John Wilder Wilson^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

1807 - 1893  (85 years)

• Name	John Wilder Wilson
  Born	22 Feb 1807	Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [2, 5, 6]
  Gender	Male
  Census	1830	Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [7]
  Census	1840	Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [8, 9]
  Residence	1807–1841	Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [10]
  	Reared on Croil Island and lived there until he moved to Massena
  	Address: Croil Island
  Census	1850	Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [11, 12]
  Residence	1841–1859	Massena, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [10]
  Residence	1859–1863	Barry, Michigan, United States   [13]
  Census	1870	Riverton, Mason, Michigan, United States   [14]
  Occupation	1870  [14]
  	Farmer
  Occupation	12 Jan 1877	Riverton, Mason, Michigan, United States   [15]
  	U.S. Postmaster
  Census	1880	Riverton, Mason, Michigan, United States   [6]
  Name	John Wilder Willson  [16]
  Residence	1863–1881	Riverton, Mason, Michigan, United States   [10]
  	Took a homestead, cleared land, and erected a log house
  Residence	1881–1893	Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, United States   [10]
  	At first lived on the River Road, then into the city
  _COLOR	3
  Died	15 Jan 1893  [16]
  Buried	Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, United States   [16]
  	Address: Grace Lawn Cemetery
  Notes	John Wilder Wilson was believed to have married twice. Unkown first wi fe deceased by 1840-41. Second wife named Mary. John W. Wilson is lis ted in 1850 census for Louisville, St. Lawrence Co., NY., aged 43, and M ary age 32. [DAJ] John Wilder Wilson, 1807- & Mary Taylor, 1818- For many years there was very little that could be definitively sa id about this particular generation in the Wilson ancestral line. Amo g the handful of available documentary items with information on John W ilder was a 1947 D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) applicat ion. Mildred Wilson Muirhead filed for membership in the D.A.R. based u pon her descent from John Willson, Jr. (father of John W. Willson). As p art of the documentation she submitted the names and dates of birth for a ll of John Willson's children were listed. According to her source (a f amily Bible) John Wilder Wilson was born 22 February 1807 in Louisville , St. Lawrence county, New York. Census records offered a few additional scraps of information. A J ohn Wilson appeared as the head of a Louisville household in the 1830 c ensus for a home that included a male aged 60-70 and a female 50-60 as w ell as other members which likely include his wife and children. His o lder brothers also appeared in this census heading households of their o wn at Massena Island (Hiram Willson) and in Louisville (Peter Willson). J ohn Wilder's household had obviously changed with the passage of time b ut can be found again in Louisville in the 1840 census. It would appea , however, that John Wilder's wife had died as there is no female of t he appropriate age in the home at this time. I further believe this to b e the case when one considers as well that a wife, Mary Taylor, is iden tified in the 1850 census but she is only 32. Not nearly old enough to h ave been the mother of John Wilder's son, Charles, born in 1831 when th is woman would have been a mere thirteen! Possible of course, but not l ikely. The 1850 federal census finally offered more tangible details on t his family. Still residing in Louisville at age 43, John W. and his wi fe Mary had five children ranging in ages from nine years to four month s: Norman, John, James, Alice and Albert respectively. All but the you gest attended school within the year though eight year old John was cl assified as an "Idiot" by the census. Also in the household was his 78 y ear old mother from Massachusetts, Mercy, as well as 18 year old Dana W ilson and 14 year old Emma Prouty whose relationship to the family are n ot precisely known. For many years this was the extent of our informati on on John Wilder and family. Then in 1997-98 came assistance from an entirely unforeseen sour ce - an internet contact and a cache of 57 letters written to Moses Tay lor (brother of John Wilder's wife) between 1842-67. Computers and internet access with accompanying email have provided an e ormous boost to genealogical research if for no other reason than as a m eans of linking genealogists to others researching common ancestral lin es across the country. Precisely this kind of internet linkage brought a exchange of information with Arlene McAvoy in 1997 that unraveled the W ilson line back to the 17th century and uncovered this cache of letters . Arlene stumbled upon these letters in a Taylor file at the L.D.S. ce ter in Potsdam, New York. Two letters written by John W. Wilson to Mo ses Taylor (his brother-in-law in Michigan) are reprinted in full. Massena, NY Sept. the 20th, 