Elizabeth Gilbert Willson

Elizabeth Gilbert Willson
I was born in Greenwich, Washington county, New York, May 21st 1824. My maiden name was Gilbert. In 1830, my parents moved to Eden, Erie county, New York, until June 1836, when we came to Muncietown by private conveyance; we were two weeks on the way; it was evening when we arrived in Muncietown; where the Kirby house now stands was a log tavern kept by Joseph Anthony. The sign over the door read: "Private Entertainment for Man and Beast." Just there we met a small boy and my father asked him how far it was to Muncietown. He replied, "You're here." My mother said, "Oh, dear! Is this Muncietown?" The first three months we lived with father's uncle, Edmund Gilbert, on the corner where James Simmons blacksmith shop now stands; then his uncle, Goldsmith C. Gilbert, who owned the farm where Mr. Wysor now lives, built an addition to his house, and we lived there a few months until my father bought and had finished the house where my step-mother, Mrs. Phebe Gilbert now lives. I was married to Volney Willson, of Greenwich, New York, February 8th 1843; we lived two years in a brick house where Carter & O'Harra now have a blacksmith shop-three rooms and a porch for the sum of two dollars per month--then moved to where I now live. Many have been the changes in Muncie. I have six children--two daughters and four sons, two of whom are living, John A. and Leroy O. Willson.
Reminiscences Prepared from written and verbal recitals of the personal experience of Our Grandmothers of Muncie, in early pioneer life in Indiana. Compiled for a benefit called 'The Grandmother's Rally', given in the interest of the First Baptist Church of Muncie in 1892

I was born in Greenwich, Washington county, New York, May 21st 1824. My maiden name was Gilbert. In 1830, my parents moved to Eden, Erie county, New York, until June 1836, when we came to Muncietown by private conveyance; we were two weeks on the way; it was evening when we arrived in Muncietown; where the Kirby house now stands was a log tavern kept by Joseph Anthony. The sign over the door read: "Private Entertainment for Man and Beast." Just there we met a small boy and my father asked him how far it was to Muncietown. He replied, "You're here." My mother said, "Oh, dear! Is this Muncietown?" The first three months we lived with father's uncle, Edmund Gilbert, on the corner where James Simmons blacksmith shop now stands; then his uncle, Goldsmith C. Gilbert, who owned the farm where Mr. Wysor now lives, built an addition to his house, and we lived there a few months until my father bought and had finished the house where my step-mother, Mrs. Phebe Gilbert now lives. I was married to Volney Willson, of Greenwich, New York, February 8th 1843; we lived two years in a brick house where Carter & O'Harra now have a blacksmith shop-three rooms and a porch for the sum of two dollars per month--then moved to where I now live. Many have been the changes in Muncie. I have six children--two daughters and four sons, two of whom are living, John A. and Leroy O. Willson.

Reminiscences
Prepared from written and verbal recitals of the personal experience of Our Grandmothers of Muncie, in early pioneer life in Indiana. Compiled for a benefit called 'The Grandmother's Rally', given in the interest of the First Baptist Church of Muncie in 1892