WILSON
Robert Wilson was born about 1630, and lived in
Salem, Massachusetts. It is unknown
where he came from before he arrived in New England, and it is unknown when he
arrived. However, he left some very
interesting, yet sad and sorrowful, records during his life.
His first wife was Deborah Buffum, daughter of
Robert Buffum and Tamosen Ward. In 1662,
as the mother of two infant children she professed to being a Quaker, which was
dangerous in Puritan Salem, Massachusetts.
Not only that, she went naked to the Puritan meetinghouse to protest the
“spiritual nakedness”. She was sentenced
to be tied to a cart and whipped until she came to her own house. Daniel Rumball, the constable “was loathe to
do it, but was ordered to do his duty. Robert
Wilson (it may be presumed in collusion with Rumball, though neither was a
Quaker) followed after, clapping his hat sometimes between the whip and his
wife’s back.” (from the book The
Peabody Story by John A. Wells, 1973, Essex Institute, Salem, MA, pages
136 -7)
Although kindhearted Robert Wilson helped his wife,
she died soon after in 1668. Robert
remarried to Anna Trask, the widow of Joseph Perry Foster, in 1674. They had
one child together before he was called to join the Essex County militia with
Captain Thomas Lothrop to protect Deerfield, Massachusetts. Seventy men, along with Robert Wilson, were
killed at in a massacre at a brook near Deerfield on 18 September 1675. Only seven or eight men escaped this
massacre. The brook was renamed “Bloody
Brook”.
From the Essex Quarterly Court Records, volume 6,
leaf 19
Administration
upon the estate of Robert Wilson, intestate, was granted 28, 4m, 1681 unto Ann,
the relict, who brought in an inventory amounting to about 150 pounds, and
whereas there is some legacy or something of an estate of Tamosen Buffum's
which of right is to belong to Robert and Deborah, children of the deceased,
the court ordered that Ann should pay out of this estate into the inventory, to
Robert the eldest son 14 pounds, and to Deborah aforesaid, children by his
first wife, and to Anna, John, Mary and Elizabeth children by Ann, 7 pounds
each, at age or marriage, the house and land to stand bound by security.
If you look at the genealogy below, you
will notice a lot of Robert Wilsons, and the Essex County records are full of
even more Robert Wilsons. How did I
manage to figure out which Roberts belonged to what lines? Not without help! I was at the New England
Historic Genealogical Society library one day, and when I had trouble finding a
book on the shelves the librarian, David Dearborn, asked me which surname I was
researching. When he heard I was looking
for Salem, Massachusetts Wilsons he introduced me to a series of books written
by researcher Ken Stevens of Walpole, New Hampshire. Ken Stevens wrote all his books about Wilsons from all over New England. I wrote to Mr. Stevens (it was before email)
and he sent me all his research notes on the Salem Wilsons. He had not included these particular Wilsons in a book yet. He
confirmed my line, too! The NEHGS
library has his papers on Wilson research in their manuscript collection. Kenneth C. Stevens passed away in 2010.
My Wilson lineage (note the five Robert
Wilsons and one Robert Wilson Wilkinson in the first eight generations!):
Generation 1: Robert Wilson, born about 1630, died on 18
September 1675 in Deerfield, Massachusetts at the Bloody Brook Massacre; married first to Deborah Buffum,
daughter of Robert Buffum and Tamosen Ward, on 12 August 1658 in Marblehead,
Massachusetts. She was born about 1639
and died about 1668 and had two children including Robert Wilson, Jr. (see
below). He married second to Anna Trask,
daughter of Henry Trask and Mary Southwick, widow of Joseph Perry Foster, and
had one child.
Generation 2: Robert Wilson, born about
1662, and died before 17 January 1717; married about 1685 to Elizabeth Cook,
daughter of Isaac Cook and Elizabeth Buxton. Four children. He is listed in his grandmother’s will
(Tamosine Buffum, Essex County Probate #30139).
