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Information on this web page was provided by Mitzi Loop of Sequim, Washington. Portions of this page are from the North Platte Daily Telegraph Bulletin, June 18, 1951.
Wilson Tout, who's given name was Albert Wilson Tout, was born May 18, 1876, in Sutton, Nebraska.
Wilson Tout came to North Platte as Principal of the schools in 1907. The next year he was elected Superintendent, continuing in that position until 1920. When he came to North Platte there were six separate school buildings, fifty-two teachers and 1,800 students.
Wilson received his education at York High School, York College, and the University of Nebraska. Before coming to North Platte he had taught school at York, Utica, Clay Center and Dunbar. From 1899 through 1901 he was engaged in concert work in the central United States. Previous to that, he had worked with the Daily Times at York and had spent two years as a clerk in a general store in Riverton.
In 1920 he became owner and publisher of the Lincoln County Tribune and Plains Farmer, and continued in this position until retirement in 1950. He purchased the newspaper from Ira Bare, who had operated the newspaper for 35 years. Until Wilson Tout retired as editor of the newspaper in February 1950, he and Bare were the only owners of the newspaper in its 64 years of operation. His children, Rebecca and Harrison, worked with him on the paper.
Wilson Tout was not only a careful student of birds but also wrote about them in many publications. From his notes and about forty years of careful study, in 1947, he published his records of about 300 species of "Resident and Visiting Birds of Lincoln County." In 1973 the Tout Bird Club, under the leadership of Wilma Wyman, revised this list and published a "Centennial Edition."
Wilson Tout and his wife Nell were charter members of the Nebraska Ornithologist's Union and he served as President of that organization. At the time of his death, Wilson Tout was the last surviving charter member of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union. He was a member of the American Ornithologist's Union, a member of the South Dakota Ornithologist's Union and a member of the Wilson Ornithological Society, a national organization. He listed his hobbies as nature, birds, animals and flowers.
The North Platte Parent Teacher's Association further honored him by a nomination for a life membership in the Nebraska Council of Parents and Teachers. He was a charter member of the North Platte Rotary Club and was its secretary.
Other organizations Wilson Tout was affiliated with included the National Education Association, The Nebraska Press Association, the American Society of Mammalogists, the North Platte Bird Club, The Lincoln County Historical Society (past president), AF & AM, Scottish Rite, North Platte Rotary Club, North Platte Chamber of Commerce and the Methodist Church.
Albert Wilson Tout
b: 18 May 1876, Sutton, Nebraska
d: 18 June 1951, North Platte, Nebraska
Parents: Joseph Allen Tout, Celestia Ann Gray
Parents of Celestria: Hosea Wilson Gray, Ann McQuarry (d: 1869)
Married: Eva Nell Harrison
30 July 1930, Dunbar, Nebraska
Parents: George Murray Harrison, Saretta Jackman (Member of DAR)
Mother of Saretta: Rebecca Jackman. Father of George: Charles Paist Harrison,
Elizabeth Paist
