Saturday, September 17, 2016

Surname Saturday ~ WILSON of Woburn, Massachusetts


WILSON, WILLSON

John Wilson (about 1626 – 1687), my 10th great grandfather is not my only WILSON ancestor.  I am also a descendant of Robert Wilson (about 1630 – 1675) of Salem Village.  Both these immigrant WILSONS were studied by genealogist Ken Stevens, who did surname studies of all the WILSON families in New England.  If you have a WILSON from New England you can search his book The New England Wilson Index, 1995 for more information. [call number CS71. W75 1995 at the NEHGS library]  His manuscripts and papers are also at NEHGS under the call number Mss 678.  The books on the Wilsons from New England: A Genealogical Record of Some Descendants From Our Colonial Ancestors are under the call numbers CS71 .W75 1988 v.1, v.2, v.3 on the 7th floor of the NEHGS library.

John Wilson’s origins are unknown.  He first settled in Salem, Massachusetts with his wife, Hannah, some time before they bought 2 acres of land on 2 March 1652/3.   They sold this land in 1657, and the first record of them in Woburn was December 1658 when their son Samuel was born.  Samuel Wilson (1658 – 1729) is my 9th great grandfather.  The Proprietors records record John was granted four acres of land in 1661, near the Billerica border today.   Samuel inherited the homestead and provided for his aged mother, and his siblings all removed to other towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut.   Samuel and two of his siblings all married PIERCE children of Robert Pierce of Woburn.

John and Hannah were Anabaptists.  In 1677 they were fined for not attending regular meetings - the Puritan religious services (Middlesex Court Records).  Their son, Samuel, my 9th great grandfather, was listed as an Anabaptist, too. 

John Wilson’s will is not recorded.  The Suffolk County Probate recorded an administrator’s bond and an estate inventory by the administrix, Hannah, and sons John, Jr. and Francis.  Hannah remarried to Thomas Fuller.

My WILSON genealogy:

Generation 1: John Wilson, born about 1626 in England, died 2 July 1687 in Woburn; married about 1650 in England to Hannah James.  She was born about 1628 in England and died after 1697. Twelve children.

Generation 2: Samuel Wilson, born 29 December 1658 in Woburn, died 21 November 1729 in Woburn; married on 24 February 1682 in Woburn to Elizabeth Pierce, daughter of Robert Pierce and Mary Knight.  She was born 6 March 1659 in Woburn, and died 22 December 1690 in Woburn. Three children.

Generation 3:  Mary Wilson,  born 10 April 1685 in Woburn, died 17 January 1747 in Woburn; married Ebenezer Pierce (not a cousin), son of John Pierce and Deborah Converse.  He died before 16 May 1766 in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Generation 4: Deborah Pierce m. Increase Wyman
Generation 5: Increase Wyman m. Catherine Unknown
Generation 6: Jemima Wyman m. Joshua Burnham
Generation 7: Jemima Burnham m. Romanus Emerson
Generation 8: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger
Generation 9: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder
Generation 10: Carrie Maud Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen
Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ WILSON of Woburn, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 17, 2016,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/surname-saturday-wilson-of-woburn.html: accessed [access date]).

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