He was the first Wilson to own property near the Wilson Square area of
what is now Peabody, Massachusetts.
Generation 3: Isaac Wilson, born about
1691; married Mary Stone, daughter of Samuel Stone and Mary Treadwell, on 9
January 1718 in Salem, Massachusetts. Six children. He was a carpenter.
Generation 4: Robert Wilson, born about
1724, died before 10 July 1782 in Danvers, Massachusetts (now Peabody); married
to Elizabeth Southwick, daughter of John Southwick and Mary Trask on 26 May
1744 in Salem, Massachusetts. Four children.
He was a prominent potter who lived where Route 114 now crosses Route
128 in Peabody. The Wilson family burial
ground still exists there behind the Kappy’s Liquor Store. The Wilsons were known for black pottery that
can be seen on exhibit at the Peabody Historical Society.
Generation 5: Robert Wilson born about
1746 and died 4 June 1797 in Danvers (now Peabody); married on 23 March 1775 in
Danvers to Sarah Felton, daughter of Malachi Felton and Abigail Jacobs. Nine children. He is buried at the Wilson burial ground, and
Sarah was buried in 1836, forty years later, across the street at the Felton
burial ground.
Generation 6: Robert Wilson, born 5 September
1776 in Danvers, died on 9 November 1803 in Danvers; married on 8 May 1800 to
Mary Southwick, daughter of George Southwick and Sarah Platts. Two children. Robert and Mary Wilson are buried
at the Wilson burial ground.
Generation 7: Mercy F. Wilson, born 17
June 1803 in Peabody, died on 9 October 1883 in Peabody; married on 23 June
1829 in Danvers to Aaron Wilkinson, son of William Wilkinson and Mercy Nason,
born in South Berwick, Maine on 22 February 1802, and died on 25 November 1879
in Peabody, Massachusetts. Eleven children.
Generation 8: Robert Wilson Wilkinson m.
Phebe Cross Munroe
Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson m.
Isabella Lyons Bill
Generation 10: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise
Roberts (my grandparents)
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This Wilson family has not been written
up in any compiled genealogy or articles in any genealogical journals. Ken Stevens had notes on this lineage, but
had not finished his research on the other lines of the Salem/Danvers/Peabody
Wilsons for a book or article. Most of
what I put together here was gleaned from vital records and probate. There is a bit of information on the Wilson
potters to be found in books on the subject, such as this excerpt from
Early New England Potters and Their Wares by Lura Woodside Watkins,
Harvard University Press, 1950, pages 65-66.
"The
Wilsons were a prominent family of artisans.
Their homestead included the land near 141 Andover Street and eastward
where 128 now crosses it. The first two
potting Wilsons were sons of Robert, a farmer.
They were Robert, known as Robert, Jr. who remained in Danvers, and
Joseph, who went to Dedham and thence to Providence, Rhode Island. When Robert, Jr., died in 1782, he left
property worth 627 pounds, including six lots of land, his house, barn,
potter's shop, and cornhouse, a riding chair, and a large personal estate. He seems to have done well in his trade. His son Robert, known as Robert 2d, and a
younger son Job were potters. By an
order of the court, Robert 3d, as administrator of his father's estate, was
obliged to sell a large part of the elder Robert's property to pay certain
debts. This was not done until April 9,
1793, when two thirds of the land and buildings, and an interest in the
business was aquired by Isaac Wilson 3d.
He, too, was a craftsman in clay.
The three Wilsons ran the shop together for a time, but Robert 3d, and
Job both passed away before 1800, while Robert's son Robert, who had worked but
a short time as a potter, died three years later at the age of
twenty-seven. Upon Isaac's decease in
1809, this early pottery must have come to an end."
For more information on Robert Wilson’s
wife, Deborah, and her “Naked Protest” see my blog post about this story at
this link:
For
more information on the Wilson Burial Ground in Peabody, see this link:
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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
