John Mitford Wilkinson was born October 5, 1879 in
Antelope County, Nebraska to Willard Wood Wilkinson and Sarah Jane
Cottrell. He married Johannah Edith
Retzlaff, daughter of John Gottlieb Retzlaff and Alvina Bourke, on September
19, 1901 in Oakdale, Nebraska. Johannah (Hannah) was born at West Point, Nebraska on November 4,
1889. The couple lived their entire married life in Antelope County except
for a short time at Emmet, Nebraska. They lived on several farms in the Oakdale and Elgin areas until
moving to Oakdale in the late 1940’s. They were the parents of ten children: Millicent, Lester, Harry, Rose, Mabel, Irl, Max, Doris, Jean,
and Shirley. Millicent married a
Schultz; Lester married Etta Christenson, Harry married Anna E Weeder, Rose
married a Lodge, Mabel married Joe Vasak, Irl married Irma Schmidt, Max
married Irene Von Seggern, Doris married Elmer Esau, Jean married Martin
Gregor and Shirley married Donald Ofe. John died at Tilden July 31, 1970 and Hannah on October 9, 1973 at
Oakdale. Many of their descendants
live in Antelope County today.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in July 2007