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ALTHOUGH LEE WILSON & Co. is no longer owned by any of the Wilsons, a branch of the family continues farming more than 8,200 acres in Mississippi County.
Much of the land, once part of the Lee Wilson & Co. portfolio, is held in the name of Wesson Farms Inc. The corporation represents the heirs of the eldest daughter of Lee Wilson, Victoria Wilson Wesson.
That's Wesson as in Smith & Wesson, the gunmaking corporation of Springfield, Mass. Victoria Wilson married Frank Herbert Wesson, grandson of Daniel Wesson, co-founder of Smith & Wesson.
The Wesson Farms land is centered on the community of Victoria, 12 miles northwest of Wilson as the crow flies. Lee Wilson named it in her honor as he did the town of Marie, named for her sister.
Marie Wilson Howells made a name for herself as a philanthropist, with a generous bent toward her home state. Among her gifts was a 1979 endowed trust that established chairs in...