MEMORIAL TO THOMAS WILSON.
W. C. MILLS.
[This memorial was submitted by the
writer at the annual meeting
of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, June 6, 1902.-
EDITOR.]
It is my sad duty to record for the
annals of our Society the
decease of our esteemed friend Dr.
Thomas Wilson, late curator
of Archaeology in the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D. C.,
whose death occurred early Sunday
morning, May 4th, 1902.
Dr. Wilson was a great friend of our
Society and was also
a contributor to our Quarterly. In many
ways I have been com-
pelled to call upon Dr. Wilson for
information upon various sub-
jects pertaining to Museum work and in
all cases he responded
cheerfully and generously.
Dr. Wilson spent the greater part of his
busy life in the city
of Washington. He was born July 18,
1809, at New Brighton,
Beaver Co., Pa. His ancestors both on
his father's and mother's
side came from northern England; those
on his father's side
settled in Harford county, Md., while
those on his mother's side,
the Mercers, settled in Chester county,
Pa. As the country be-
came more settled the Wilsons moved to
Beaver Co., Pa., and the
Mercers to Columbiana county, Ohio.
In those early days it was not considered
of great value to
have an education, but Dr. Wilson
attended the common schools
at New Brighton, where he received the
best education afforded
there, at that time. He was a very
ambitious young man and
bound to make his way in the world. He
left his native town
of New Brighton and came to Salem, Ohio,
where he apprenticed
himself to David Woodruff in order to
learn carriage making.
He remained with Mr. Woodruff for two
years and then went
west, serving as a journeyman in several
places in Illinois and
Missouri. He finally settled in
Marietta, Marshall county, Iowa,
where he followed his trade of making
plows used for breaking
the new prairie land.
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158
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
In a short time he was chosen a deputy
clerk of the court.
From this experience he turned his
attention to law and later
completed his course in the law office
of Finch & Croker, Des
Moines, Iowa, after which he was
admitted to the bar. He then
returned to Marietta and began his legal
practice, in which he
continued with marked succes.
At the beginning of the Civil War he
enlisted in the 2d Iowa
Cavalry, and was promoted to the rank of
Captain, but prefer-
ring the infantry branch of the service,
he resigned and raised a
company which was known as the 4th Iowa
Volunteers, of which
he was given command. He was mustered
out of service Sept. 16,
1864. He went to Washington to settle up
his accounts with
the government and there formed a legal
partnership with the
distinguished Thomas Corwin of Ohio for
the prosecution of
claims against the government. All the
members of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society will remember the
visit of Dr. Wilson to our city, some
years ago, when he pre-
sented to the Society a fine oil
painting of Thomas Corwin, his
former partner. In 1881 he retired from
the practice of law
and was appointed United States consul
to Ghent, Belgium, after
a few years he was transferred to
Nantes, and later to Nice,
France.
For years prior to his study of the law
he was very much in-
terested in the mounds and prehistoric
monuments of this coun-
try. After his stay in Nantes he took up
the study of prehistoric
monuments and all of his leisure time
was devoted to the study
of archaeology. He visited all the
museums and collections in
western Europe and investigated most of
the sites known for
their occupation by prehistoric man.
During his residence in
Europe, he gathered, both by purchase
and as the result of his own
excavations, a collection of several
thousand objects pertaining
to prehistoric archeology of Brittany.
This collection he de-
posited in the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1887 Dr. Chas. Rou, curator of
archaeology in the Smith-
sonian Institution died, and Dr. Wilson
became his successor, in
which position he continued until his
death.
Dr. Wilson was one of the foremost
advocates of popu-
lar instruction in the Science of
Anthropology, and he devoted
Memorial to Thomas Wilson. 159
much time to lecturing and writing upon
the subject. Many of
you will remember the address of Dr.
Wilson, as Vice President of
Section "H" of the American
Association for the Advancement
of Science, given in Orton Hall, Ohio
State University. The
subject being, "The beginnings of
the study of Prehistoric An-
thropology."
Among his many contributions to
Anthropology and Archae-
ology may be mentioned, "A Study of
Prehistoric Anthropology,"
1888; "Results of an inquiry as to
the existence of Man in North
America during the Paleolithic Period of
the Stone Age," 1888;
"Criminal Anthropology," 1890; "Primitive
Industry," 1892;
"Minute Stone Implements from
India," 1892; "The Swastika,
The Earliest Known Symbol," 1895;
"Prehistoric Art, Or the
Origin of Art as Manifested in the Works
of Prehistoric Man,"
1897; "Arrowpoints, speareheads and
knives of Prehistoric
Time," 1898.
In connection with his Museum work he
was called upon to
install, at the Cincinnati Exposition in
1888, an exhibit from the
Department of Prehistoric Anthropology.
He also assisted in
making the display at the World's Fair
in Chicago; at the Exposi-
tion in Atlanta and other places. In
1889 he was sent to Paris
as a delegate from the Smithsonian
Institution to the tenth in-
ternational congress of anthropology and
prehistoric archaeology.
In 1892 he visited the Columbian
historical exposition held in
Madrid. He served on the jury of awards
at the World's Co-
lumbian Exposition at Chicago. He was
also one of the com-
missioners to the exposition held in
Brussels in 1898; his services
there gained for him the decoration of
the Order of Leopold
Premier, King of Belgium. Dr. Wilson was
one of the regents
of the National University from which he
had received the de-
gree LL. D. He was a member of many
scientific and patriotic
societies and a member of the
Anthropological Societies of Brus-
sels, London, Paris and Washington.