Jasper Byrd Wilson, lawyer and formerly a teacher, was born on a farm near Perry, Jefferson county, Kansas, Jan. 28, 1879, a son of Jasper and Octavia Adelaide (Norwood) Wilson. The father was born in Catawba county, North Carolina, and the mother in Iredell county, of that same state. The Wilsons are of Irish lineage, while the Norwoods are of English. Joshua Wilson was the progenitor of the Wilson family in America. He came from Ireland for the expressed purpose of joining the Colonial army in the struggle for American independence, and became a Revolutionary soldier. The parents of our subject were reared and married in North Carolina, and from that state they came to Kansas, settling in Jefferson county in November, 1868. During the Civil war they resided in their native state, but on account of the father's pronounced Union sentiment, which was not calculated to make further living in the South pleasant, he decided to come North. Farming has been his life occupation. He is one of the highly respected citizens of Jefferson county, and has passed the eighty-first milestone in the journey of life, while his wife is seventy-four years of age. They had eleven children, of whom Jasper B. is the youngest. He was reared on the farm, attended the schools at Perry, and then the University of Kansas, at which he graduated in 1904, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For three years after his graduation Mr. Wilson taught American history and government, in the high school of Lawrence, and was then, for two years, superintendent of the schools at Lecompton. For a short time he was engaged in the insurance business at Lawrence. Meanwhile he studied law, and was admitted to the bar, Jan. 19, 1911. In politics he is a Republican. He is now serving as justice of the peace for the city of Lawrence. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Phi Alpha Delta and the Phi Beta Kappa fraternities; and in church relations a Baptist. In 1905 Mr. Wilson married Miss Eva Isabel Barrett, of Lawrence. They have two children—Justin Barrett and Octavia Frances.