BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Willett Wilson

Judge Willett Wilson.  A prominent representative of the bar of the Lone Star state, Judge Wilson, of Port Lavaca, is honored and respected in every class of society.  His name is a familiar one in political, professional and business circles throughout this portion of the state, and by reason of his marked intellectual activity and superior ability he is well fitted to aid in moulding the policy of the state, to control general interests and to form public opinion.  He is a native son of the commonwealth, born in the city of Jefferson on the 10th of September, 1873, a son of Dr. W. F. and Sally (Burnside) Wilson, the former a native of Alabama, where he became a prominent and well known citizen, and for two terms served as a member of the state senate.  In his family were the following children: W. F., the father of the Judge; Ben, a railroad man of Houston, Texas; Trudy, the wife of C. E. Gilbert, of Austin, where he is serving as state superintendent of buildings; Ellen, now Mrs. Durrum, and Julia, Mrs. Hill.  

Dr. W. F. Wilson spent the early years of his life in his native commonwealth of Alabama, where he received an excellent literary education, and was a cadet in the United States Academy at West Point.  At the opening of the Civil war he resigned his position and returned home, but soon afterward entered the Confederate navy and spent four years in the service, being on the Merrimac in its memorable battle with the Monitor.  After that engagement the naval crew was transferred to land service, and Mr. Wilson was with the force in front of Richmond who were taken prisoners and sent to Johnson's Island, where they remained until the close of the conflict.  Mr. Wilson was yet a prisoner of war at the time Lincoln was assassinated, and after his release he returned to his home in Alabama.  He was a valuable member of the Confederate navy department when they most needed him, was faithful to the cause, and suffered the many hardships and deprivations which are the common lot of the soldier.  After his return Mr. Wilson began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of his father, but later graduated from a medical college, and in 1866 came to Jefferson, Texas, where his ability in his chosen calling enabled him to become the possessor of a large and valuable practice.  In 1880 he located on a farm in Ellis county, Texas, near Waxahachie, where he successfully continued in the practice of medicine and the work of his farm until 1895, the year of his removal to Port Lavaca.  He has gained distinction in the line of his chosen calling in Calhoun county, has ever been an earnest and discriminating student, and his name occupies a leading place among the medical practitioners of Southern Texas.  He is a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations.  In this state Dr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Sally Burnside, a descendant of an honored old Kentucky family, where her father was a prominent agriculturalist and where his death subsequently occurred.  In his family were five children, namely: Sally, the mother of the Judge; James, a farmer of Kentucky; Nannie, Mrs. Campbell; Mattie, Mrs. Montgomery, and Mary, Mrs. Alderson.  The following children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Wilson: Eagan, a farmer of Calhoun county; Willett, whose name introduces this review; Gatewood, also an agriculturist in Calhoun county; Ben F., in a railroad auditor's office in Brownsville, Texas; William, who died at the age of eighteen years; and Bessie, the wife of Dr. N. G. Peterson, county health officer of Calhoun county.  Mrs. Wilson, the mother, is a consistent and worthy member of the Methodist church.

Judge Wilson spent the early years of his life on his father's farm, attending the school near his home, and later was a student in the A. and M. College, where he graduated in 1893 in the civil engineering department.  Later he graduated in the law course in the state university and was admitted to the bar in Waxahachie in 1895.  He practices in all the courts of the state, doing a general law business, but makes a specialty of land titles.  In 1895 he came to Port Lavaca, where he has since engaged in the practice of law, securing a large and distinctively representative clientele, and he now stands at the head of the bar of Calhoun county.  He is an indefatigable and earnest worker, and the litigation with which he has been connected has embraced many of the important cases tried in the courts of this circuit, while again and again he has won the victor's laurels over competitors of marked ability.  At the same time the Judge has also been prominently connected with many of the leading industries of Calhoun county, having assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Port Lavaca in 1900, which has a capital of $25,000, with surplus and undivided profits of $16,000, individual deposits of $155,413, loans and discounts of $96,494, and is numbered among the strong and solid banking institutions of Southwestern Texas.  Since its organization the Judge has held the position of vice-president and director.  He also assisted in organizing the Fish and Oyster Company of Port Lavaca in 1905, with a capital of twenty thousand dollars, and of which he was made the president.  The firm employs fifty sail sloops in the business and furnishes employment to about three hundred and fifty men, while the receipts of this large corporation amount to about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually.  They market their products in both old and New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado and as far north as Minnesota and the Dakotas and all intermediate states, with an ever increasing demand for their product.  The propagation of the oyster fields and their catch are also increasing rapidly, and a most brilliant future undoubtedly awaits the business.

At Brazoria, Texas, Judge Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Aurelia Melgard, who was born in that city in 1874, a daughter of George and Christena (Prell) Melgard, both natives of Brazoria county, where the father was engaged in merchandising for more than forty years.  He is a prominent and well known business man, and also filled the office of county commissioner.  He yet resides in that city, where for many years he has been a consistent and worthy member of the Episcopal church and is also a Royal Arch Mason.  In his family were six children: Aurelia, who became Mrs. Wilson; George, a stock farmer; Carrie, unmarried; Andrew, a merchant of Brazoria; Baster P., a civil engineer; and Ruby, also unmarried.  Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, namely: Christena, born February 9, 1899; Willett, January 29, 1900; and Wallace M., June 10, 1905.  Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Episcopal church.  Judge Wilson is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and has been the choice of his party for many positions of honor and trust.  For three terms he served as the county attorney, and in 1904 was elected the county judge, being its present incumbent.  When he entered upon his administration the county was badly in debt, its scrip was below par and its roads and bridges in a dilapidated condition, but he has brought the scrip up to par, has cleared the indebtedness and has bonded the county for twenty thousand dollars for road and bridge purposes, and these bonds will soon be canceled.  Accurate and systematic in his work, he has won the commendation of all concerned, and with his board of county commissioners has performed excellent work for the county.  They have purchased machinery for road work, and in the near future Calhoun will enjoy better roads than the adjoining counties.  Judge Wilson is also greatly interested in the buying and selling of land and town property, and assisted in platting the George and Wilson addition to Port Lavaca, in which he yet owns many vacant lots and much rental property.  He also owns three farms which he rents, is also a part owner in a valuable rice farm in Jackson county, and has a commodious and beautiful residence.  He is a valued member of the Episcopal church, and also has membership relations with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World fraternities.  

Source: Transcription from the book, A Twentieth Century History of Southwest Texas, volume II, published in 1907; located on the website, Hathitrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org), accessed on 1 February 2023.