The next name on Katie Wilson Meade’s list of her brother A. Max Wilson’s children is Augustus Maxwell Wilson, Jr., or ‘Max Jr.’

This next descendant has more ‘documentation’ of what he was doing, but not much else in terms of photos, letters, articles in the paper — Max Jr. just seems to have lived an everyday life, and did not seek prominence as did his uncle Emmett. I get that. Emmett had to build his name in the press to get to where he was going in life. Max Wilson Jr., the nephew, not so much.

I started out with a bit of a mystery left over from the Lalla Wilson search. Namely, this photo:

The marker in Evergreen Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida. Source: Find-a-grave.com

Lalla Wilson is among those buried near this larger marker. So, who are the other Wilsons, and, who are the Gills and the Hoods?

Well, the common denominator is A. Maxwell Wilson, Jr. And, to understand what is going on here, we have to jump ahead to the 1930 U.S. Census:

A snippet of the 1930 U.S. Census. Source: Ancestry.com

In this clip, there’s Max Jr., who is the son-in-law of the head of the household, Mary E. Gill. The daughter’s name is Margaret Gill Wilson.  Margaret Gill Wilson was born in 1896.

Sure enough, there’s Max Jr.’s wife buried in this plot along with her sister-in-law, Lalla Wilson.

Margaret Gill Wilson, A. Maxwell Wilson Jr.’s wife. She died in 1968. Source: Ancestry.com

Are there other Gills in this plot? Yes. Margaret’s mother, Mary E. Gill.

Mary was born in 1870; died in 1933. Source: Ancestry.com

Also, there is Mary Gill, who was Margaret Gill Wilson’s sister. She’s buried in this same plot, along with her husband, Milton.

Mary G. and Milton Y. Hood. Source: Ancestry.com

So, that’s the story behind the Gill, Hood, Wilson stone. But did you notice that Max Jr. isn’t buried here with his wife? I did too; I thought that was strange. I don’t have his death information, but I get the feeling that he was alive when these family members were buried in the Gill, Hood, Wilson plot. There’s not any indication that that he was buried in this same cemetery.

So far, I haven’t found a death record, either. If he were alive today, he’d be 116. I know — odds unlikely he’s still among us, but I have to rule everything out as best I can. 🙂

Also, I found that Max and Margaret Wilson had at least two children. In the 1940 U.S. Census, Max and Margaret are enumerated in New York City! The daughters are named Elizabeth B and Mary Ann. Elizabeth, or ‘Betty’, was born in Florida.

Max was listed as a ‘Reviewer’ for the W.P.A. project in New York City in 1940. Source: Ancestry.com

Most of Max’s professional life shows that he was an auditor, that he worked mostly in offices, a white-collar career. In the 1930 U.S. Census, we learn that he was a real estate salesman in Florida, and his wife, Margaret, was a bookkeeper in the same office. They were married in 1925. In 1921, Margaret was listed as a Notary Public.

Source: GenealogyBank.com

According to U.S. City Directory sources, the family moved back to Jacksonville by 1942, and Max was an accountant.

There’s Max in the oval, but you know what’s really interesting? That’s Cephas Love Wilson’s oldest son, Ceph Jr., in the red box! He’s also living in Jacksonville, at the same time as his first cousin Max Jr.! I wonder if they hung out together? I really wasn’t looking for Ceph Jr. yet …Now that was a surprise! Source: Ancestry.com

So, the Max Jr. family is back in Jacksonville. A check of other city directories indicate that they stayed put, at least through the late 1950s. (The 1955 city directory for Jacksonville also lists Cephas Jr. as working for the same company, too. Nice to have found another lead!)

Here’s where I run into the brick wall: I don’t know where to look next to locate the daughters, Betty and Mary Ann. A basic search on newspaper databases and Ancestry.com doesn’t reveal anything — especially since all I have to work from is the 1940 census. There are many, many Elizabeth and Mary Ann Wilsons out there, with Florida and New York connections. :-\

So, this is where I have to stop on Max Jr., unless something else comes to the surface — I have miles of untouched writing on Emmett’s book (thanks to the 10 days that my kids have been home/out of school so far), and another A. Max source to look at over the next few days.

Categories: Family Interesting & Odd

jsmith532

Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus