JOHN DANFORTH WILKINSON -- 1st MISSOURI INFANTRY and 1st MISSOURI ARTILLERYFOUGHT FOR ANOTHER STATE - John Danforth Wilkinson, a gunsmith, was one of the few men buried in Clinton County, but who fought for another state. He was in the 1st Missouri Infantry and the 1st Missouri Light Artillery. When he was twenty-one, he enlisted in the Artillery and was later transferred to the Infantry. While in the service he participated in the battles of Boone Hill, Dug Springs, Wilson's Creek, Prairie Grove and the Siege of Vicksburg.After being discharged on June 9, 1864, and fulfilling his three years, he returned to Plattsburgh to be near his widowed mother, Clarissa Danforth, who was living in Georgia, VT, his father having died in 1850. He and his wife, Fannie, had a daughter in 1874.As a gunsmith, John also tinkered with machinery and even got a patent for the invention of a horseshoe nail machine which forged two nails at once and cut their heads apart to make them ready to be pointed. His daughter, Stella, also had a technological bent -- she was a photo-retoucher in Plattsburgh. Fannie was active in the Women's Relief Corps, an adjunct of the G. A. R.The Plattsburgh Sentinel of November 12, 1918 carried his obituary -- "J. D. Wilkinson, one of Plattsburgh's oldest and most highly respected citizens, passed away at his home on North Catherine Street, Sunday forenoon at the age of seventy-eight years.Mr. Wilkinson had been failing health for some months, but his indomitable courage and strength of will kept him from giving in until his wonderful reserve power was completely exhausted.Mr. Wilkinson was born in St. Albans, VT. As a young man he served in the Civil War and took an active part in that great struggle from start to finish. His Army record was that of a brave soldier of the Union and his courage was proven in many a hard-fought field. He took an active part in Grand Army affairs and was a past commander of the Walter H. Benedict Post G. A. R.He was prominent in Masonic circles and was past Master of Clinton Lodge, No. 155, and Past District Deputy of the 22nd Masonic District.His widow and brother Dr. George C. Wilkinson of this city are his nearest survivors."John was buried in the Riverside Cemetery with his daughter, Stella, who died at her parents' home on South Catherine Street, in 1915. Fannie joined her family in 1928.
