Walter B. Wilson (1869-1939), printer, publisher, and journalist, was the owner and editor of the McKinney, Collin County, Texas, newspaper for more than thirty years. Wilson was born in 1869 in Illinois, the son of a Methodist minister and a church and charity worker. He came to Texas at the age of 18 with two brothers, and started his business career in printing and publishing.
The weekly Democrat-Gazette, the oldest paper in Collin County, was founded in 1884, and ten years later Wilson became its editor. He held this position, as well as the position of editor of the daily Courier-Gazette, for twenty years before the two papers merged. Wilson then served as editor of the merged Courier-Gazette for another thirteen years until his death in 1939.
Along with his publishing and journalism feats, Wilson was well-known for his civic duties, including President of the Chamber of Commerce, President of the Collin County Confederate Veterans, Secretary of the county’s Red Cross chapter, and member of the school board for over thirty years. He was a member and former commander of the Henry A. Wiley Camp of Spanish-American War Veterans and a member of the Official Board of the First Methodist Church. Additionally, Wilson was one of the first contributors to Southern Methodist University at Dallas.
Source : Walter B. Wilson Collection, 1895-1939, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
From the guide to the Wilson, Walter B. Collection 1943., 1895-1939, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
