H0080
The study's number for this person. Cite it and it will always lead here, whatever the spelling.Robert Cyril Wilson
Born at McDonald County in 1904.
born about 1904 at McDonald County, Missouri
Life story
The Elk River farm
Robert Cyril Wilson was born about 1904, almost certainly in McDonald County, Missouri, the first child of James Israel Wilson and Lucy M. Harris, who had married in Elk River Township in November 1903.1–3 The family tree gives his birth as 9 September 1904 at Noel (see Research Notes). In the records of his boyhood he is never Robert: the census taker of 1910 wrote him down as "Searel", and the one of 1920 as "Cyril", so he evidently went by his middle name.
In April 1910 Cyril, five, was living on his father's farm in Elk River Township, the stretch of hill country along the Elk River around Noel. His father owned the farm, with a mortgage. Three younger children had followed him: his brother Tulla, three; his sister Helen, whom the census calls "Artella", two; and the baby, Floyd.2
Oklahoma
Between 1915 and 1917 the family moved a few miles west, over the state line into Delaware County, Oklahoma. When the census taker came in January 1920 they were farming in the Bernice precinct, and Cyril, fifteen, was the eldest of nine children at home, with Tulla, Helen, Floyd, Odis, Ruth, Jewel, Woodrow and the baby, Millie.3
Later life
By 1930 his parents had moved to Grays Harbor County, on the coast of Washington, but Cyril, then about twenty-five, was no longer living with them.4 His later life has not yet been traced from records. The family trees say that he died in 1999, at Aurora, Colorado (see Research Notes).
What we know
Probable
- Birth at McDonald County, 1904
What's still open
- Death (unconfirmed). The Ancestry tree gives 6 Apr 1999 at Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, with no citation on the fact.
- Sources. His census facts come from the index entries attached to him in the Ancestry tree; the 1920 image was read in the survey of his brother Woodrow's records, and the 1910 image has not been viewed.
Sources
Sources 1–3
1 McDonald County, Missouri, 1903
McDonald County, Missouri, marriage records, 1901–1907, p. 153: marriage licence issued at Pineville, 21 November 1903, by A. W. Noel, recorder, to J. I. Wilson of Noel, McDonald County, Missouri, over the age of twenty-one years, and Lucy Harris of Noel, over the age of eighteen years; certificate of Charles Sh[ore?], justice of the peace, that he married them at Elk River Township on 22 November 1903; filed for record 25 November 1903; image vrmmo1833_c4105-0134, "Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805–2002," database with images, Ancestry.com, citing the Missouri State Archives (indexed as "J S Wilson" and "Elh River Township").
2 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Elk River Township
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Elk River Township, McDonald County, Missouri, E.D. 110, sheet 3B: "Jim F." [so indexed; also "Jim J."] Wilson (head, 27, married six years, born Arkansas, father born Arkansas, mother born Missouri; farmer, home farm, working on his own account; owns his farm, mortgaged; can read and write), with Lucy (wife, 25, married six years, mother of four children, all living, born Arkansas) and their children Searel [Cyril] (5), Tulla (3), Artella [Helen Artlea] (2) and Floyd (under 1); NARA T624, roll 797; FHL microfilm 1374810; database with images, Ancestry.com (index read; image not viewed).
3 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Township 5
1920 U.S. Federal Census, Township 5 (Bernice precinct), Delaware County, Oklahoma, E.D. 22, sheet 10A, lines 17–27, enumerated 29–30 January 1920, "Elza W Willson" (son, 2, born Missouri) in the household of James I. Willson (head, 37, born Arkansas; farm), with Lucy M. (wife, 35, born Missouri) and their children Cyril (15), Tulla D. (13), Hellen A. (12), Floyd P. (10), Odis A. (6), Ruth E. (4), Jewel L. (3), Elza W. (2) and Millie M. (under one year), all born Missouri; NARA T625, roll 1458; image 4385099_00298; database with images, Ancestry.com.
Source 4
4 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Junction
1930 U.S. Federal Census, Junction, Grays Harbor County, Washington, E.D. 45, sheet 2A, dwelling 31, family 34, "Elzie W Wilson" (son, 13, born Oklahoma, attending school) in the household of James I. Wilson (head, 48), with Lucy M. (wife, 45) and their children Floyd P. (19), Odis A. (16), Ruth E. (14), Elzie W. (13), Millie M. (10) and Roy K. (9); FHL microfilm 2342222; database with images, Ancestry.com (index read).
