Charles Edward Wilson, son of Thomas Jefferson Wilson; was born in Greensburg, Green Co., Ky., on May 1, 1849; when his father died in 1835, he, being the only child and only remaining one of the family, went to Charleston and lived with relatives, finishing a common-school education during the following winter; in the spring of 1867, he went to Omaha, Neb., and remained one year; returning then to Charleston, he became a salesman in the queensware store of V. Craig, and afterward book-keeper for George Tucker, who was a manufacturer of pressed brick; in the spring of 1871, he was elected to the office of City Clerk of the city of Charleston, for one year, and was appointed by the City Council in the spring of 1872, to the same position for another year in the fall of 1871, he was employed at the infirmary of Dr. S. Van Meter; ultimately became a partner in the firm, and retired from the same on Sept. 18t, 1876. On Nov. 4, 1873, he was married to Miss Emily Johnston, daughter of I. H. Johnston, of Charleston; she was born in Coles Co., on June 15, 1851; three children are the result of this marriage, all daughters, as follows: Olive, born Sept. 3, 1874; Clotilde, born Dec. 23, 1876, and Emily, born Dec. 4, 1878. In November, 1873, he was elected by the stockholders of the Coles County Board of Agriculture, Secretary of said Board, for one year. In November, 1876, he was elected Director of said Board, which position he still holds; in March, 1876, he was made a Director of the Second National Bank of Charleston, in which position he still remains; from September, 1876, until June, 1877, being engaged in no special business, he read law at the office of Wiley & Neal, in Charleston; on June 23, 1877, the firm of Chambers, Johnston & Co., pork-packers, was organized for the purpose of packing pork during that summer and the fall following; Mr. Wilson became a member of that firm, and was its secretary and bookkeeper; on Sept. 30, 1878, he became associated with I. H. Johnston and George Steigman, under the firm name of Steigman, Wilson & Co., in the business of pork-packing; and they have, at Charleston, the only packing-house in Illinois, outside of Chicago, adapted for both winter and summer packing.