1857 Respected Brother and Sister, After a long silence I now (take) my pen i hand to write a few lines to let you know that we are all well as usu al at present. It is a long time since we have heard anything from you. I e quire of your folks often about you but I hear nothing. I was up to y our Father's last Sunday. They were all well there. They told me tha t Elias had been down (and) preached for them. He did not call on us so I c an't tell you much about them. Elen and wife made us a visit a month ag o and David and wife and little girl made us a good visit about three w eeks ago. They were all well then and doing very well. Emaline was th e last I heard from her. We are on a farm on shares or rather (at any) r ate we milk twelve cows on the place. The farm is hard and stoney. We d o not raise much grain. We have a good deal of hay to cut to keep what s tock we have and the meadows are rough, a good deal run out. We have o f undivided stock 2 cows, 2 two years olds, 6 yearlings and 4 calves 30 s heep. I have a good mare 6 years old, 1 colt two years old and one suc king colt of my own and four hogs that are company stock and we have ou two old cows that we took off from the island , but I shall have to s ell some stock this fall to pay debts as we do not raise grain enough f or our own use. We make considerable butter, but not enough to pay all e xpenses. But I am in hopes that in a year or two more that we shall ge t along better as our boys get up a little larger. They are very good b oys to work and they help a good deal now. Our children (are) healthy a d smart but poor John, he has fits and is very bad a good share of the t ime and is very troublesome to take care of. He fails a good deal for a y ear past. It's not likely he will live long. I must now tell you about our little fellow. He is about 7 mont hs old now, smart and pretty healthy generally. We call him Frederick E len. We have to be continued at home. We have so much to do, cows to m ilk and butter to attend to and the sick boy and baby and all. We can' t be gone overnight. We have not kept any hired help this summer. We a ll have to work pretty hard, but our children are growing and as long a s we are all well I am none concerned but what we shall get along. And n ow I want you should write and tell me how you are getting along and ho w fast you are getting rich and what the chances are in your country fo taking farms and what a man can do there with but little to do with f or if the chances are pretty good I might be tempted to go there someda y and try my luck in your country. I have not much news to write. It 's quite still times at present here. As to politics in this town we a e most all republicans. As to religion I am just about as I used to be w hen you was here. I have not heard anything from our folks in Burlingt on this summer. If you see any of them tell them that we are all well a d tell them to write to me and you just write a little about them for f ear they won't write right away. I suppose they are like me, they don' t get about writing very often. And give my compliments to Hosea and f amily and Harriet if she is there . I always remember the good visit w e had when you and sister Taylor was there on the island with us. We d o not hear from Samuel and Charlotte very often. If you do please men tion it. Now please to write soon. Direct Massena village and I shall g et it. So now bid you a good evening. I am, sir, yours respectfully John W. Willson Mary Willson Riverton, Mich May 8, 1867 Brother Moses and Sister Dyantha, I now sit down to write a few lines to you to let you know that w e had not forgotten you. We are well as usual for us. We are growing o ld pretty fast and we feel the effects of old age pretty sensibly. Mar y's health has been very poor for a year past and mine has not been muc h better. We have been just able to keep about and do a little but we c an't do much. We expected to hear from you by Elias when he came back from the e ast but we did not and we were some disappointed not to. Now there app ears to be some thing wrong with regard to matters between you and Elia s for I can hardly credit some of his statements. Now has he any reas on to make such statements or is it all an imaginary exaggeration? We h ave heard from him now we just want an explanation from you. For my pa t it don't trouble me much but it troubles Mary a good deal for she ca ot believe that Moses has got to be such a man nor I can't nor don't. I l et him say what he is a mind to and let it pass at that. I think that h e is partially deranged by times for he has had trouble enough to make a h alf a dozen men crazy if all is true that he tells. Now I want this to b e confidential betwixt your family and mine. I don't want him to know t hat I correspond with you at tall. I don't want to offend him and let h im forget his trouble if he can so we hear what he has to say without a y contradiction and let him tell his storys as he has a