More sources are in the evidence below.
Life in time
about 1904
Birth , McDonald County, Missouri, United States
How we know
Probably at or near Noel. The family tree gives 9 Sep 1904 at Noel; no record read so far gives the day or the town (see Research Notes).
He was 5 in the census of April 1910 and 15 in that of January 1920, so he was born between about April 1904 and January 1905; he was the first child of a marriage made in November 1903. The 1920 census gives Missouri as his birthplace. His parents were both "of Noel" when they married in November 1903 and were farming in Elk River Township, McDonald County, which takes in Noel, in 1910, so McDonald County is all but certain. The family tree's 9 Sep 1904 at Noel fits the ages but carries no source in the tree, and it is kept as a lead.
1910
Residence , Elk River Township, McDonald, Missouri, United States
How we know
E.D. 110, sheet 3B. Son "Searel" [Cyril], 5, in the household of his parents, James ("Jim F." in the index) and Lucy Wilson, with his brother Tulla and his sister Artella [Helen Artlea] and the baby, Floyd.
His parents and brothers and sister, and his age, identify him; "Searel" is the enumerator's spelling of Cyril. Index entry attached to him in the family tree; image not re-read.
1920
Residence , Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States
How we know
Township 5 (Bernice precinct), E.D. 22, sheet 10A; a farm family, enumerated 29–30 Jan 1920. Son "Cyril", 15, born Missouri, the eldest of nine children in the household of James I. and Lucy M. Willson.
His parents and the brothers and sisters of the 1910 household, with five born since, identify him. The 1920 image was read in the survey of his brother Woodrow's records.
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1904 Birth
Probably at or near Noel. The family tree gives 9 Sep 1904 at Noel; no record read so far gives the day or the town (see Research Notes).
He was 5 in the census of April 1910 and 15 in that of January 1920, so he was born between about April 1904 and January 1905; he was the first child of a marriage made in November 1903. The 1920 census gives Missouri as his birthplace. His parents were both "of Noel" when they married in November 1903 and were farming in Elk River Township, McDonald County, which takes in Noel, in 1910, so McDonald County is all but certain. The family tree's 9 Sep 1904 at Noel fits the ages but carries no source in the tree, and it is kept as a lead.
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1910 Residence
E.D. 110, sheet 3B. Son "Searel" [Cyril], 5, in the household of his parents, James ("Jim F." in the index) and Lucy Wilson, with his brother Tulla and his sister Artella [Helen Artlea] and the baby, Floyd.
His parents and brothers and sister, and his age, identify him; "Searel" is the enumerator's spelling of Cyril. Index entry attached to him in the family tree; image not re-read.
Source 2
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1920 Residence
Township 5 (Bernice precinct), E.D. 22, sheet 10A; a farm family, enumerated 29–30 Jan 1920. Son "Cyril", 15, born Missouri, the eldest of nine children in the household of James I. and Lucy M. Willson.
His parents and the brothers and sisters of the 1910 household, with five born since, identify him. The 1920 image was read in the survey of his brother Woodrow's records.
Source 3
- proven
- probable
Hover or drag along the line, or select a point and use the arrow keys.
Places in this life
3 places, in order- 1 McDonald County, Missouri Birth about 1904
- 2 Elk River Township, McDonald County Residence 1910
- 3 Delaware County, Oklahoma Residence 1920
Hollow markers are placed approximately, at the town, county or region.
Family
The evidence 3 facts with their grades, 5 sources, and the research notes
Facts
Research notes
- Identity: "Searel", 5, in 1910 and "Cyril", 15, in 1920 are the same boy: he is the eldest child of James and Lucy Wilson in both households, and his age advances by ten years.2, 3 FamilySearch has two profiles for him, LYPW-664 ("Robert Cecil Wilson", 1904–1999) and GCYQ-7XZ ("Searel Wilson", 1905–deceased), which should be reviewed for a merge.
- Name: No record read so far calls him Robert. The Ancestry tree has Robert Cyril and FamilySearch Robert Cecil; "Cecil" may be another hearing of the name the 1910 enumerator wrote "Searel". Robert is kept as his first name because the trees agree on it, but it needs a record: his Social Security application or a marriage record would settle it.
