AUTHOR: James Paris
George MacKinnon “Mack” Wilson was seventeen years old and a resident of Cabarrus County, North Carolina when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on July 4, 1862. He was a private in Company H of the 57th Infantry, North Carolina. His father, John Wilson, also served in the same Company.
Mack was taken prisoner on Nov 7, 1863, at Rappahannock Station, VA, and was confined at Point Lookout, MD. He was hospitalized for smallpox in January 1864 and survived the ordeal. In April 1864 he was exchanged in Virginia, but a month later was hospitalized in Richmond with “cystitis.”
Mack was granted furlough on May 6, 1864 and returned to serve on September 1, 1864.
According to his military records, Mack was taken prisoner a second time at Farmville, Virginia on April 6, 1865. He was confined at Newport News, Virginia, and released after taking the Oath of Allegiance on June 27, 1865.
When Mack returned from the war, he married Mary M. Clontz, daughter of Jacob Clontz and Sarah Stancil. The Wilson family started attending Arlington Baptist Church after the Civil War.
The Church was started by a veteran of the Civil War. Mack died on March 31, 1927 and is buried at Arlington Baptist Church Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina.
