ROBERT F. WILSON, a trustee of Concord Township and a representative citizen of Miami County, Ohio, resides on the McKaig Road, where he has a fine home and ten acres of land. He owns a farm of eighty acres located on the Wilson Pike in Concord Township, and also farms the one hundred acre farm of his father's, which adjoins. He was born in that township, April 4, 1852, and is a son of William W. and Bathena (Dilts) Wilson.

The Wilson family is an old one in Miami County. Robert Wilson, grandfather of the subject of this record, was born and reared in England, where in early life he followed the trade of a weaver. Upon coming to the United States, he first located in Maryland, where he entered the employ of a man who bore the name of Wilson, but who was not related to him. He subsequently married Susan Wilson, daughter of his employer, and continued to live there for some years. He left because of his antipathy to slavery, although his father-in-law, who was a prosperous man and slave owner, urged him to remain. He first located in Montgomery County, Ohio, but shortly after became established in Miami County, settling on what is now the Troy and West Milton Turnpike, on the farm now owned by Anson Williams, in Concord Township. It was a heavily timbered tract which was cleared by his boys, while he followed his trade as weaver. He knew nothing of farming, in fact could scarcely hitch a horse. He later disposed of the farm and purchased one in Shelby County, south of Sidney, Ohio. Upon retiring from business activity he moved to Sidney, where he passed away at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. His widow died at the same age, but survived him about eight years. They had ten children, all born in Ohio except the eldest; their names were as follows: John, deceased; William W.; Martha; Robert, deceased; Christopher; James; Richard; and three daughters who died within one week of each other.

William W. Wilson was born on the old homestead in Concord Township in 1828 and until he retired and moved to Troy, where he now lives, never lived out of the township. He helped clear the farm and did most of the teaming. Deer and other wild animals abounded during his boyhood and he derived much pleasure in hunting. He and his brother, John, often hunted at night and many times they were chased home by panthers. He always farmed and bought and sold stock during his active career and met with more than average success. After his marriage he left the home place and his first purchase was a tract of forty acres near the farm he now owns. This he sold and purchased eighty acres of his present farm, to which be added from time to time. His first marriage was with Bathena Dilts, whose father, Francis Dilts, came from Pennsylvania to Montgomery County, Ohio, and later located in Concord Township, in Miami County. Mr. Dilts was a timber man and a large land owner. William W. and Bathena Wilson had the following children: Susan, wife of John Shoupp of Troy, Ohio; Robert Francis, who was named in honor of both his grandfathers; Alfred of Troy; Ella, wife of J. H. Brown of Troy; and Margaret, wife of J. T. Houser, of Troy. Mr. Wilson's second marriage was with Mary Jane Dilts, half-sister of his first wife, and she died leaving one daughter, Gertrude, who is the wife of Ellis Gillespie of Troy.

Robert F. Wilson has always lived in Concord Township; he helped clear the farm and when a young boy hauled wood to Troy, which was then a small place. He attended the public schools and lived at home until his marriage. His father then turned the farming operations over to him, but they continued the stock buying and selling in partnership. He later purchased thirty acres from his father and fifty acres of the old Jennings farm from E. Neves Weaver. He continued to make his home on that place until 1906, when he bought his present home on the McKaig Road. He has frequently been honored with various township offices, was land appraiser in 1900, and since that time has served capably as township trustee.

In May, following his twenty-first birthday anniversary, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage with Rosanna Brown, a daughter of Andrew Brown, who is well known in Darke County, Ohio. Six children were born to them: Minnie (Favorite); Fred, a farmer residing on the Fenner Turnpike in Newton Township, who married Bessie Shuman and has a daughter, Reva. Bertha, who is the wife of Edward Sweitzer, and lives on Pleasant Hill in Concord Township; Emma, who is the wife of Adolphus Jones of Concord Township, and has a son, Robert; Effie, wife of Ira Holfinger of Concord Township, who has a son, John; and Edward J., who married Alarie Gillis and resides on his fathers farm. Minnie Wilson first married Henry Kropp, by whom she has a daughter, Hazel Kropp. He died four years after marriage and she formed a second union with Charles Favorite and lives in Washington Township, Miami County.

Mr. Wilson is a Republican in politics, and takes an active interest in the success of that party. He is a progressive and public-spirited man and has always been among the foremost in the development and improvement of the township.