- Birth: The family tree's 9 Sep 1904 at Noel carries no source in the tree. His census ages (5 in April 1910, 15 in January 1920) place his birth between about April 1904 and January 1905, and it followed his parents' marriage of 22 Nov 1903.2, 3, 1
- Death (unconfirmed): The Ancestry tree gives 6 Apr 1999 at Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado, with no citation on the fact. A Social Security Death Index entry (ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68117682:3693) is attached to him in the tree, but it has not been read in this study, and nothing seen shows how the tree linked the Cyril of 1910–1920 to that entry. FamilySearch also has 1999. The death is a lead, not a fact, until the entry is read and tied to him (his Social Security application, which would name his parents, is the best test).
- Absent from his family: He was not in his parents' household at Junction, Grays Harbor County, in April 1930, and he is not among the brothers and sisters named in his brother Woodrow's obituary in 1966, although the family tree has him living then.4, 5 He has not been searched for in the 1930, 1940 or 1950 censuses.
- Sources: His census facts come from the index entries attached to him in the Ancestry tree; the 1920 image was read in the survey of his brother Woodrow's records, and the 1910 image has not been viewed. His parents' marriage record was read on screen in their survey. No WikiTree profile for him was found by the duplicate check of 26 Sep 2026.
Working notes
- Tree-only death (unsourced lead): 6 Apr 1999 Aurora, Arapahoe, Colorado, USA
- Old tree 165462681 @I252151081503@ "Cyrus W Wilson"; tree death aft 1966 Delaware Co., Okla. (unsourced)
Sources
- 1
McDonald County, Missouri, marriage records, 1901–1907, p. 153: marriage licence issued at Pineville, 21 November 1903, by A. W. Noel, recorder, to J. I. Wilson of Noel, McDonald County, Missouri, over the age of twenty-one years, and Lucy Harris of Noel, over the age of eighteen years; certificate of Charles Sh[ore?], justice of the peace, that he married them at Elk River Township on 22 November 1903; filed for record 25 November 1903; image vrmmo1833_c4105-0134, "Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805–2002," database with images, Ancestry.com, citing the Missouri State Archives (indexed as "J S Wilson" and "Elh River Township").
- 2
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Elk River Township, McDonald County, Missouri, E.D. 110, sheet 3B: "Jim F." [so indexed; also "Jim J."] Wilson (head, 27, married six years, born Arkansas, father born Arkansas, mother born Missouri; farmer, home farm, working on his own account; owns his farm, mortgaged; can read and write), with Lucy (wife, 25, married six years, mother of four children, all living, born Arkansas) and their children Searel [Cyril] (5), Tulla (3), Artella [Helen Artlea] (2) and Floyd (under 1); NARA T624, roll 797; FHL microfilm 1374810; database with images, Ancestry.com (index read; image not viewed).
- 3
1920 U.S. Federal Census, Township 5 (Bernice precinct), Delaware County, Oklahoma, E.D. 22, sheet 10A, lines 17–27, enumerated 29–30 January 1920, "Elza W Willson" (son, 2, born Missouri) in the household of James I. Willson (head, 37, born Arkansas; farm), with Lucy M. (wife, 35, born Missouri) and their children Cyril (15), Tulla D. (13), Hellen A. (12), Floyd P. (10), Odis A. (6), Ruth E. (4), Jewel L. (3), Elza W. (2) and Millie M. (under one year), all born Missouri; NARA T625, roll 1458; image 4385099_00298; database with images, Ancestry.com.
- 4
1930 U.S. Federal Census, Junction, Grays Harbor County, Washington, E.D. 45, sheet 2A, dwelling 31, family 34, "Elzie W Wilson" (son, 13, born Oklahoma, attending school) in the household of James I. Wilson (head, 48), with Lucy M. (wife, 45) and their children Floyd P. (19), Odis A. (16), Ruth E. (14), Elzie W. (13), Millie M. (10) and Roy K. (9); FHL microfilm 2342222; database with images, Ancestry.com (index read).
- 5
"Man Found Dead In His Auto," The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), 4 November 1966, p. 40 (C-14): Woodrow E. Wilson, 49, of Puyallup, who came to the area from Aberdeen in September, was found dead Thursday afternoon [3 November]; born in Oklahoma, he came to the Northwest as a boy; millworker for the Weyerhaeuser Company's White River mill at Enumclaw; Army veteran of World War II; survived by his wife, two sons and five daughters [names withheld: living], three sisters, Mrs. Clarence Fulbright and Mrs. Joe Pearson, both of Aberdeen, and Mrs. Ruth Martin, of Westport, a brother, Otis, of Aberdeen, and six grandchildren; services to be announced by the Powers Wrigley Clements Funeral Home, Puyallup; image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/734891548).