During his lifetime, Charles Leonard Wilson (1863-1928) was notable in both his hometown of Peoria as well as here in Pekin, where he was one of the co-founders of the American Distilling Co.

C. L. Wilson was born 6 Aug. 1863 in Peoria, the son of John and Emily Jerusha (Woodruff) Wilson. His mother, Emily, was the daughter of one of Peoria’s pioneer settlers, George Woodruff. His father, John, was a cattle stock dealer, founder of the John Wilson & Co. stock firm that did business in both Peoria and Pekin. Another Wilson family business in Peoria was the Wilson Grocery Co. at 800-804 S. Washington St. C. L. Wilson got his start in business working for his father and working with his older brother Arthur W. Wilson (1857-1929).

Arthur and Charles moved to Burton, Kansas, in 1882, opening a mercantile store there called Wilson Bros. In 1884, Arthur sold his interest in the store and returned to Illinois, but Charles stayed on in Kansas until 1887. It was while he was living in Burton that Charles married on 11 Dec. 1889 to Georgia A. Easling (1868-1953), daughter of Burton physician Dr. Peter Easling. In 1887, Charles sold his store in Burton, Kansas, and he and Georgia moved to Pekin, where Charles was hired as bookkeeper for the Hamburg Distilling Co. In the autumn of 1892, Charles, along with his father John and older brother Everett Woodruff Wilson (1861-1938), purchased an interest in the distillery, which was reorganized as the American Distilling Co.

The company’s co-founding officers, as listed in the 1893 Pekin city directory, were E. W. Wilson, president, A. H. Purdie, vice president, and C. L. Wilson, secretary and treasurer. The 1974 Pekin Sesquicentennial volume, page 68, relates the founding of American Distillery in these words:

“In 1892, the American Distilling Company was born and erected a plant on the site formerly occupied by one of Pekin’s first distilleries, the Hamburg. The company expanded in 1908 by absorbing a conglomerate of three other distilleries, including the Hamburg.”

The 1949 Pekin Centenary says the Hamburg was Pekin’s first distillery, built in 1858 by Col. William Callender. The Hamburg, and subsequently the American Distilling Co., was located on South Front Street near what was then the southern city limits of Pekin. The company’s first president, E. W. Wilson, older brother of C. L. Wilson, twice served as Pekin mayor, in 1893-1894 and again in 1899-1900. Mayor Wilson’s home in Pekin is now Abts Mortuary on South Fifth Street. Charles and Georgia lived one street over, at 1105 S. Fourth St., a home he owned and lived in from 1887 to 1912. There, they raised their only child, Edith (1890-1982), wife of Frederick Nickolas Albertsen (1882-1940) of Pekin.

During the years he lived in Pekin, C. L. Wilson was not only secretary and treasurer of the American Distilling Co., but also served on the board of directors of the German-American National Bank. He was also an active member of the Pekin Country Club until his death. Due to his prominence in Pekin, his biographical sketch was published in “Portrait and Biographical Record of Tazewell and Mason Counties” (1894), page 420.

In 1912, Charles and Georgia sold their home at 1105 S. Fourth St. and moved to Peoria, where they lived for several years in the grand mansion at 1652 N. Glen Oak Ave. Once again a resident of his hometown, Charles held the office of vice president of the Wilson Grocery Co. in Peoria, and he became a member of the Creve Coeur Club there. However, Charles’ business responsibilities and community involvement in Pekin brought him back over the Illinois River almost daily.

Toward the end of his life, Charles lived at 1505 Columbia Terrace in Peoria. That is where he was when he suddenly died of a massive heart attack on the night of 4 May 1928, as reported at the top of the front page of the following day’s Pekin Daily Times. It was just 10 days after American Distillery was sold to new owners, and Charles was preparing to enjoy his retirement. He, his wife Georgia, their daughter Edith, and their son-in-law Frederick are all buried in the Wilson family plot in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria.