Frank Wilson and family papers

Morris (or Max) Wilson (1869–1942) and Annie Damsey (1875–1959) were late 19th-century immigrants from Lithuania to New York City. (The surname Wilson was originally "Shavelson" or "Savelson." Damsey was originally "Damsky.") They married in Manhattan in 1894 and had six children between 1895 and 1913, the oldest being Frank Wilson (1895–1979). Max was a building contractor and real estate owner (operating as Max S. A. Wilson Construction Co.) whose prosperity allowed the family the luxury of a brownstone at 210 East 79th Street. A series of financial setbacks forced their move to apartments in Harlem (326 West 119th Street) and Washington Heights (701 West 177th Street), and eventually to South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where they lived at 212 Warren Square in 1916–1922. Eventually they returned to Manhattan, residing first in Washington Heights, at 848 St. Nicholas Avenue, and, by 1940, at 301 West 107th Street. Max died in 1942, and Annie died in 1959.

Frank Wilson, after working with his father, continued in building management and construction ventures. Drafted into the United States Army on October 12, 1917, he served as a private, first class, in Company A, 310th Machine Gun Battalion, of the 79th Division. Shipped overseas in July 1918, he saw action in the Battle of the Argonne between September and November 11, Armistice Day. He was honorably discharged in April 1919. Frank Wilson married twice, first, to Ethel Lewis, who died in 1948, and second, to Lillian Weiler, who died in 1989. He died in 1979.

[This note is based on the "Family Sketch" found in Box 2, Folder 9.]