Person

John B. Wilgus (Lexington, Kentucky, merchant, banker, businessman, and soldier)

b. 1824-03-22 d. 1889-01-20

Lexington, Kentucky, merchant, banker, and businessman. Kentucky native. Married to Lucy T. Cox Wilgus in 1847. Clerk in the businesses of John J. Dudley and John Carty. Owned four enslaved persons in Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1850. Owned ten enslaved persons in Lexington in 1860. Partnered with B. G. Bruce in business from [unknown date] to 1856. Organized the People’s Gas Company of Lexington in 1846. Owned and operated as principal of the John B. Wilgus & Company from 1856 to 1866. Vice president of the Lexington City National Bank from 1865 to 1870.

Details

Sex
Male
Race
White

Bibliography

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, District No 1. Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, District No 1. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, Lexington, Ward 1, p. 91. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, Ward No 2 City of Lexington, p. 124-125. Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Fayette County, Lexington, Ward 2, p. 53.

The Biographical Encyclopædia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century, vol. 1 (Cincinnati: J. M. Armstrong & Company, 1878), 728-729. “John B. Wilgus, a prominent Breeder of Thoroughbreds and Trotters, Dies Near Lexington,” Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.), January 20, 1889. KYR-0002-022-0001.

Citation

Wilgus, John B.. Accessed via the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, https://discovery.civilwargovernors.org/document/S32199713 (November 12, 2026).

The people, organizations, and places listed below appear in the same documents as John B. Wilgus (Lexington, Kentucky, merchant, banker, businessman, and soldier). They are sorted by the number of documents they share.

Documents (2)

People

Organizations

Places

Loading network...

Network Visualized

How to use the visualization

CWGK’s network visualization brings the edition’s documents to life. The network on this page centers around Wilgus, John B.. Click on the light blue dot to see the documents in which the entity appears. You can also click on the dark orange dots to see other people linked to Wilgus, John B., a light orange dot to see the places connected to Wilgus, John B., or dark green dots to see organizations linked to Wilgus, John B..

Additionally, the lines between the dots add additional information. The light green lines demonstrate direct connections between Wilgus, John B. and another person, place, or organization. The light pink lines highlight that the dots appear in the same document.