listed in a Florida death index who died in January of 1966. I was unable to determine any burial information for him.

The saga of John Henry Wilkinson is certainly an interesting one, beginning with his unexpected baptism record to be found in a Lutheran church. I found evidence of John living in Alton, Wilkinson’s Landing, St. Louis, Perryville, Decatur, Birmingham, Nashville, Gulfport, Mobile, and possibly Orlando. For a man that was a traveling salesman, he certainly did a lot of traveling.