Though they never met, George Donaldson honored his fellow Scotsman Alexander Wilson with a stone monument. Wilson, born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1766, began an apprenticeship as a weaver at age 13. His love of writing led him to compose poetry about the outdoors and the harsh work conditions at the mills, and he was eventually convicted of libel after lampooning the mill owners. He left for America in 1794, where he was encouraged to illustrate and research the birds of North America. The first of seven volumes of his American Ornithology was published in 1808, and the eighth and ninth volumes were published after his death under the direction of his friend George Ord. Wilson died in 1813 and was buried in Philadelphia in the yard of the Swedish Church, contrary to his wish to be buried where birds would sing above him. Donaldson, also born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1811, arrived at Spring Mill in 1865 and purchased 181 acres including Donaldson Cave and Donaldson Woods. Sharing a deep appreciation of nature, he revered Wilson and in 1866 erected the stone monument, hand-carving an image of Wilson on it.