page_title: Zara A. Wilson
section_title: Early life and family
hierarchical_section_title: Zara A. Wilson / Early life and family
caption_attribution_description: English: Matilda L. Mahurin
context_page_description: Zara A. Wilson was a reformer and lawyer.
context_section_description: Zara Mahurin was born in Burnettsville, Indiana, on October 8, 1840. She was the fourth in a family of eight children. Her maiden name was Mahurin, to which form it had been Americanized from the Scotch Mac Huron. Her father, Caleb Mahurin (1786-1859), was of southern birth and education, a native of North Carolina. He was twice married, his second wife being Matilda C. Freeman (1809-1882), the mother of Wilson, to whom he was married near Troy, Ohio, in 1832.
  Wilson's early life was spent on a farm, but she had the advantages of a seminary education in an institution founded and presided over by a half-brother, Isaac Mahurin (August 16, 1814 - August 23, 1870), in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her sister, Mathilda L. Mahurin, was assistant principal. The Methodist College opened in 1852 and closed in 1863 when the Union Army claimed most of its students. The old brick building was on West Street and US 24.
  Mathilda L. Mahurin (November 11, 1827 - April 16, 1916) was for many years a resident of Indianapolis, and taught in the public school there for many years. She was born in Miami County, Ohio, on November 11, 1827, and moved to Indiana with her parents when she was a girl. She began teaching when a young woman, being for a time connected with the Methodist College at Fort Wayne. She moved to Indianapolis in 1867 and lived with her sister, Mary Kilbun Robinson (1821-1909), whose home was at 603 North New Jersey Street. Mathilda Mahurin was an active member of Meridian Street M.E. Church and died at Elkhart, Indiana.
  Zara Mahurin had always shown a fondness for books, and during her student days mathematics was to her a fascinating study.
caption: Matilda L. Mahurin
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