Dr. William Berry Wilson: 'No voice for help was disregarded'

As a young lad, William Wilson was reared in the vicinity of Old Appleton, the son of carpenter Benjamin Wilson and his wife Jenne. Education for him was the rural schools until a friend of the family, Dr. Moses S. Harris of Perry County, Missouri, suggested he could tutor William in preparation for medical school. Eager to enter medicine, William attended and graduated from Bellevue College Medical School in New York.

Soon after returning to Cape Girardeau County, Dr. Wilson, age 21, volunteered to attend the victims of the 1852 major cholera epidemic that ravished Jackson, leaving 123 recorded deaths. Following the disease, he organized the old Southeast Missouri Medical Society where doctors pooled their knowledge to better help the citizens of the county.

He married Anna Eliza Juden in 1853 and established their home at 344 N. Ellis and opened a drug store at 111 N. Main.

Always ready for a challenge, Dr. Wilson was a young doctor who met the needs of the afflicted during the Civil War. The Cape Girardeau Union provost gave the doctor a permit for unlimited passage through Union and Confederate lines.

During the war, there was plenty of excitement around their farmhouse on the corner on North Ellis Street, just east of Fort B (present location of the university).

After six children were born to the family, the Wilsons decided to move "into town" near the river, where they had more room for visitors and family. The three-storied stuccoed brick was nestled in front of the cliffs of Fort A, facing the river. Each of the many rooms had high vaulted ceilings trimmed in walnut and poplar woodwork. Beautiful carved rosewood furniture and marble-topped tables graced the rooms of Riverview.

Dr. Wilson's gold watch fob is engraved with the words "Dr. William B. Wilson."Photo is courtesy of descendant, Charles "Chip" D. Wilson of Cape Girardeau

Following Ann's death in 1886, the doctor was married to Louisa Giboney by Baptist minister, the Rev. J.C. Maple of Cape Girardeau.

With patients and drug store, the doctor, known as the oldest practicing doctor in 1888, stayed busy. However, he always found time to stay involved in the community. He served on an early Normal School Board of Regents, as president of the Southeast Missouri District Agricultural Society and on the Cape Girardeau-Jackson Gravel Road Co. In addition, he took high rankings in the Masonic circles and was instrumental in keeping the Masonic Lodge alive during the Civil War.

Following several years of declining health, Dr. Wilson, 69, died on Oct. 18, 1900, at his home. His will and testament enabled Louisa to remain in their "homestead along with all the furniture, pictures, silver and gold plate, china, clock, stables ... and a mare Elsie." Son, J. Maple, was given the right to buy the original home at Ellis and North streets for $2,000. He and his wife, Emma, rebuilt a Queen Anne-style home which is today beside Centenary United Methodist Church.

The Masonic Lodge was in charge of the Wilson services at New Lorimier Cemetery. The ceremonies were attended by a vast number of area citizens of all walks of life.

The Water Street home was razed in the 1930s.