Category Archives: Wilson

Wilson

Robert Wilson & Dolly Holmes – Campobello Island: Thankful Wilson – Grandchildren, Part 3

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Today we will look at the family of Rev. James Brown and his wife, Thankful Wilson, who was the fourth child and second daughter of Robert Wilson and Dolly Holmes.

James Brown was born c1797, New Brunswick, Canada. He died 1 February 1891 on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

He married Thankful Wilson about 1821.

Interestingly, he is reported as a Church of England, or Episcopalian, minister in multiple censuses, but Thankful is reported as a Free Will Christian Baptist. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a wife whose religion differed from that of her minister husband.

James was also a justice of the peace and a member of the island militia with the rank of major and then captain. Unlike many other island residents, James was a farmer rather than a seafarer.

Thankful was born between 1799-1801, probably on Campobello Island, where her parents lived.

James and Thankful were the parents of ten children:

  1. Robert Wilson, born c1823; deid 13 May 1870, Campobello Island; married Susan Holmes, c1821. She was born c1830; died 1910. They were the parents of six children – Judson, Ernest, Almon, Robert, James and Roxanna. Roxanna’s 1911 Massachusetts death certificate gives her parents’ names.
  2. James, born c1824; died 13 July 1906, Campobello Island; married Esther Jane Babcock, 14 October 1846, Campobello Island. They were the parents of seven children – Ellen, Oliver, John, James, Calvin, Ida and Luther.
  3. Oliver, born c1826; died 9 December 1901, Campobello Island; married (1) Mary Jane Brown, 3 January 1849 (2) Mabel (MNU), by 1881. Oliver and Mary Jane were the parents of four children – Marsella, John, Emma and Thankful.
  4. Luther, born c1828; died 9 March 1856, Campobello Island; married Maria Parker, 2 January 1856, Campobello Island. Luther died a very short time after he married. Luther and Maria were parents of one son, Martin Luther.
  5. Alfred, born c1831; died 25 November 1902, Campobello Island; married (1) Frances Bassett, 3 May 1857, Campobello Island (2) Mary Starkey, c1862. Alfred and Fannie were the parents of Clara and William. Alfred and Mary were the parents of Hazen, Herman, Mary, Pamela, Nelia and John A.
  6. John Calvin, born 22 September 1833; died 8 December 1901, Campobello Island; married (1) Sarah Langmaid, c1857 (2) Eliza (MNU), by 1881. John and Sarah were the parents of two sons, Alendo and Alva. Other undocumented children are ascribed to them, but if they had others, they seemed to have all died in childhood. Only Alendo and Alva appear in the home with their father.
  7. Jeremiah, born March 1836; died 16 February 1878, Campobello Island; married Frances Tinker, 3 April 1864, Campobello Island. They were the parents of two children – daughter Etheling and son Luther.
  8. Bartholomew, born 30 August 1838; died 7 October 1922, Campobello Island; married Abigail Ann Wentworth, 12 November 1861, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of six children – Frank, Casco, Carrie, Vernon, Victoria and Martin.
  9. Victoria, born c1842; died 24 June 1869, Campobello Island; married George Young, 30 September 1862, Campobello Island. Victoria gave birth to two children, neither of whom survived to adulthood. There are no descendants in this line.
  10. Cornelia, born c1845; died March 1871, Campobello Island; married John Melville Wilson, about 4 November 1864, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of daughter Dalia, who died young and sons John W. and Vincent.

Here ends the grandchildren of Robert and Dolly Wilson through their daughter Thankful and Rev. James Brown.

Tomorrow’s post will feature the descendants of their youngest daughter, Silence Holmes Wilson and her husband, Thomas Nash.

 

Parker, Wilson

Robert Wilson & Dolly Holmes – Campobello Island: Maria Wilson – Grandchildren, Part 2

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Today, Part 2 in this Wilson-Homes series will look at the life of the eldest daughter of Robert Jr. and Dolly (Holmes) Wilson.

Children of Robert and Dolly Wilson:

1. John Woodward Wilson, born c1792; died shortly before 11 November 1826.
2. Maria, born c1794; died before 25 October 1828;
3. Thankful, born c1797; died 24 March 1887, Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada
4. Daniel/David, born c1799; died about 14 November 1829
5. Silence Holmes, born c1801; died after the 1871 census of Campobello Island
6. Jeremiah, born c1803/06; died 7 February 1871

Maria Wilson, born c1794, is my 4X great grandmother. she  died before 25 October 1828 when her death was announced in the Eastport Sentinel. [Note below that Benjamin remarried in July 1828, so Maria may have died in early 1828]

Maria married Benjamin Parker (1788-1870), 12 April 1812. Maria is not mentioned in her father’s will. However, he left a bequest to his grandson, Robert Wilson Parker.

Benjamin married (2) Olive Mitchell, 28 July 1828 (3) Susan Herson, 19 December 1848.

Children of Benjamin Parker and Maria Wilson:

1. Robert Wilson, born c1813; died before 1871, but the family is missing in 1860/1861 U.S. and Canada; married Jerusha Wilson, 19 March 1838, Eastport, Washington, Maine. Jerusha was born c1816 and died 18 March 1889, Campobello Island. They were the parents of seven children – Melvina, Maria, Son (name smudged on 18151 census), Mandy, Lucy, Mary and Robert.

