Jerusha Adaline Willson
It is seldom we have biographies of women in works of this character. It is certainly not because they are not deserving of them, as what is said of them is usually said in sketches of their husbands, but the subject of this sketch is deserving of an entire volume, and had her recollections of Adams County been written down, they would make a more interesting volume than this.
She was born December 20, 1820. Her father died when she was but seven years of age and she was taken by Gen. Joseph Darlinton. of West Union, Ohio, her great-uncle, and was reared by him. Her home was with the General and his family from her seventh year until her marriage. The General, whose sketch and portrait appear elsewhere in this book, was a most devout Presbyterian, and as our subject has expressed it herself, she was reared on the Bible and the Missionary Herald. If her life is to be deemed a success, she attributed it to the careful training she received in her uncle's home. From her seventh to her ninth year, she listened to the Gospel expounded by the Rev. Dyer Burgess in the stone church at West Union. From her ninth year until she left West Union, in 1851, she was taught in the same church by the Rev. J. P. Vandyke. As his great efforts were always in preaching doctrines, she was well grounded in the Presbyterian faith.
The General's house in West Union was the visiting place of all prominent persons who visited the village. In this way she met and associated with the best people of her time. When she was a girl, educational advantages were limited, but she had wonderful natural ability, and she took advantage of all opportunities for information and intellectual improvement. On October 28, 1840, she was married in her uncle's home to William B. Willson, a young phvsician, who, in the May before, had located in West Union, and there she went to housekeeping, and resided till the fall of 1851, when she removed to Ironton. Ohio. In West Union, she was the center of a delightful circle of friends of her own sex, who, in their old-fashioned way, took turn in spending the day at each other's houses. She read much, traveled much, and she was delighted in visiting the most noted historical places in our own country and never tired of telling of them. She had fine conversational powers, and that, with her wonderful memory, made her a most desirable companion or guest.
In the church was her great and chosen work, and she took great interest in the Women's Missionary Societies. In 1897, she wrote a fine paper for the Presbyterian Society, giving an account of the organization of the Women's Board of Foreign Missions, which she attended in 1870 at Philadelphia, and of five subsequent meetings at which she was present. She often dwelt on the advantages the young people had in the present day. In her day, she said it was just a privilege for the young to live; that then the young people had nothing to do but to look on and listen to their elders; that in her youth, nothing but obedience and industry was expected of the young.
This tribute is from the pen of Editor Willson of the Ironton Register: "Mrs. Willson was a woman of strong character. Her mind was bright and aggressive. She studied the thoughts of today and kept informed on those subjects which are of real progress. She was a great reader and appreciated the best literature. Her interests lay deeply in religious themes, and on them she was entertaining and instructive. Her great delight was in the deep and solid orthodoxy of the Presbyterian Church, whose great doctrines were a part of her life and thought. This gave her a serenity that was always beautiful and a seriousness that was always helpful, but through it all, her joys shone like an evening star through the twilight."
In the last five years of her life, she was afflicted, but not a great sufferer. July 29, 1897, she had a stroke of paralysis which thereafter confined her to her bed. She survived till February 11, 1898, when the end came. In all her sickness, she exemplified her religious belief and died with all its comforts sustaining her soul.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900