Charles H Wilkinson  

Charles H Wilkinson
Birth: Aug. 13, 1884 Belmont County Ohio
Death: Jul. 13, 1943 Logansport, Cass County , Indiana
Burial: Mount Hope Cemetery Logansport Cass County Indiana
son of Franklin B. Wilkinson & Julia Etta Lewis

Ethel Pearl Crim
Birth NOVEMBER 15, 1899 Marion, West Virginia
Death MAY 23, 1974 Logansport, Cass County, Indiana
Burial: Mount Hope Cemetery Logansport Cass County Indiana
?daughter of Daniel Crim & Orpha J. ---?

They had:

Etta Jane birth abt 1934 Colorado

Frank B. Wilkinson II Birth FEBRUARY 10, 1925 Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado Death 20 NOV 1983 Mount Gilead, Ohio. BURIAL Mount Hope Cemetery Logansport, Cass County, Indiana

Charles H. Wilkinson Jr. Birth 1926 Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado Death 1987

Margaret Pearle Wilkinson Birth 1928 Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado Death 1934 Colorado or Indiana

Danny Elmer Wilkinson Birth 1929 Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado Death 1930

William J. [John William] Wilkinson Birth MARCH 14, 1930 Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado Death AUGUST 19, 2007 Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana

Bought the Millar Mining company of Arkansas which minded the the Crater of Diamonds - The Reyburn investors, having rescued their investment from Tom Cochran, eventually sold it to Charles Wilkinson a machine tool tycoon from Indiana and also:
Shortly after that, two men from Murfreesboro leased Millar's property and set up an attraction much like the one you see today called the Diamond Preserve. Their financial backer was none other than Ethel Wilkinson, the owner of the property next door to Millar's.

There was a short-lived partnership in which the Wilkinson and Millar property were to be consolidated into an attraction called Crater of Diamonds, a name suggested by Mrs. Wilkinson's lawyer, Joe Noel. Mrs. Wilkinson failed to come up with all of her share of the investment capital and the partnership was dissolved.

In 1952 the Millar family opened the Crater of Diamonds attraction on their 36 acres of the kimberlite pipe. Right next door in 1962 the "Arkansas Diamond Mine," a practically identical attraction owned by Ethel Wilkinson of Logansport, Indiana, opened. The Arkansas Diamond Mine was run by two former employees from Millar's Crater of Diamonds

This was found on the CRATER OF DIAMONDS -- FINDERS KEEPERS North American Diamond Corporation and Trust A - A year after Blick took the option, he and his wife, Mary, conveyed their rights in the property to a new venture identified as “Trust A.” That same day the Arkansas Diamond Corporation issued a deed to the trustees, Robert J. Arthur of Logansport, Indiana, and Edwin T. Schneberger of Chicago. The trustees then awarded a ninety-nine year mineral lease to a newly organized North American Diamond Corporation of Arkansas. Years later, other deeds revealed that two parties dominated the Corporation and the trust: Ray Blick and the Charles Wilkinson interests, of Logansport. Wilkinson was President and major partner of the Corporation and he and his family together were the majority partner in Trust A.

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February 23, 2007
Logansport Pharos Tribune
Ethel Pearl Wilkinson: Owned America’s only diamond mine
By Richard Copeland, History Buff

The Wilkinson family has lived in Logansport since 1856. Frank Wilkinson became a businessman who was involved in several businesses in Logansport. Frank’s son, Charles, left Logansport for Grand Junction, Colo., and operated a large orchard.

He married Ethel Pearl Crim. In 1934 Charles and Ethel moved to Logansport to help Frank operate the Logan Machine Company.

Charles liked to dabble in many different areas of business. He called Ethel one day and asked if she would like to own a diamond mine.

Her reply was, “If the mine is worth anything we’d never have the opportunity to buy it. And if it is worthless, it is bait for suckers.” She heard on the radio a few days later that no investment is a sure thing. That changed her mind and when Charles called again for a final answer, Ethel told him that she would venture with him.

The Wilkinsons, with one associate, bought the diamond field intending to mine industrial diamonds. The Smithonian actually has assessed the value of the field at $650,000,000 to one billion...

In 1952 a Mr. Millar opened a tourist operation and named it the “Crater of Diamonds.”

Mrs. Wilkinson opened her part of the mine to the public and named it the “Big Mine.” The two groups began a fierce battle in advertising to get the public in to hunt for diamonds on their portion. In 1969 General Earth Minerals of Dallas bought both properties, but continued the property as a private tourist attraction.