Children of Lorenzo H. and Mary Elizabeth (Corbin) Wilder

In this blog, I'll write about the children of Lorenzo H. "Loren" and Mary Elizabeth (Corbin) Wilder.  If you had asked me at 8:00am this morning, I would have said there were three children.   With the help of Wilder Family descendants, I thought I had pieced together the family in its entity.   However, in checking genealogy websites and then the 1880 U. S. Census for Ayr Township, Adams County, Nebraska I have learned there was a fourth child, listed as a son on the above census.  I have not been able to find any further evidence of this son, either on future U. S. Census reports or in the form of a burial site in Adams County, Nebraska.   I also checked the cemeteries in Putnam County, Missouri thinking that Loren and Mary Wilder may have been visiting there when he died or may have deliberately buried their child "at the old home place."   However I have found nothing.    Therefore, I will list their children as indicated by family records and the U. S. Census:
James William Wilder born and died on September 15, 1866 at West Liberty, Putnam Co., Missouri.
Lillie Florence Wilder born July 10, 1870 at Unionville, Putnam County, Missouri.
Fred M. or Frederick M. Wilder, born in 1876, Ayr Township, Adams County, Nebraska
Estella Mae Wilder born August 23, 1883, Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington



L-R Mary E. (Corbin) Wilder, daughter Estella May (Wilder) Parsons and Linnie Florence (Wilder) English. (The photo was furnished by Mrs. Irene Radcliff, a Plummer Cousin.)





Estella Mae (Wilder) Parsons

Lorenzo H. "Loren" and his wife Mary E. (Corbin) Wilder made the long trip to Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington to try homesteading and farming.   They went in the fall of 1882 and returned to Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska in the fall of 1883 staying only one year.

This is a photograph of Estella Mae (Wilder) Parsons, Sylvia Myrtle Corbin, daughter of George Washington Corbin, and Linnie Alice Bell, daughter of Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell.   Miss Wilder and Miss Bell were visiting at the George Washington Corbin home in Wichita, Kansas.

Members of several families related by marriage were homesteading in Oregon and Washington.    Some of the Corbin, Casteels, Wilders and Parsons family moved "out west."    You've probably heard the old saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."   That was what kept the pioneers moving westward across America.   They would hear accounts from relatives and friends and read about how good life was in the new American West, and they would move west to find out for themselves.

Loren and Mary (Corbin) Wilder did not sell their farm at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska when they moved to Walla Walla, Washington.   They rented their farm and returned to it when them moved home.

There is disagreement about the birthdate of Estella Mae Wilder.   I note some sources list her birthdate as August 15, 1883 and others as September 15, 1883 and the California Death Certificate Index lists her birthday as October 15, 1883.    I have no way of knowing which is correct.

Estella Mae Wilder grew up in the Ayr and Hastings, Nebraska communities.   My Aunt Edna Corbin, daughter of George Washington and Sarah Ann (Todd) Corbin, told me that Estella and her sister Lillian were raised by their mother after Lorenzo H. "Loren" Wilder died on August 15, 1884.   Mary E. Corbin was Edna Corbin's aunt, and Edna always referred to her as "Aunt Mary."    She told me that Mary raised the girls to be ladies.   Mary never worked but used the rental income from their farm to raise the family.    Edna Corbin and her sister Sylvia Corbin exchanged visits with the Wilder sisters.   The Wilders came to Wichita, Kansas on the train and Edna and Sylvia went to Hastings, Nebraska on the train.   I found Christmas and Easter post card greetings from them in Edna Corbin's scrapbook.   The messages would usually inquire about their health and would talk about a recent visit or ask when they intended to visit.

These are photographs of Henry Harrison and Rachel Ann (Maples) Parsons, parents of William Henry "Will" Parsons.    The Parsons Family moved to Adams County, Nebraska to homestead sometime between 1875 and 1880.

Estella Mae Wilder and William Henry "Will" Parsons were married on December 19, 1900 at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska.


This is the wedding photograph of William Henry and Estella May (Wilder) Corbin taken in 1890.



Will Parsons was the son of Henry Harrison Parsons who was born March 12, 1840 in Vinton County, Ohio and died December 12, 1921 in Adams County, Nebraska.   Will's mother was Rachel Ann Maples, who was born in Middleboro, Warren County, Ohio on Mary 23, 1848 and died June 16, 1929 in Adams County, Nebraska.



Henry H. and Rachel A. Parsons were the parents of nine children:
George Washington Parsons (1867-1938)
Jasper N. Parsons (1869-1940)
Francis Marion Parsons (1871 -   )
William Henry Parsons (1873 - 1966)
Eddie Edgar Parsons (1879-1973)
Effie Jane Parsons (1879-  )
Mary Parsons (1882-1882)
Alice Leona Parsons (1883-1965)
Ora Earl Parsons (1886-1891)

U. S. Census reports indicate that Henry H. Parsons was a resident of Salem, Miggs County, Ohio in 1850; of Pilot Grove, Hancock County, Illinois in 1860; of Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska in 1880 and Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska in both 1910 and 1920.

The 1880 U. S. Census report is interesting in that Henry H. and Rachel Ann Parsons are shown owning a farm in Ary Township, Adams County, Nebraska and their next door neighbors are Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell who have as a boarder, my great grandfather and Nancy Anna's brother, George Washington Corbin.    All of this indicates that the Corbins and Parsons Families were well acquainted.

A photograph of Estella May Wilder taken shortly after her marriage to Will Parsons.    Not the beautiful hat, so stylish in the 1890s.

On the World War I Draft Registration completed by William Henry Parsons on September 10, 1916, he was listed as a resident of Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska and his occupation was given as farmer.  He was married to Estella May (Wilder) Parsons and they had no dependents.  The registration indicates that he had no sight in his left eye.

The photograph below shows Estella May (Wilder) and Will Parsons sitting on the back porch of the house built by Lorenzo H. "Loren" and Mary E. (Corbin) Wilder.   The Parsons farmed for Mary E. (Corbin) Wilder after they married in 1890.

Estella and Will worked the farm of his in-laws, Loren H. and Mary E. (Corbin) Wilder.   The 1940 U. S. Census report will be released in a month and it will be interesting to see where they are at that time.   I do not know how they happened to move to Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California but Estella (Wilder) Parsons passed away while living there.   Estella died on December 24, 1956 in Long Beach, California and William Henry "Will" Parsons died October 3, 1966 in Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska.

This is a late in life photograph of Estella May (Wilder) and William Henry Parsons.  I would assume that this may be a 50th Anniversary Photo taken in 1940 or a 60th Anniversary photo taken in 1950---but I am not certain of either.   It does appear to be some special occasion by virtue of the corsages.

Many of the photographs used here are courtesy of Linda Troy, who is a Casteel Family Genealogist.