Richard Thornton Wilson Sr. (1829 - 1910)

Born 1829 in Habersham County, Georgia, USA

Husband of Melissa Clementine (Johnston) Wilson — married 23 Dec 1852 in Roane County, TN

Descendants

Died 26 Nov 1910 at about age 81 in Manhattan, New York County, New York, United States

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Biography

Birth: 1829

Habersham County Georgia, USA

Death: Nov. 26, 1910

Manhattan New York County (Manhattan) New York, USA

Information from FindAGrave.com

Richard Thornton Wilson was born in Habersham County, Georgia near Gainesville in about 1829. The son of William and Rachel Wilson a poor Scottish tanner and shoemaker. After the death of his father 30 Jan 1849. Richard left home with 40 dollars in gold and a mule.

The FindAGrave website includes details of Richard's travels to Georgia, his employment, and business ventures and partners. Additionally, there is details regarding his employment with his future father-in-law in Louden, TN, and his marriage to Melissa in 1852.

The website also includes information regarding the birth of his children and the beginning of their families.

Richard continued to do business in Louden, but in late 1860, he moved his family Nashville, Tennessee. At the start of the Civil War, Richard and his family moved to Macon, Georgia where his confederate sympathies could be put to better use. During the Civil War, Richard T Wilson was appointed Commissary General of the Confederate Army by Jefferson Davis. Richard would sail to London, England as a foreign agent for the deposition of the Southern cotton crop. It was at this time that his financial luck really began to change and he turned a tidy profit.

FindAGrave also includes endeavors after the Civil War. This includes Richard following many of his contemporaries and buying up defunct railroads and moving to New York City where he purchased a posh mansion at 511 5th Avenue from a former corrupt politician known as Boss Tweed. It was here the Richard and Melissa Wilson lived out the remainder of their lives. Melissa was a woman of strong character and with her wealthy family connections she was able to enter and become intimate with "Old New York Society".

Richard opened the banking firm of Wilson Galloway & Co., which would later become R T Wilson & Co., His firm was the first to take up the question of the NY Subway System. He was Director of the American Cotton Oil Co., The Fourth National Bank, The Manhattan Trust Co., Castner Electrolytic Alkali Co., The National Surety Co., Union Trust Co., The United States Casualty Co. and The Mathheson Alkali Works. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, The Union Manhattan Metropolitan, and Downtown Club's, The Automobile Club of American, The Southern Society, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The American Museum of Natural History.

It was reported in 1909 at Richard's death he was worth more than $40 million, not a bad return on an initial $40 investment.

He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA

Richard was a handsome and charismatic man and at one time was rumored to have been the inspiration for the character Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind." Mitchell started writing the book in 1926, and it was published in 1936 long after Richard had died, so he never knew of the rumor.

The information in the FindAGrave website was written and researched by OurFamilyTies.

Family: 

 Parents:
William Wilson
  Rachel Wilson (1797 - 1870)

   Spouse:
  Melissa Clementine Johnston Wilson (1831 - 1908)*

   Children:
  Mary Rita Wilson Goelet (1855 - 1929)*
  Marshall Orme Wilson (1860 - 1926)*
  Leila Belle Wilson Herbert (1864 - 1923)*
  Richard Thornton Wilson (1866 - 1929)*
  Grace Graham Wilson Vanderbilt (1870 - 1953)*
  

  Added by: OurFamilyTies
 

Cemetery Photo
Added by: Neil Funkhouser
    Photos may be scaled. Click on image for full size.

Sources

"New York, Marriages, 1686-1980," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F64X-8H9 : accessed 27 Apr 2014), Richard T. Wilson in entry for Marshall Orme Wilson and Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, 18 Nov 1884; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 1570309.

• Source: [1] Grace Vanderbilt, Wikipedia

• Source: [2] "A New Edition Of The Cossart Family History Originally Compiled And Published By The Cossart Family Association In 1939"

• Source: [3] Find A Grave website for Richard Thornton Wilson (a/o 7/23/2017)

• Source: OurFamilyTies, Record added: Oct 29, 2011, Find A Grave Memorial# 79517726
  

Entered by Theresa Carrier-Torrealba.