Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-03-12
Death Of Col. y. d. Wilson.

Death Of Col. y. D. Wilson.
1t is with tense strain Of per-
sonal sorrow that we are called
upon to record the death of Hon.
B. d. Wilson, which occurred at
hif home at Lake Vineyard, yester-
day morning. In many respects
Col. Wilson was noteworthy and
man. He has filled
many stations of public .charac'
ter, which fact renders proper and
Inevitable . pangyric, now that he
has passed from amongst us. We
take . pride in dwelling upon the
pronounced virtues of this distin-
guished man. 1t was our privilege
to have known him personally for
a period Of Only three years; but,
brief A. this span was. it unfolded
to usxhe salient features Of char
soter noble and original-a charac-
ter which, we regret to say, is rap
idly becoming exotic in these cor
rupt later days. Col. Wilson came
from the State Of Gen. Jackson,
and he possessed many Of the traits
which endeared "Old Hickory" to
the American people. His most
marked characteristic was frank
ness which was odorons of the pine
and beechwoods. Though there
was nothing Of the dilettante about
him-of the superfine veneer OF
conventional life-he was marked
by an exquisite refinement which
was the outgrowth Of an innate
manliness, and which was specially
captivating for that reason. He
was, above all things, native
born gentleman. The instincts OF
courtesy and delicacy were in
grained in the man himself, with
out regard to the purely adventi'
tious circumstances of education
or association. In a Cohuilla
"wicky-up" Col. Wilson woult
have impressed the visitor as 9
-Sentleman-one of the "older
tIme.'A He was gifted by nature
with 50 nice moral sense that the
veriest sceptic in human nature
after a short acquaintance with
him, would have relaxed much
Of his sardonic unbelief in hi
kind.
Impelled by the frontier instinct
which has made the United State
all that they are, Col. Wilson earl.
crossed the at that tim
tremendous and perilous chasn
which separates Los Angeles iron
his Tennessee birth place. He ha
been for long periods of his resi-
dence in California, in it's bes
sense, a public man. While he ha
never filled any post of overshad
owing Importance, he has been
legislator for his section, and, q
Senator Of Los Angeles county i
the California Legislature, he ha
been q devoted friend of the sec
tion from which he hailed, and h
has left upon the minds of hi
brother Legislators the impressio
of noble and unapproachabl
law-maker, and of that honest ma
who, the poet assures US, is tn
noblest work Of God.
Passing cursorily his reputatio
as public man, we cannot forbes
dwelling appreciatively on his put
lie spirit. His purse was alway
open for the encouragement of an
project which would develop Lo
Angeles county. The cause of edu
cation found in him a libers
patron. He regarded a full ban
account as merely an agency fc
making himself useful to his fe
lows. He endowed college ,
Wilmington; lie built the
wharves and warehouses; he r.
leased himself from the tramme
of the spirit of selfish greed to pl
his money into doubtful project
which had the merit of at lea
looking to the public good.
We shall miss Col. Wilson. w
regard him as one of the very bes
most downright and reliable me
that lived ON the American cont
nent. he was worthy to have bee
the host of Bracebridge Hall, an
he was modern, American editio
Of Addison's charming picture
Sir Roger de Coverley. He was n
great man. but he was emphat
cally good man. The adjecti'
great would have applied to him
regard had been had merely to
moral attributes. We shall 81
him no more! Farewell, gre
heart! May thy failings be trace
in water, thy virtues written
hraaaf