JL WILKINSON was born in Algona, Iowa on May 14, 1878. His father, John J. “JJ” Wilkinson was the superintendent of schools in Algona at that time. J Leslie Wilkinson learned to play and love baseball in his early years here in Algona. When his father moved the family first to Omaha, Nebraska, and then to Des Moines, the young Wilkinson had become well known in high school and college as a pitcher.