H. W. Wilson, a prominent farmer and stockman and Civil war veteran, residing at Augusta, is a Butler county pioneer having been a resident of this county for forty-six years. Mr. Wilson is a native of New Hampshire, born near Fitzwilliam postoffice in 1842. He is a son of Joseph A. and Harriet (Stone) Wilson, both natives of New Hampshire. They were the parents of four children, two of whom are now living: H. W., whose name introduces this sketch, and George M., of Abrams, Wis.

H. W. spent his boyhood days in New England, and was educated in the public schools and the Lowell (Mass.) High School. He lived the uneventful life of the average young man of his times, until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted as a member of Company F, Twelfth Wisconsin infantry. He was mustered into the United States service at Madison, Wis., and joined his regiment at Vicksburg, Miss., and from that time on saw much active and hazardous service. He was with Sherman on his famous march through Georgia and the Carolinas and participated in a number of engagements. He saw over two years' service and was promoted to corporal. He was at the grand review in Washington, D. C., in 1865. At the close of the war, and after receiving an honorable discharge, he returned to Wisconsin, where he had enlisted, and engaged in farming and lumbering.

In 1870, Mr. Wilson came to Butler county, Kansas, locating at Augusta. When he came to Butler county there were no railroads here, and he came from Manhattan to Augusta in company with a freighter who was driving across the plains with a load of flour. Mr. Wilson engaged in farming and stock raising, beginning on the raw, unbroken prairie, and met with the many hardships and discouraging features incident to early life in Kansas. He met with many crop failures and endured many hardships during the early years and the grasshopper scourge which was the common lot of the Kansas pioneer. However, the time came when Mr. Wilson's persistent efforts have been rewarded by success and he now owns over 800 acres of some of the best land in Butler county, and is one of the successful farmers and cattle men of this section of the State. He feeds cattle extensively and has met with unusual success in that field of endeavor.

When Mr. Wilson first came to Butler county he engaged in breaking prairie in the summer season and in the winter time followed logging, along the Whitewater and Walnut rivers. He has a vivid recollection of early events in Butler county and knew well most of the pioneers of the early days. One of his early acquaintances in Butler county was Rev. I. Mooney, to whom he sold a yoke of oxen in 1876. He recalls the days when buffalo meat was one of the staple articles of food among the early pioneers.

Mr. Wilson married Mary (Dix) Buck, a native of Greencastle, Ind.

She was a pioneer teacher of the county. Her parents were pioneer settlers of El Dorado township, Butler county, locating there in 1869. They settled on the west branch of the Walnut river a short distance north of El Dorado. The place is now known as the Peffley place. Her father, C. W. Dix, was a native of Indiana and her mother, Emily Nicholls, was a native of the same State. In 1877 the father removed to Oklahoma where he died. To Mr. and Mrs. Dix were born the following children: Minnie Atkins, resides in Oklahoma; Mrs. Fannie Morley, El Dorado, Kans.; Viola Coryell, resides in Oklahoma; Charles, whose address is unknown; Benjamin, who resides in Oklahoma, and Alvah, who was a member of the Twentieth Kansas regiment, and was killed in the Philippine Islands during the Spanish-American war.

Mr. Wilson is one of the well known and substantial farmers and stockmen of Butler county and has an extensive acquaintance and many friends throughout the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are parents of four children: Will L. Wilson, at home; Roy P. Wilson, Benton, Kans.; Chas. W., who died in 1910; Jean H., Detroit, Mich., and Carl F. Buck, a son born to Mrs. Wilson by a former marriage, is a manufacturer of Augusta, Kans.

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