William P. Wilson, M. D., of Onaga, Kan., is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestors. The family settled in this country at an early day, and has furnished many brave soldiers in the great wars of America's history. Dr. Wilson's great-great-grandfather fought in the war of the Revolution and his father carried arms in the war which wiped away the stain of slavery from the land. Dr. Wilson was born in Paris, Ind., Aug. 16, 1872, the son of William P. and Mary (Cave) Wilson. William P. Wilson was also born in the same place Aug. 5, 1836, his father, Moses Wilson, who was the grandfather of Dr. Wilson, was born in Kentucky, Feb. 14, 1793, and was he son of Alexander Wilson, born in Virginia, Feb. 16, 1759, who when grown removed to Kentucky. Moses Wilson located in Jennings county, Indiana, in a very early day and died on the homestead, Feb. 5, 1872. William P. Wilson, the father, was reared on the farm, received the elementary education afforded by the early schools on the frontier, and shared the hardships and privations incident to life in a sparsely settled district. As the country was not thickly populated and there were few cities along the Ohio valley to lure boys from the country, he became a farmer like his father. At twenty-five years of age he bought a 240-acre farm and was married to Mary Cave, in 1860. At the call for volunteers, soon after the opening of the Civil war, Mr. Wilson enlisted on July 16, 1863, in Company K, One Hundred and Twentieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was mustered in Dec. 17, 1863, as first sergeant, and on July 7, 1865, was promoted to second lieutenant. After serving under Gen. Grant at Fort Donelson and in Tennessee and Kentucky, the regiment was sent to Georgia and started with Sherman on the famous march from Atlanta to the sea, but was detached and sent back to Tennessee for a short period. Subsequently it joined Sherman's forces and at the close of the war was detached for a prison guard at Goldsboro, N. C. Upon being mustered out of the service on Jan. 8, 1866, Mr. Wilson returned to his home in Indiana. But he had heard of the great western country with its many opportunities, and in 1878, he sold out his holdings and moved to a quarter section of land in Labette county, Kansas, already partly improved and the family were soon comfortably settled in the new western home. In 1885 he left the farm and moved to Altamont, Kan., where he engaged in real estate for three years and was then elected sheriff of the county on the Populist ticket. Upon completing his term of office he returned to his country home. He soon after moved to Missouri, but the family longed for the old home and he returned to Kansas. About 1904, Mr. Wilson retired from active life and moved to Edna, where he still lives. Mrs. Wilson died in 1875, at the old home in Indiana. Before the family came west, Mr. Wilson married Rebecca Rodgers of Indiana. Of the children in Mr. Wilson's family, two brothers of the subject are dead; a sister, Mrs. Rose E. Tibbets, lives at Parsons, Kan., and another sister, Mrs. Della E. Paramore, resides in Hollywood, Cal. Dr. Wilson was reared in the country and attended the district school near his home until 1885, when he was sent to school at Altamont for a year. He was at home and in school there the next year, but spent the winters from 1887 to 1889 in school at Altamont. In 1890 he graduated in the high school and then went to Carthage, Ill., where he took a year of academic work. He had already determined to devote his life to the study of medicine, but taught school in Illinois and Kansas for a few years, reading medicine in the meantime. In 1895 he entered the Kansas City Medical College, now the medical department of the University of Kansas, and graduated there in 1897. Always unsatisfied except with the best and most thorough courses, Dr. Wilson at once went to Chicago, Ill., and took a year of graduate study at the Polyclinic Medical School and in 1901 went to New York City for still more advanced work. Soon after receiving his degree, Dr. Wilson formed a partnership with his uncle, Dr. Cave, at Westmoreland, and remained there wIil 1906, when he came to Onaga, where he has built up a most satisrwtory and lucrative practice in the few years he has resided in the town. At the present time (1911) he has just returned from taking another course of study at the Polyclinic School at Chicago. On Aug. 21, 1903, he married Lucie J., daughter of Richard J. Wyatt, of Westmoreland, and three children have been born to the union: Hugh D., Helen and William P., Jr. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Christian church. Dr. Wilson takes an interest in all matters pertaining to the general welfare of the city, is clerk of the school board and the present city health officer, having served in that capacity for several years. He belongs to the insurgent branch of the Republican party and is a member of the Masonic order, the independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Royal Neighbors and The Fraternal Aid Association of Onaga. He is vice-president of the Citizens State bank of Onaga, and has served as president of the Pottawatomie County Medical Association.