For some reason, the first year of teaching at Alabama A. & M. College did not work out for Wilson. We can be certain that he left in the school's good graces, for had there been a problem with his teaching or deportment he would never have been rehired a few years later by the same president who hired him the first time. A. & M. in those days was too small for secrets, and the community of teachers and college families was too tight for problems not to have been known by everyone on campus. Most likely his wife felt out of place, for she could not write, and this was an academic community. Also, she may not have taken well to the religious expectations of this very Christian college. There are many reasons to speculate that Georgia led James to leave the campus, but there is no surviving evidence to draw upon to ferret out the truth in this matter. If she did not accompany him to Alabama and remained in Kentucky, that, too, could have been reason enough for him to return home and try to salvage his marriage. It is truly unfortunate that Georgia Miller Wilson and her personality have faded so completely into the cobwebs of history. What little we have been able to glimpse of her has been gleaned from a newspaper report of their wedding and a pair of census documents that tells us almost nothing about this woman. And, of course, money would certainly have been an issue. James was not getting rich and famous as a beginning teacher in the high school and college. Why James left Normal after his first year will most likely always remain a mystery, but we do know for certain that once he boarded the outbound train from Normal and headed home, he did not sit around feeling sorry for himself. Upon his return he quickly found work, first as a cornet soloist and a band conductor, and then, when the opportunity presented itself, as a star musician with the most famous black minstrel show of the day, the Billy Kersands Minstrels.