2. Sarah Ann, born 1817; died 24 January 1900, Calais, Washington, Maine; married Daniel Adams of Deer Island, 15 September 1836, Deer Island, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of nine children – Benjamin William, Emeline M., Calvin Segee, Charles Edward, Frances Caroline, Nelson James, Angeline Jane, Bertha M. and Lowell Robert.

3. Eliza J., born c1822; died between 1891-1901, probably Deer Island, New Brunswick, Canada; married Robert Rogerson, c1843. He was born c1808, Scotland; died 17 March 1860, Deer Island, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of five children – John, Jane, James, Isabel and Elvira.

4. Frances (Fannie), born c1823; died between 1891-1901, probably Campobello Island; married Thomas Mathews, c1843. He was born c1826; died between 1891-1901. they were the parents of three children – Cecilia J., James F., and John W.

5. Maria, born c1828; died between 1891-1901; married (1) Luther Brown, 2 January 1856. Luther was born 1828; died 9 March 1856, just 2 months after marriage. (2) John Mathews, 22 February 1864. He was born c1828; died between 1891-1901. As far as is known, Maria had just one child, a son, Martin Luther Brown, born c1856.

That’s it for the known children of Benjamin Parker and Maria Wilson.

Next in the series is Thankful Wilson, who married James Brown.

Wilson

Robert Wilson & Dolly Holmes – Campobello Island: John Woodward Wilson – Grandchildren, Part 1

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I’ve written about my Wilson family who settled on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada several times, the most recent being last year.

Robert Wilson and Mary Woodward, two of the first settlers on Campobello Island and holders of the earliest land deed on the island, are my earliest known Wilson ancestors.

My line continues through their son, Robert, who married Dolly Holmes in May 1790. This marriage record is found in the register of David Owen, the Campobello Island land baron of his day, and justice of the peace at the time.

Today, I’d like to follow the descendants of Robert Sr. through the six known children of Robert Jr. and Dolly (Holmes) Wilson.

Robert and Dolly were the parents of at least six children:

1. John Woodward Wilson, born c1792; died shortly before 11 November 1826.
2. Maria, born c1794; died before 25 October 1828;
3. Thankful, born c1797; died 24 March 1887, Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada
4. Daniel/David, born c1799; died about 14 November 1829; unmarried. There are no descendants in this line.
5. Silence Holmes, born c1801; died after the 1871 census of Campobello Island
6. Jeremiah, born c1803/06; died 7 February 1871. Jeremiah married Sarah Savage and had one daughter, Dolly. She married Howard Jackson, 11 April 1873, but died in March 1887, aged 43 years, 5 months, but left no children. There are no descendants in this line.

John Woodward Wilson, born c1792 is the eldest known child of Robert and Dolly Holmes. Little is known about him because he died by 11 November 1826 when the death of Captain John W. Wilson was printed in the Eastport Sentinel.

However, no cause of death was reported nor was there a mention of his survivors.

What is certain is that his middle name Woodward was to honor his grandmother’s family and his given name was the same as that of her father – John Woodward, who had died far away in Massachusetts in 1762.

John was a seafarer, like many other residents in the area, and had earned the rank of captain. Whether he worked on a fishing vessel, whaler or transported cargo by sea is unknown.

John married Rachel Parker on 3 September 1818 on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

Sadly, even less is known about Rachel Parker, believed to be the daughter of Jonathan Parker and his unknown wife. She was likely born in the late 1790s and no later than 1800. Her death date hasn’t been found, either. However, Rachel is not found in the 1851 census of New Brunswick and there is no likely Rachel living in Washington County, Maine in 1850. It is possible she died as early as 1823 in childbirth.

It is only because of an extremely diligent census taker, who remains unknown, who added information not required, that I was able to identify two children of John and Rachel.

Family #95 on Campobello Island in 1851 was that of Leonard and Maria Newman. Living with them is one John Wilson, age 28 years and under relationship the census taker wrote in “Son to Woodward Wilson.”

Notice that Leonard and Maria named their first child John W. and their third child is Jeremiah, another Wilson name.

Further digging uncovered the death certificate of Jeremiah Newman, who died 5 June 1914 in Easport, Washington, Maine. His parents were named as Leonard Newman and Maria Wilson.

Therefore, it is probably that John was living with his married sister’s family.

There are but three children so far identified for John Woodward and Rachel Wilson. It is likely all were born on Campobello Island:

  1. Maria, born c1819; died 24 March 1854, Wilson’s Beach, Campobello Island, aged 35 years; married Leonard Newman, c1838.
  2. Child, died by 5 October 1822, identified as child of John W. Wilson.
  3. John Woodward, born c1823; died 11 August 1854, Campobello Island; apparently unmarried.

No other children have been identified for this couple. As Maria is the only one of the three known to have married, her children are the only known descendants of John Woodward Wilson and wife Rachel Parker.

Maria was the mother of five sons – John W. (born 1839), Joseph (born 1841), Jeremiah (born 1845), Leonard (born 1847) and Nelson (1849-10 August 1866) and one daughter, Rachel (born 1852).

Part 2 of this series will look at Maria Wilson, born c1794.