I pass by this little church often, and on this dreary day in particular, I decided to stop because of the way the fog hovered so perfectly over the headstones.
Bethany Presbyterian Church was built about 1855 and the cemetery has burials dating to 1785. The surrounding stone wall was covered in a vibrant moss and looked to be something built for a movie set. After checking out some of the headstones, two in particular caught my attention. I had no way of knowing their stories were connected, other than being buried side by side. After doing some research, I learned they had quite an extensive history together.
In the 18th century, a man named Lewis Feuilleteau Wilson was born on the picturesque St. Christopher’s Island in the West Indies. The identities of his parents are unknown, but his father was a wealthy English planter who, around 1758, moved his family to London to provide them with a top-notch education. Sadly, on the journey across the Atlantic, young Wilson’s older brother passed away.
After attending a grammar school in London, Lewis ventured to New Jersey in 1769 with an uncle and enrolled in Nassau Hall (now known as Princeton University), where he studied theology. However, the Revolutionary War forced the closing of the school, so he traveled to Philadelphia and studied medicine for two years. In September 1773, he graduated with honors.
He then worked as a surgeon in both the Continental Army and the incipient Navy. As a wartime surgeon, he faced the harsh realities of war, tending to wounded soldiers on the front lines and in makeshift field hospitals. His time during the war not only shaped his professional trajectory but also contributed to his understanding of human suffering and compassion, aspects that influenced his later work as a minister.
In 1786, persuaded by his friend Rev. James Hall, Wilson settled in Piedmont, North Carolina and married Margaret (Peggy) Hall, the daughter of Captain Hugh Hall, a brother of his dear friend, James Hall.
Despite a successful medical practice, he felt drawn back to theology. Encouraged by friends, he gave up medicine, studied under James Hall, and was licensed to preach in 1791. Taking pastoral roles at Fourth Creek and Concord Presbyterian churches in 1793, Wilson, Hall, and other ministers began participating in the revival that swept across the country around 1802–3. At age fifty-two he died at his home after a short illness and was buried beside his beloved friend James Hall in the Bethany Presbyterian Church cemetery, located on U.S. 21 north of Statesville. Wilson and his wife had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Two of the sons followed their father into the ministry: the Reverend Hugh Wilson was the first settled
Presbyterian minister in Texas, and the Reverend Lewis F. Wilson, Jr., served churches in Virginia and what is now West Virginia.
