52 Ancestors - #14 Mary Jane Wilson The Relative I Forgot that I Had

Recently, I was contacted by someone on Ancestry.com whose DNA test showed that we were 4^th cousins. I had posted a picture of my grandfather Roscoe Mitchell with a Frank Wilson – they both appeared to be about 16 years old. She asked if I was related to any Wilson’s and I said no, not that I knew.  I then was looking at my family files on my computer and noticed that I had one labeled Wilson at the bottom. I had never actually looked at this family line before but my grandmother Ruby Burris who later married Roscoe had a great grandmother Jane Wilson. Roscoe and Frank Wilson must have been friends – I know that Ruby at that age had her picture taken with friends – maybe that is what kids did before they had malls to go to.

Frank Wilson - Roscoe Mitchell on the right

My family line goes: Me – Lionell Mitchell – Ruby Burris – Rosetta George – Bryant George - Jane Wilson. If we were straight 4th Cousins we would both descend from Jane but as her last name was Wilson - perhaps she descends from Jane’s brother. I had explored Haziah George and Jane’s children a few years ago but I had never looked at anything about her. 

I then decided to see what I could find out about Jane from the census and from a number of biographical sketches on family members. Her name was Mary Jane (Jennie) Wilson born October 24, 1818. Her parents were Gholson Wilson and Mary Jane Wooldridge.  She had an older sister Mary and a younger sister Cynthia, and two younger brothers – Spencer and Gholson who may have been twins.

On September 10, 1834 six weeks before her 16^th birthday, she married Haziah (Hezikiah) George in Russell County, Kentucky and the marriage was performed by J. Ballinger, Justice of the Peace.  Jane and Haziah had ten children – Carlton (1835), Jordan (1837), Rosa Jane (1840), Haziah (1841), Gholson (1843), Bryant S. (1847), Mary (1849), Polly Ann (1850), Sabra Ann (1852), and July Ann (1854).  

In the spring of 1842 Haziah and Jane moved from Russell County, Kentucky to Miller County, Missouri. In the fall of 1854 they moved to Camden County, Missouri. Haziah George died in March 1855 at the age of 47.

On January 25, 1860 at age 41 Jane married William Alonzo Bradshaw in Camden County, Missouri. They made their home in Jackson, Camden County, Missouri. William had seven children of his own still at home and Jane had five children.

Jane died on November 18, 1895 in Toronto, Miller County, Missouri. She was 77 years old. She outlived her siblings and both of her husbands. She is buried in the Warren Cemetery in Miller County, Missouri.