10/01/2024
*History Blast*
James Lapsley Wilson
Laura Johnson, Green County Public Library
James Lapsley Wilson, age 80, died suddenly at his home in Greensburg on Thursday, December 4, 1941 after suffering a heart attack.
Mr. Wilson had always been very active in the business life of Greensburg.
He became engaged in the pharmacy business and operated his first store in town located on the corner of the Public Square and the west side of North Main Street beginning about 1890. In 1904, the drug store was moved to the west side of the square.
Wilson retired in February, 1931. At that time, he sold his half interest of the Wilson & Howell Drug Company to partner, James Hugh Howell, who had joined the business in 1928.
J. L. Wilson was involved with several other local businesses and groups over the years.
When still a young man, he was elected to the office of Superintendent of Schools in Green County and held the office from 1886 to 1890.
He was an editor of the Greensburg Times newspaper which began in the late 1800s and held a half interest in the Wilson Milling Company in Greensburg until selling his share in 1915 to partner and distant cousin, David T. Wilson.
In the early 1920s, Wilson partnered with James Benjamin Mitchell and Idella Edwards to establish the Mitchell Company. He sold his share in 1933 to Ray Shuffett.
Wilson was one of the officers of the Greensburg Deposit Bank, serving as director and vice-president of the bank before he was elected president at the death of John A. Hobson in May of 1939.
He served as a member of an early version of the county’s fair association, was appointed as representative of the Kentucky Children’s Home Society of Lyndon for Green County, and served on the local Civil Works Administration Board & Relief Committee.
At the age of 30, Mr. Wilson married a young widow, Bettie H. Sidebottom. They were wed May 12, 1891 at Allendale by James M. Walton. Bettie was the daughter of James A. Howell and Elizabeth “Betsy” Ann Salsman Howell. She had previously married L. E. Sidebottom in 1882; he died December, 1886.
The Wilsons lived in a large brick home in Greensburg located on the corner of South Main Street and West Columbia Avenue. Even though the couple did not have children, they were hardly lonely in their home. Living with them in 1900 was Mr. Wilson’s brother, Edward, and two boarders. In 1910, a cousin and three boarders were there.
The Wilson home, beginning in the mid-1950s, housed the McKinney Funeral Home until it was torn down in October of 1961 to make way for a new Greensburg post office.
The untimely death of Mr. Wilson in 1941 came as a great shock not only to his immediate family and friends but to the whole county.
Wilson had complained for a few days of not feeling well but continued about his regular duties. He retired to bed Wednesday night, then just past midnight, Mrs. Wilson was attracted to his bedside by a noise he was making and found him in a cold sweat. Before she could do anything to help, he murmured, "Now I lay me –," and passed away.
James Lapsley Wilson was born in the Gresham area of Green County on December 20, 1861. He was the oldest son of Hugh Walker Wilson and Lucy D. Craddock Wilson.
Surviving were his wife, Bettie Howell Wilson, and two sisters and two brothers, Sam Wilson of Columbia, William Wilson of Camner, and Mrs. W. A. Russell and Mrs. J. F. Pendleton of Greensburg.
Wilson’s funeral was conducted at the Presbyterian Church at Greensburg with burial in the City Cemetery.
The list of pallbearers was a who’s who of Greensburg businessmen. Active pallbearers were Hugh Howell, Walton Burress, Henry Durham, Walter Mitchell, William Howell, and Tom Burress. Honorary pallbearers were H. E. Shively, E. G. Dobson, J. F. Miller, Dr. H. B. Simpson, Dr. J. C. Graham, Joe Kessler, Dr. S. J. Simmons, Ray Shuffett, J. B. Mitchell, Joe Perry, Ned Higgason, Walter Milby, C. H. Noggle, E. V. Taylor, Monroe Shreve, Ralph Vaughn, Tom Shreve, Lee Durham, J. H. Woodward, Pharis Pierce, G. B. Taylor, Avery Shuffett, W. C. Marshall, Chess Whitlock, J. W. Cox, and Hobart Durham.
Photos: James Lapsley Wilson and his South Main Street home