mind to. We have commenced farming a little, plowing and sowing wheat but t he weather is cold and dry yet. My letter did not get sent to the post o ffice and has laid over so I will try again. It is now the 5th of May a d we have a fine rain yesterday and last night but the weather is quit e cool yet but clear and pleasant. Elias was here to see us yesterday. He comes when he is in the n eighborhood and has time. He works around at little jobs of carpenter w ork when can get chances. He talks of buying a piece of land some wher e in our neighborhood but whether he will or not I don't know. He is s o unsteady that we can't tell what he will do. Moses and his wife have g ot a young daughter born on March the 11th. They are all well. Marger y and her man are getting along very well and Marrion lives with them. M y boys are all at home now and will put in our crops and then they will g o to work out until harvest. Alice is married and lives in about half a m ile of us. So now I believe I have got about done for this time. We s end you our respects, not forgetting Gustus and wife and Lula . So I r emain yours as ever. J. W. Wilson While these two letters are the only ones written by John Wilder W ilson, references to his family are contained in the vast majority of t he others. These numerous references and aside comments about the fami ly offer tentative answers to questions such as that mentioned earlier c oncerning Dana Wilson's relationship to family. Her relationship to the f amily was something of a puzzle for quite some time. With the common s urname it seemed probable that Dana was a blood relative - perhaps a ni ece or even a daughter from John Wilder's first marriage. While it is s till possible that Dana was a daughter, from the letters it now seems m ore likely she was his niece - the daughter of John's brother Hiram Wil lson who died circa 1843. Regardless, it is not surprising to find you g women living in the home who were not immediate family or even relat ion. This "domestic" status served as a type of rite of passage for yo ung adolescents in the 18th and 19th centuries. Though more usually ex perienced by young women, even young men used this social structure as a t ansitional phase before establishing their own household. John Wilder 's eldest son Charles exemplifies this. At this time nothing else is known regarding John W. Wilson. Part o f the reason for this is simply due to the fact that the records for Lo uisville are simply not very good. As late as the 1880 census Louisvil le still warranted a post office. Not today. Though nestled along the s hores of the mighty St. Lawrence River as one of the early towns of tha t region, Louisville today is little more than an unincorporated villag e of several buildings. Without the development of an industry to keep j obs within the community or a tradition as a major trading port along t he river, Louisville has been in a steady population decline for over a c entury. After inquiring in regards to records dating back to the first t hird of the 19th century for Louisville, I was informed that no such re cords exist, having either been lost or destroyed over the years as the c ommunity dwindled. As of this writing, the date and place of John W. W ilson's death is unknown. However, there may yet be hope. There are e ight John Wilsons listed in St. Lawrence County for the 1860 census. P erhaps one of these will offer more information. Another avenue of appr oach currently bearing greater fruit is research in Burlington, Calhoun c ounty, Michigan. Like many other New Englanders and their children, Jo hn Wilder's brother Luther relocated there by 1850 as did others of his s iblings. Luther's story is more complete than most of the other children of J ohn Willson as his many years in Calhoun county, Michigan and status as a early settler of the region led to the inclusion of his biographical s ketch in the History of Calhoun County Michigan published in 1877. The f ollowing excerpt is offered. "Luther Wilson, now living on section 19, on a part of the ol d Randall farm is one of the old residents of the county although he h as resided in Tekonsha but for a few years. He came from St. Lawrence cou ty, New York in October 1834, while yet a single man. He located ei ghty acres on the SW quarter of section 23 in Burlington township, and in t he fall of 1835 built a log house. He was married in April 1838 to Margaret W arner, who lived in the same township.... He raised a family of four ch ildren, one son and three daughters. The son, John W. Wilson is now living i Iowa, one daughter Mercy is dead and another Josephine is the wife of J .C. Blacke of Tekonsha. Mr. Wilson is now in his seventy-third year. Whe he came west he came as far as Cleveland by boat and from thence to h is new home walked nearly the entire distance. After crossing the line i to Michigan he followed an Indian trail." Additionally, a little information about Luther's wife is gleaned from