Dr. John B. Wilson
Written by Justin Lamb
“Dr. Wilson was one of Marshall County’s most esteemed citizens and a skillful physician whose talents were unmatched,” wrote the Paducah Daily News upon announcing the passing of Dr. John B. Wilson in 1916.
A native of Trigg County, Kentucky, Dr. Wilson was born on December 10, 1837 to Joel and Mary Wilson in the community of Roaring Springs. Wilson attended the common schools of Trigg County and when he entered early adulthood, he began studying medicine under the direction of Dr. G.W. McKinney. He soon earned enough money to pay for tuition at Physio Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio and he graduated in 1860 shortly before the beginning of the War Between the States.
Dr. Wilson returned to his home in Trigg County in 1861 and began practicing medicine on horseback throughout the countryside. By 1869, Wilson settled in the Olive community in Marshall County and set up practice at the crossroads of modern day Olive Hamlet and Curd Road. Wilson was active in the local Baptist church and was a member of the T.L. Jefferson Lodge #622 at Olive.
Dr. Wilson married Alice Petty, a native of Graves County, in 1861 and they had five children: Milus Wilson, Laura B. Wilson Pullum Thompson, Alice Wilson, Anna May “Annie” Wilson Norwood, and Dora Wilson. Tragedy soon struck Dr. Wilson’s families as he lost his wife Alice to small pox in 1885 and two of his daughters met an untimely death at very young age as well. Anna Wilson Norwood died at the age of 19 and Laura B. Thompson died on August 13, 1903 after suffering a heat stroke while picking blackberries. All are buried in the Horn Cemetery.
Dr. Wilson married for a second time to Lee Ora Harrison, daughter of Henry H. Harrison and Melviny Chandler Harrison. One child was born to this marriage, John Asher Wilson. Dr. John B. Wilson passed away on January 5, 1916 at his home in Olive. He was buried in the Harrison plot at Olive Cemetery next to the Methodist Church.