Mary Ann (Wilson) Gibson

Birth:    Feb. 1, 1830
             Champaign County, Ohio

Died:     Jul. 29, 1867
             McDonough County, Illinois

Mary Ann (Wilson) Gibson was the wife of Isaac W. Gibson, a farmer in Bethel Township, McDonough County, Illinois.  They were married on July 1, 1858.  She was born Feb 1, 1830, in Champaign Co., Ohio, a daughter of John and Jane (McComsey) Wilson. Her parents and a brother, Eli Wilson, is buried in this cemetery along with several of her cousins, an aunt, nieces and nephews.

Census records do not reveal evidence of any living children born to Mary Ann and J.W. Gibson. However, the mortality index for Bethel Township in 1860 does show that a one-month-old male, William Gibson, died in November 1859.  In the 1860 census enumeration Mary Ann Gibson's mother, Jane Wilson, and sister, Malissa Chenney, were living with her and her husband. The 1870 census shows that her husband still farming in McDonough County with his late wife's sister, Malissa Chenney, living as a domestic in his home. 

The stone, photographed in March 2008, was found lying flat on the ground.  If the infant mentioned in the 1860 mortality index was indeed her son, it is likely that he is also interred in this cemetery.

Biographical information comes from census records, vital statistics, and marriage records from Ancestry.com, the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, and from Duane Lester's, "Rural Cemeteries of McDonough County, Illinois, Volume II, Bethel-Industry."

. . .

Jane (McComsey) Wilson

Birth:   Oct. 7, 1787
             Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky

Died:    Feb. 11, 1861
             McDonough County, Illinois

Jane (McComsey) Wilson was born in Kentucky, a daughter of John McComsey.  She married John Wilson on December 20, 1809 in Madison, Ohio.  She was the mother of Eli Wilson and Mary Ann (Wilson) Gibson who are also buried in this cemetery. They were the parents of eight known children, all born in Ohio: Jane; Malinda (died as infant); Malissa (wife of Wm. Cheney); Margaret (wife of Carroll Lane); Samuel (husband of Susan Edmonston); John Jr. (husband of Isabell Venard); Eli Wilson (spouse of Sophia Beck) and Mary Ann (spouse of J.W. Gibson).

Jane Wilson's husband purchased the east half of the Northwest fourth of Section 22 in Bethel Township, McDonough County, Illinois in January of 1835. Jane's sister and brother-in-law, Mary "Polly" and Greenup McClure, purchased the west half of this same quadrant in Sep 1835. . Robert McComsey who purchased the southwest quadrant of Section 21 in Bethel Township in August of 1836 is possibly Jane's brother or cousin.

Jane Wilson's burial in this cemetery is documented by family tradition. Her children's and husband's stones are in place but in delicate to deteriorating condtions.

**Biographical information comes from family records, census records, vital statistics, and marriage records from Ancestry.com and the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Illinois Public Land Purchase Index, and from Duane Lester's, "Rural Cemeteries of McDonough County, Illinois, Volume II, Bethel-Industry."

**Special thanks to Goldie (Wilson) Vining of Washington state--Jane's great-great-grandaughter and my third cousin (three times removed).


. . .

Eli Wilson

Birth:    Sep. 27, 1824
             Mechanicsburg (Champaign County), Ohio

Died:    1867
             McDonough County, Illinois

Eli Wilson was a son of John Wilson and Jane McCompsey. He was born in Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio in 1824. On Sep 25, 1851 he married Sophia E. Beck in McDonough County, Illinois. She was born in Greencastle, Indiana in 1830, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Beck (both born in North Carolina). Sophia died in 1917 in Kirkman, Iowa where she is buried in Rosehill/Kirkman cemetery.

Eli Wilson shares his tombstone with two of his children: Edward B., 1852-1854 and Elizabeth, 1853-1865.

Other known children born to Eli and Sophia Wilson:  Jacob born 1849-1934 in McDonough Co.; Jane, born 1854, per the 1860 census; Oliver Browning "Brum" Wilson 1855-1942 (died in Shelby Co., Iowa); Mary Bell born 1857; Anna Catherine 1859-1916 (married to Elijah Flack—and is buried in Industry, IL); Melissa born 1860; Alice born 1864; and Eli born 1867.

Eli Wilson's parents and a sister, Mary Ann (Wilson) Gibson, are also buried in this cemetery. His aunt, Mary "Polly" (McCompsey) McClure, and cousin Sarah Jane (McClure) Venard are likewise interred here.

Biographical information comes from census records, vital statistics, and marriage records from Ancestry.com and the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index and from Duane Lester's, "Rural Cemeteries of McDonough County, Illinois, Volume II, Bethel-Industry."

Check out the video clip taken on Memorial Day weekend in May 2010 to see the current condition of this stone.  It's the fourth clip in this blog post, the one with the green border. The stone is now toppled from its base because of damage by cows inhabiting the cemetery.


. . .