t his same text as it mentions that "Mark Woodruff came from Hosmer, Cort land county, New York in 1837 and was accompanied by his family and his w ife's sister, who is now the wife of Luther Wilson." Luther and John Wilder's sister, Harriet, arrived in Michigan dur ing this same general time period. She had wed William Pierce on 17 Ma y 1818 in New York. Interestingly enough, Harriet bestowed upon many o f her children the familiar names of her own brothers and sisters: John , Lima, Luther, Lutheria, Fannie, Harriet. She even went so far as to c ontinue the fashion for Romanesque names such as those given to her bro ther Cassius and Demarius when she named one child, Octavius. Sources 1850 federal census, New York, St. Lawrence Co., Louisville, p.231 (This is the only census which definitively lists John W. Wilson) 1850 federal census, Michigan, Calhoun Co., Burlington John W. Wilson is listed as a son of John Willson in the latter's D.A.R . file Article by DAJ: "John Wilder Wilson (1807-?) There is very little that can be definitively said about this part icular generation in our Wilson ancestral line. In 1947, Mildred Wills on Murihead filed fro membershipin the D.A.R. (Daughters of the America Revolution) based upon her ancestry with John Willson, Jr. As part o f the documentation she provided, the names and dates of birth for all o f John Willson's children were listed. According to her documentation, J ohn Wilder Willson was born on 22 February 1807 in Louisville, St. Lawr ence County, New York. Unfortunately for us, none of the federal censu ses prior to that of 1850 list any specific names besides that of the h ead of household. I believe that John Wilder appears as the head of household in1830 i Louisville for ah ome that includes a male aged 60-70 and a female 50 -60 as well as other members which likely include his wife and children . Regardless, John Wilder's older brothers also appear at this point i the census heading households of their own at Massena Island (Hiram W illson) and in Louisville (Peter WIllson). John Wilder's household had o bviously changed with the passage of time but can be found again in Lou isville in the 1840 census. It would appear, however, that John Wilder 's wife had died as there is no female of the appropriate age in the ho me at this time. I fruther believe this to be the case when one consid ers as well that a wife, Mary, is identified in the 1850 census but she i s only 32. Not nearly old enough to have been the mother of John Wilde 's son, Charles, born in 1831 when this woman would have been a mere t hirteen! Possible, of course, but not likely. It is the 1850 federal census which finally offers more tangible d etails on this family. Still residing in Louisville at age 43, John W. a d his wife Mary had five children ranging in ages from nine years to f our months. Narsnan (spelling?), John, James, Alice and Albert respect ively. All but the youngest attended school wihtin the year though int erestingly enough, eight year old John was classified as an "Idiot" by t he census. Also in John Wilder's household was his 78 year old mother f om Massachusetts, Mercy, as well as an 18 year old Dana Wilson and 14 y ear old Emma Prouty. Their relationship to the family is unknown. Joh W. Wilson is listed as a farmer born in New York state. At this time nothing else is known regarding John W. Wilson. Part o f the reason fort his is simply due to the fact that the records for Lo uisville are simply not very good. As late as the 1880 census Louisvil le still warranted a post office. Not today. Though nestled along the s hores of the mighty St. Lawrence River as one of the early town of that r egion, Louisville today is little more than an unincorporated village o f several buildings. Without the development of an industry to keep jo bs within the community or a tradition as a major trading port along th e river, Louisville has been in a steady population decline for over a c entury. After inquiring in regards to records dating back to the first t hird of the 19th century for Louisville, I was informed that no such re cords exist, having either been lost or destroyed over the years as the c ommunity dwindled. As of this writing, the date and place of John W. W ilson's death is unknown. However, there may be hope yet. There are e ight John Wilsons listed in St. Lawrence county for the 1860 census. P erhaps one of these will offer more information. Another avenue of appr oach to the problem might be research in Burlington, Calhoun County, Mi chigan. John Wilder's brother Luther relocated there by 1850 and perha ps others of his siblings ultimately did too." June 18, 1870 Riverton, Mason, Michigan, Page 8 65 65 Wilson, John W 63 M W Farmer 2000 625 New York x [male citizen 21 +] --Mary E 52 F W Keeping House New York --James 25 M W Work on Farm New York x [male citizen 21+] --Albert 21 M W Work on Farm New York x [male citizen 21+] --Frederick 13 M W Work on Farm New York x [school] October 1st, 1850 Louisville, St. Lawrence, New York 1 1 Samuel Wilson 28 M Farmer N.Y. 61 61 Charlott " 28 F " Orson L. " 3 M " Helen L. " 2 F " William Prouty 17 M " x [attended school] 2 2 John W Wilson 43 " " " 62 62 Mary " 32 F " Narsnan " 9 M " x [attended school] John " 8 " " x [attended school] Idiot James " 6 " " x [attended school] Alice " 4 F " x [attended school] Albert " 4/12 M " Mercy [Mary?] " 78 F Mafs Dana " 18 M N.Y. Emma Prouty 14 F Michigan June 12 and 14 1880 Riverton Mason Michigan Page 13 Sup 2 Enum 169 119 126 [faint and difficult to read] Wilson John W W M 73 x [married] F armer New York Mass Mass Mary T [?] W F 62 Wife x Keeping House New York Mass Mass Albert A W M 30 Son x [single] Farm Laborer New York NY NY Frederick E W M 23 Son x Farm Laborer New York NY NY
  Person ID	I1748	Megan's Big Tree
  Last Modified	31 Dec 1969

  
  

  Father	Jr. John Willson,   b. 16 Apr 1764, Petersham, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States ,   d. 16 Oct 1847, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States  (Age 83 years)
  Mother	Mary Wheeler,   b. Dec 1772, Williamstown, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States ,   d. Y
  Married	1789
  Family ID	F782	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	,   b. New York, United States ,   d. Bef 1840
  Children	1. Charles Wilson,   b. Dec 1830, New York, United States ,   d. 18 Jul 1910, Sisseton, Roberts, South Dakota, United States  (Age ~ 79 years)   2. Dana Wilson,   b. Abt 1832, New York, United States ,   d. Y
  Last Modified	30 Aug 2021
  Family ID	F765	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Mary Eunice Taylor,   b. 1 Jan 1818, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. 1 Jun 1882  (Age 64 years)
  Married	20 Apr 1839	Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States   [3, 17]
  Children	1. Norman Luther Wilson,   b. Abt 1841, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. Y   2. John Taylor Wilson,   b. 23 Mar 1842, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. 10 Mar 1915, Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan, United States  (Age 72 years)   3. James Moses Wilson,   b. Abt 1842, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. 6 May 1919, Ludington, Mason, Michigan, United States  (Age ~ 77 years)   4. Alice M. Wilson,   b. 20 Sep 1847, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. 21 Dec 1919  (Age 72 years)   5. Albert A. Wilson,   b. 18 Jan 1850, Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. 22 Nov 1941, Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, United States  (Age 91 years)   6. Frederick Elon Wilson,   b. 3 Mar 1857, Massena, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States ,   d. 2 Apr 1918, Elkhart, Indiana, United States  (Age 61 years)
  Last Modified	30 Aug 2021
  Family ID	F766	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 22 Feb 1807 - Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Census - - 1830 - Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Married - 20 Apr 1839 - Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Census - - 1840 - Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Residence - Reared on Croil Island and lived there until he moved to Massena ,Address: Croil Island - 1807–1841 - Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Census - - 1850 - Louisville, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Residence - - 1841–1859 - Massena, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States Residence - - 1859–1863 - Barry, Michigan, United States Residence - At first lived on the River Road, then into the city - 1881–1893 - Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, United States Buried - Address: Grace Lawn Cemetery - - Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  John Wilder Willson.jpg

  
  

• Sources

  [S214] Family Group Sheets Compiled by David Alan Johnson . [S116] DAR Application of Mildred Willson Muirhead . [S132] Descendants of Ebernezer Taylor . [S2260] Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 . [S748] The Wilsons . [S14] 1880 Census . [S366] More Wilsons . Included male aged 60-70 and female 50-60 as well as others, likely his w ife and children. [S366] More Wilsons . [S7] 1840 Census . Listed near the Taylors. [S3652] A Standard History of Elkhart County, Indiana , online; 7 February 2020; 644-647 . [S748] The Wilsons . At this time, caring for his mother in his home. [S393] Notes by David Johnson citing census records . [S3652] A Standard History of Elkhart County, Indiana , online; 7 February 2020; 644-647 . "Bara County" [S12] 1870 Census . [S3106] U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 , accessed; 17 October 2018; John W. Willson . [S797] Find-a-Grave Website . [S7] 1840 Census . Supported by the fact that in 1840, John Wilson is listed next to Elam T aylor (Sr. and Jr.) with wife and 1 child. Where are his other childre from his first marriage?