Elmina Green Wilson was born March 16, 1853, in Grover, Cleveland county, North Carolina.  She was the daughter of Jonas Gree and Eliza Elvira Etters.  She had one sister and four brothers.  Her father was a soldier in the Civil War and died fighting for the South, thus leaving the mother to support the family by doing house work or anything she could do.  Sincd Elmina was the eldest of the family it was her lot to take care of the children and it was a hard struggle for all of them.

At the age of 17, Elmina met and married Lawson Green Wilson.  To this union were born 13 children, ten of whom lived to manhood and womanhood.  Due to hard time and conditions following the Civil War, Elmina was forced to do many things for her family.  She worked in the fields along with the men, picking cotton, hoeing the garden, and when it was time to furrow out the cotton fields, she walked behind one plow and Lawson behind the other.  In the meantime, she was having her family.  Mary Lee tended the babies and helped with the housework.  She learned to sew, to card woll, spin a hank and to card cotton.

The family had a few sheep on their little farm which were clipped and the wool saved, washed, dyed, corded, and spun into cloth, which Elmina used to make clothes for her family.  She was a very fine seamstress and could tailor a suit for Lawson or any of the neighbors.  The dye for these suits came from the hulls of walnuts which made a brown color.  Besides making clothing from the wool, Elmina made beautiful corded beadspreads and tableclothes, and sheets, from the cotton, and did all the weaving and sewing for the family.

Elmina made bread and butter and had a nice garden.  She had time to visit the sick in her neighborhood and did practical nursing.  She was blessed with the gift of healing the sick.

About 1887, the Mormon Missionaries came to the Wilson home and preached the Gospel to them.  elmina gave them the best she had, the best food she could get together and always a clean bed even if she or some of the children had to sleep on the floor.  After a while, Elmina and Lawson were converted and accepted the Gospel.  They gave up their home, families, and friends and came to Utah for their religion.  at the time they left the South, mobs came in and tried to destroy them, their loved ones turned against them, and Elmina's own folks wouldn't tell her good-bye.

They came to Utah in 1891, March 15, and settled in North Ogden.  It was cold and miserable, besides getting a shabby welcome from the missionaries who had accepted their kind hospitality in the South.  Later, they moved to Highland, their home near John Johnson's.  Elmina was a very devoute church member and kept the Sabbath day holy.  She did all the necessary work and prepared food enough on Saturday for their Sunday meals so she could attend Sunday School and Sacrament meeting, and walked both ways to church, where the church now stands (the Highland Ward).

Later the family moved to Provo Bench and then to Lehi, Utah, where they raised berries and saved for their little home in Lehi.

Elmina was a beautiful woman, with kind brown eyes and lots of dark hair, which she wore in a large bun at the back of her head.  She had a pleasant smile and a cheerful disposition, and with her Irish wit, she could always see the funny side of everything and made the best of conditions.

Her home was clean and neat and cheerful.  She was an excellent cook and everyone who knew her, enjoyed her kind hsspitality and good southern meals.

One of her younger sons, Arthur, filled a mission in the North-eastern States.  Elmina worked hard and sacrificed to keep him there.  she did practical nursing and anything she could do to earn a dollar.  She picked berries and sold garden stuff from her garden; in fact, too many hours picking berries in the hot sun caused her to have a sun stroke which later caused her death.

She died at the early age of 58, but Bishop Lewis of Lehi, who knew her well said she had lived a hundred years in those  fifty-eight, according to the work and the good she had done, here on earth. 

Her sister was Elizabeth Green Pruett and her brothers were Jacob Green, Albert Green, George Green, Ira Green, and Jonas Green who died at one week old.

The names of the children born to Elmina and Lawson were: Robert Monroe Wilson who married Winnie Kendall and Alberta Alice Chapman

Mary Lee Wilson who married George Yost Meyers

Elizabeth Jane Wilson who married Elisha Peck

Charles Green Wilson

Martha Ellen Wilson (a twin)

Sarah Victoria Wilson (a twin) who married John R. Erickson and Christopher Krageland

William Alexander Wilson who married Maud Roberts

Wynona Geneva Wilson who married John Sullivan and Isaac Fergusen

Arthur Cleveland Wilson

Henry Alma Wilson who married Luella Whipple

Eliza Ann Wilson

Joseph Elijah Wilson who married Una Pearl Webb and Shela Dean

Lucy Virgil Wilson who married Albert Peterson