HERE LIES the Body of
Mrs. JEAN WILSON
Spouse of the Rev. John Wilson
who departed this Life April 1st AD
1759 Aged 36 Years.
She was a Gentlewoman of Piety
and a good Oeconamist
Likewise the Revd. JOHN WILSON
who departed this Life Febr. ye 1st AD
1779 Aged 69 Years
He was a Servant of Christ in the most
Peculiar & Sacred Relation, both in Doctrine &
Life. It was his great Delight to prich a crucefied
Christ as our widsom Righteousness Sanctification &
Redemption. He did not Entertain his hear-
ers with Curiosities, but with Real Spritual
good his Sermons were Clear, Solid
affictionate a Spirit of Vital Christianity
Ran through them, his Life was sutable to
his holy profession. he was a steady friend a
Loving, Husband a tender parent, his Inward
grace was visable in a convercastion
becoming the gosple.
Sed Omnes una manet Nox,
Et Calcanda Semdui
Lethi Hor
The Latin phrase is from Horace, and it translates to "But one night waits for all, and the road of death is to tread only once"
The Reverend John Wilson was born in Ulster County, Northern Ireland in 1709. He was at the University of Edinburgh in 1726, and came to New England in 1729. He was ordained at the Presbyterian Church in Chester in 1734, where he stayed until his death in 1779. According to the history of Chester, he had only one daughter, Ann, who married William Mills.
Jean was the daughter of James and Mary Wilson of Chester. He married first to Thomas Glenn of Ireland, who died on 18 March 1744. She married second to Reverend John Wilson. I don't know if the two Wilson families were related. I love the epitaph that states "She was a Gentlewoman of Piety and a good Oeconamist [Economist]" I suppose she was a frugal housewife?
Rev. John Wilson's tombstone is completely weather worn. No inscription can be seen, but the crude carvings along the edges are similar to some of the geometric type carving I've seen in Londonderry and at Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry. Mrs. Wilson's stone is in very good condition, and is still quite easy to read.
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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
What an exceptionally long inscription, and so much about his sermons! In the crude carvings, do I notice an iconic angel-face with wings beside it?
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a cherub's head with wings. The stone is a different material that has weathered very badly, especially since it is a ledger stone and lying flat on the ground. It looks like the ones carved by John Wright in Londonderry, but it isn't on any of the lists of his stones. Maybe because it is too hard to tell now.
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