In all my years, neither I, nor anyone I know had ever heard the name "Jilson" before, so it is certainly unique (in reality, NO one ever called Dad by this name, he always went by Jay or J.H.). Jilson was born in 1919, as a child was the Knoxville champion at playing marbles, later was a two-time city champion at tennis, enjoyed motorcycles as a hobby, began his career as a.