David B. Wilson
Among the successful business men of Shelbyville, we may class the gentleman for whom this
biographical sketch is prepared. David B. Wilson is a native of Ohio, born in Montgomery County,
November 27th, 1836, the son of David B. and Cordelia A. Wilson. David B. Wilson, Sen., was
born in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1797; came to the United States in 1820, and died in
Paducah, Ky., in the year 1881. His wife whose maiden name was Cordelia A. Brown, was born
in Virginia, in 1815, and is still living, making her home at this time in the City of Shelbyville. D.B.
Wilson, the subject of this sketch, spent the greater portion of his early life in the City of Dayton,
Ohio, receiving in the public schools an education which, although not of a high scholastic order,
was of a character that has since enabled him to participate successfully in the details of an active
business life. In 1852, he went to Paducah, Ky., and after several years' residence in that city,
returned to Indiana, locating in Shelbyville in 1872. Mr. Wilson's business prior to 1880, in this
city, was that of carriage making, which he abandoned the above year, and engaged in undertaking,
being at this time the proprietor of the largest establishment of that kind in the place. Mr. Wilson
enjoys great personal popularity, and is well known and universally respected throughout the county
for his sterling qualities and manly integrity. His political views have ever been in sympathy with the
principles of the Democratic party, and his first presidential vote was cast in 1856 for James
Buchanan. He was Whisky Inspector during the administration of Andrew Johnson, and in 1879
and 1880, held the position of Door Keeper of the Indiana House of Representatives.
His is preeminently identified with the Masonic and K. of P. fraternities, and in religion holds to the creed of
the Presbyterian Church. On the 16th day of August, 1858, was solemnized his marriage with Miss
Ellen Bolan, a native of Ireland, and daughter of Thomas and Maria Bolan.
Mrs. Wilson was
born in the year 1839, and is the mother of two children, viz.: Emma C. and
Thomas D. She is a
worthy member of the Episcopal Church.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, "Shelbyville
Sketches," Chicago: Brant & Fuller, 1887, page 546-547.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
Biography Index
Main Page