Claude W. Wilson
Claude Wilson was the fourth of nine children born to Charlie Wilson and Catherine Beville. Although he was born in New Orleans, LA, by the time he was ten years old, the family had moved north to Memphis where his father found work in the cotton industry.
After attending both grammar school and four years of high-school, Claude began a mechanical apprenticeship with the Illinois Central Railroad. A very mechanically-inclined individual, he went on to serve in various engineering positions with the railroad. In 1947, he even won a $100 award for one of his inventions (see photograph below). His nephew, Paul, remembers him constantly tinkering with things and inventing contraptions.
By the 1950s, the transportation environment of the United States had changed and the railroad could no longer support a massive workforce; Claude was laid off. He worked as a machinist for the Memphis Fire Department until his death in 1961.
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| Claude, sister Ursula Wilson Cardall, and infant nephew Paul Klinck on the day of his baptism (Claude and Sula were god parents). |
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Interesting Note: Except for New Orleans and a brief stay in a home on
Lauderdale Street in Memphis, Claude lived in the same house his entire
life. 1027 East McLemore was his address as early as 1920. Even after
his father passed in 1932 and his mother later in 1949, Claude and his
sisters Clare and Helen remained in the home. Helen and Clare stayed
after Claude’s death in 1961, only moving when the city forced them to
sell the property to make way for 1-240. |
| Family Business: City directories show Claude owning Wilson Liquor Store at 849 South 3rd street between 1941 and 1943 (the last online directory available). This was news to the family; further research is required. His brother-in-law, Merrill Klinck, owned Klinck’s Package Store on Thomas for many years. And at one point, Merrill and brother, Fire Chief John C. Klinck, co-owned a store on 3rd. Is this the same store? Mystery! |
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| A rare photo strip from the same sitting |
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