-------------------------------
from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Mrs. Amelia S. (Baer) Wilson is one of the oldest citizens of Mahaska county in years of continuous connection with this section of the state, having for more than six decades been a resident of Iowa; She now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Harry W. Seevers, in Oskaloosa. She was born in Rockville, Indiana, September 17, 1841, and is a daughter of George and Elizabeth Baer, who in 1844 removed from the Hoosier state to Iowa, settling in Oskaloosa. It was the pioneer period in the history of the county when the work of improvement and development seemed scarcely begun. Mr. Baer did considerable trading in furs with the Indians and because of his prominence in business life they called him the chief of the town. They would ride into Oskaloosa in great numbers and camp on the hill near the present site of Dr. Leener's home. At that time there was quite a grove of crab apple and plum trees on the hill. The Indians would make their way to the home of Mr. Baer and stack their guns-a method which they used to show that their visit was a peaceful one. At night they would hold a war dance in the old courthouse. After trading and begging around for several days they would all go for their guns and ride away yelling and shooting their arrows into the air, frightening the children half to death and causing not a little terror to some of the older people. After a few years had passed, however, one seldom saw an Indian in the town. Amid such surroundings Amelia S. Baer spent her girlhood days and in the fall of 1858 she gave her hand in marriage to Rezin Wilson, the wedding ceremony being performed Rev. W. F. Cowles. Her husband was a member of the firm of Dixon & Wilson, saddlers of Oskaloosa. Unto this marriage were born four children: George W., who is now living in Clinton, Iowa; Harry R., deceased; Stella M., the wife of Harry W. Seevers, a real-estate dealer of Oskaloosa; and Lena E., the wife of Leslie E. Dewey, who are residents of the city. Since the death of her husband, in July 1891, Mrs. Wilson has made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Harry Seevers, at No. 836 East High avenue in Oskaloosa. Almost sixty-three years have passed since she came to this country and her mind forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present while upon memory's wall hangs many pictures of those early clays with their pioneer experiences and frontier environments. from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy