William Nelson Clarke Willson
Merchant and grain dealer of Berryville from the months after the Civil War, a native of Frederick County, Maryland, and nephew of Joseph T. Griffith, who died in August 1921 at the old Griffith home on Church Street.
What the sources support
The Clarke Courier of August 18, 1921 reports that William Nelson Clarke Willson, a merchant and grain dealer at Berryville shortly after the Civil War and a nephew of the late Joseph T. Griffith, died of paralysis the Tuesday afternoon before at the old Griffith home on Church Street, occupied by his niece, Mrs. W. M. S. Hammond. It says he was a native of Frederick County, Maryland, and opened his general merchandise store in Berryville in the May after the surrender at Appomattox.
See the source and its limits
The Clarke Courier of August 18, 1921 reports that William Nelson Clarke Willson, a merchant and grain dealer at Berryville shortly after the Civil War and a nephew of the late Joseph T. Griffith, died of paralysis the Tuesday afternoon before at the old Griffith home on Church Street, occupied by his niece, Mrs. W. M. S. Hammond. It says he was a native of Frederick County, Maryland, and opened his general merchandise store in Berryville in the May after the surrender at Appomattox.
What the source supports
That William Nelson Clarke Willson, a Berryville merchant from 1865, died at the old Griffith home, as reported on August 18, 1921.
Uncertainty
Read from uncorrected OCR, not from the page image. The OCR breaks the surname ("Will, son") and garbles the headline. The item dates the death only as "Tuesday afternoon." He is not linked to the released record of Mrs. W. M. S. Hammond, since joining them would be a name match.
Source
Evidence role: supports. The August 18, 1921 obituary.
Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., August 18, 1921
Clarke Courier · 1921-08-18 (publication)
Locator: Page 4, obituary of William Nelson Clarke Willson
Relevant passageMr William Nelson Clarke Will, son [Willson]. a merchant hnd [and] grain dealer here shortly after the civil war and a •nephew of the late beloved Joseph T Griffith, died Tuesday afternoon from paralysis, a stroke of which he suf. fered three weeks ago. The end came Ut [at] the old Griffith home on Church street now occupied by his niece, Mrs W. M. S. Hammond. Mr. Willson, a native of Frederick county, Md., was identified with bus. iness life of Clarke immediately after the civil war. ... He opened liis [his] general merchandise store in May after the surrender at Appomattox.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-16. How this project checks its sources
Life dates that aren't known aren't guessed at here.
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