Palmdale's first church was the Community Presbyterian, whose first resident pastor, the Rev. Jesse Craig Wislon, came to Palmdale in 1920. Rev. Wilson and his wife, Mertie I., were originally from the Mid-West, where his father had also been a minister and served as Chaplain in the Civil War, and her father was a homesteader in Kansas. They spent eight years in Santiago, Chile, where they were the first English-speaking missionaries. They had five children, and their youngest son Craig, born in 1905, went to Antelope Valley High School, and also settled in Palmdale.

    Rev. Wilson and his son Craig bought 30 acres of land between 12th and 15th Streets on Avenue Q. where Rev. Wilson raised pear trees, and Craig raised turkeys and chickens. Rev Wilson who kept meticulous records, found that during one of the early years of the Depression, the profits from his pear crop came to exactly one penny' He was a gentle, scholarly man, who spent his time in retirement writing books and stories on theological subjects. His diary frequently mentions with disgust, "eggs, eggs, eggs" on the days when he helped Craig with his chickens. He died in 1948, at the age of eighty eight.

    His wife, Mertie I. Wilson, was always active in the Presbyterian Church, as organist, and Superintendent of the Sunday School. She too, was a writer and published a number of stories for children in religious magazines. She loved Palmdale's desert scenery and did many oil paintings of her favorite views. Her car, a dignified black 1927 Chevrolet Sedan, which she always painted and upholstered herself, was a popular and familiar sight.

   Craig Wilson met his wife Eddie, when they were students at the University of California in Berkeley. He majored in pomology but eventually raised turkeys, then chickens on the Palmdale Ranch. In his early days he was involved in all kinds of enterprises, including building and operating the first ski tow in California, at Table Mountain in Big Pines. In the early Thirties, he also built four adobe brick houses in Palmdale, which are still there, including his own. His chicken business prospered and became Topper Poultry, Inc., and in the 1950's he had over a hundred employees working on the Palmdale ranch, and 45 growers all over Antelope Valley were growing chickens for him. He was president of the Fin and Feather Club, presidentiof the Palmdale Elementary Shcool Board, and a Director of the Antelope Valley Fair Board.

    In 1948 he learned to fly, and bought a Navion airplane, which he often landed on the Palmdale ranch. One of his greatest interests was a club called the "Flying Farmers of America", whose members came from all over America. He served as President of "Flying Farmers" in 1956-57, and spent a lot of time flying back and forth to their national headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. Craig and his family flew all over America, Canada and Mexico, in their airplane on many trips with other "Flying Farmers".

    Eddie Wilson, acted as secretary for her husband, and was very active in Palmdale's civic affairs. She was a founder of the Lilac Festival, and was very instrumental in obtaining county funds for Palmdale's Courson Park. She served as President of the Palmdale Elementary School PTA, and president of the Palmdale Woman's Club. The Wilsons had three daughters, Janet, Nancy and Harriet, who all attended Palmdale Elementary School and Antelope Valley High School.

   Craig and Eddie Wilson, his sister Bertha and two passengers, were killed when their plane crashed near Winemucca, Nevada, in October, 1961. Craig's Mother, Mertie I. Wilson, was 92 years old at the time of their deaths, and two weeks after the funeral her home burned to the ground on the family ranch. She then moved to San Diego and lived with her other children there, until her death in 1965, at the age of 96.

Janet Wilson Kaufman
Berkeley, California