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Wedding photo of my Uncle James William Wilson and Nettie Ann (Holt) - March 8, 1908 – 22 viewsJames W. Wilson (born Nov. 14, 1882) was the oldest brother of my father Gilbert Wilson. When this photo was taken, Uncle Jim was about 26, and Aunt Nettie, about 18. Follow is a story about Nettie came to California, and ultimately how she met and married Jim. The story was provided by my cousin (and James W. Wilson's granddaughter) Laurel Sharmer.
Uncle Bill (Wilson) loves to tell the story of how his mother (my grandmother) came to California. She was born in Abilene, Texas as Nettie Holt, the oldest of ten children. In 1906, when she was about 16 years old, her father, Mike Holt got into a fist fight with one of his neighbors. The two men were rolling around on the ground when suddenly the neighbor's wife came up with a big frying pan and starting hitting Grandpa Holt on the head with it. Grandpa Holt pulled out his big Bowie knife and held it up to the man's throat. "Call off your wife, or I'll cut your head off!" he cried. The neighbor called off his wife, but the next morning when Grandma Holt went to the well to get water, she found the neighbor had put strychnine in it. Well, without water they couldn't stay on the land, so without delay Grandpa Holt gathered up his wife and eight children, all their belongings, their furniture, a team of horses and a cow for milk, and loaded them all onto the Southern Pacific train. They got off when they reached Planada, and started a little homestead there.
Nettie loved California, and wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper back home in Texas, talking about what a wonderful place California was. A young man named Jim Wilson read the letter and wrote to Nettie. The letter was addressed, "Nettie Holt, Planada, California. The two young people started a correspondence and about a year later, without having met in person, Jim proposed marriage. Nettie accepted and Jim came out to California to finally meet her. They were married on March 8 1908. Nettie had just turned 18. My mother was born the following February.
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My dad, Gilbert Wilson – 21 viewsLooks like a teenager in this photo, which I estimate was taken somewhere between 1915 and 1920
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