My maternal great-grandfather through his daughter.
Born to Ambrose Wilson and Lucy Thompson on August 4, 1882, Fred Newell Wilson was the third of five children who grew to adulthood living on a farm in Hazelton Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan.
The Wilsons had been in the state for just over a decade at Fred’s birth as his grandfather Thomas used his Civil War pension to move his family from near Rochester, New York, sometime between 1865 and 1870.
Hazelton Township and the village of New Lothrop just north of it were very small. So small that Fred and his future wife were mentioned numerous times separately in the newspaper.
Fred married his neighbor and likely his fellow parishioner Minnie Mae Porterfield on Christmas Day 1906. While at the wedding, his parents lost their barn in a fire.
They had three children: Bernice, Wilma, and George. By 1918, he and Minnie moved to Flint. On his WWI draft card, his employer’s name is Chevrolet Motor Co. and his occupation is “work on motors.” His physical assessment describes him as tall, medium weight, with black eyes and black hair. By 1920, the Wilsons lived in Flushing, a suburb of Flint.
Fred had farmed for most of his life and, according to census records, continued to do so, to make ends meet. Frequent address changes in records seem to indicate that Fred had a house in Flint nearer the auto plant and kept a farm in Flushing as well, and the family split time between places.
By World War II, Fred is self employed and the family lived on a farm on Seymour Road in Flushing.
In 1947, the family endured a tragedy when Wilma, her husband, and two of their four kids died in a car crash. The two survivors of the crash lived with Fred and Minnie on the Seymour Road farm.
He and Minnie celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on December 25, 1966. Fred passed away of a stroke on May 28, 1967 at age 84. He is buried in Flushing City Cemetery.
Notable Facts
In every record Fred, his wife, or his daughter filled out, they pointedly wrote Fred Newell Wilson as his full name. Not Frederick. If it was his given name, he clearly didn’t use it, so I don’t either.
Another note on Fred’s name: Apparently, the family pronounced Fred’s middle name Newell as “Noll.” It wasn’t until my mom saw it written out that she found out it wasn’t spelled Noel.
Sources
US Federal Censuses
(1870 – 1950)
Ontario County, New York; Shiawassee County, Michigan; Genesee County, Michigan. Accessed on Ancestry.com or Familysearch.org.
Michigan Birth Records, 1867-1902; Roll #4207042, Image 213 of 850. Accessed on Ancestry.com
Personal files. Application for Social Security, “Fred Newell Wilson.”Accessed from National Archives site.
Michigan Marriage Records, 1868-1925; Roll #4209085, Image 564 of 628. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
Military Draft Cards. WWI and WWII. Fred Newell Wilson. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
City Directories 1918, 1931. Wilson, Fred N. (Flint, Michigan)
Obituaries, The Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan) 30 May 1967, p24, Col8, item 4. Accessed at Flint Public Library, 16 May 2019.
Findagrave.com
“Frederick Newell Wilson,” ID#64118849, Flushing City Cemetery, Genesee County, Michigan
Family Stories
Northwest Journals 