History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
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WILLIAM E. WILSON |
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WILLIAM E. WILSON. The American progenitor of the branch of the Wilson family to which belongs William E. WILSON, of Mechanicsville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, came from the county of Cumberland, England, about 1688. The following is an exact copy of the certificate produced by him and recorded upon the books of Chesterfield Monthly Meeting, Burlington county, New Jersey. Whereas Steeven WILSON of Eglishfields, in ye Parish of Bugham & County of Cumberland, having a purpose in his mynd to goe to Pensilvania to settle himselfe there in some employmt of honest Labour in yt. Country, Therefore this is to certifye and alsoe to satisfye friends or any other people there in that Island that may enploye ye said Steeven WILSON that he hath not come away or left his owne Country for any misdemeanor or miscarriage or matter of dishonestye of any kind that wee knowe of never since he owned ye Truth but hath walked pretty orderly for severall yeares amongst us, only that it is his owne free will purpose & resolution to settle himselfe in that Plantation being a single man. John BANCHES, Richard RICHISON, Philip BURNYEATT, Jerem: BOWMAN, Christ. WILSON, John SERUGHAM, James DICKENSON, Fere: SPENCER, John ROBINSON, Peter Hudson, Richard Head, Jon: SPENCER.
The above certificate is without date, but we find from other sources that Stephen WILSON was in the neighborhood prior to 1690. In that year he was one of the carpenters who had charge of the building of the meeting house (sic) at Falls, Bucks county. He married in 6 mo. 1692, Sarah BAKER, daughter of Henry BAKER, who was born at West Darby, Lancashire, England, 8 mo. 18, 1672. Henry BAKER, father of Sarah WILSON, came to Bucks county in 1684 and became a very prominent man, serving as justice and member of the colonial assembly for many years. Stephen WILSON from the date of his marriage was a member of Falls Meeting in Bucks county, though he continued to reside in New Jersey. He was one of the committee who had charge of the collection of money for the building of Buckingham meeting house (sic) in 1705. During the winter, when the river was impassable, permission was given the Friends on the other side to hold their meeting at the house of Stephen WILSON. He died in March, 1797, and his widow married, 8 mo. 19, 1708, Isaac MILNER. She died in 2 mo. 1715. The children of Stephen and Sarah (BAKER) WILSON were Stephen, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, John and Samuel. Samuel WILSON, youngest son of Stephen and Sarah, was born March 6, 1706. He married in 1729 Rebecca, daughter of Thomas and Mary (OLIVER) CANBY, and on June 4, 1730 purchased 310 acres of land in Buckingham, covering the present site of Mechanicsville, a portion of which is still occupied by his great-great-grandson, the subject of this sketch, having been in the family for 175 years. Thomas CANBY, above referred to, was a son of Benjamin CANBY, of Thorn, Yorkshire, and his mother was a sister to Henry BAKER, above mentioned, with whom Thomas came to this country in 1684. Like his uncle, he became a very prominent man in the community, serving several terms in the colonial assembly, and filling several other positions. He was also a minister among Friends. Samuel WILSON lived a long and useful life in Buckingham and reared a family of thirteen children, the tenth of whom, Stephen, born 7 mo. 2, 1749, married Sarah BLACKFAN, and remained upon the homestead, a portion of which he inherited at his father’s death in 1787. Both he and his wife died in April, 1818. Samuel WILSON, fifth of the nine children of Stephen and Sarah, born 6 mo. 5, 1786, became the owner of the homestead and 222 acres. He married Hannah LONGSTRETH, and had eight children, one of whom, Samuel, born in 1823, was the father of the subject of this sketch. Samuel WILSON was reared on the Buckingham farm and acquired his education at the old Tyro Hall school, then quite an educational institution. He taught school for several years and was for a short time engaged in the mercantile business at Newtown. He also traveled extensively in the interest of a newspaper, part of his route being through the southern states, where he witnessed some stirring scenes just prior to the civil war. In the spring of 1876 he began growing seeds for market in a small way, and, the business growing from year to year, he became an extensive seed grower, shipping seed to all parts of the world, and doing a large business for about twenty years. He died in 1897. He married in 1852 Maria WEBSTER, nee BURGER, by whom he had the following children: Samuel Howard, a physician at Mechanicsville; William Edmund, the subject of this sketch; and M. Elizabeth, who resides with her brother William. Samuel WILSON was a prominent and esteemed citizen. He was a member of the orthodox branch of the Society of Friends. In polities he was a Republican, but never sought or held other than local office, filling the office of school director for nine years. His wife was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (SCHOCH) BURGER, and was born in Philadelphia in 1819, and died in Buckingham in 1893. Her father was a jeweler in New York city for a number of years and after coming to Buckingham lived a retired life. William Edmund WILSON, second son of Samuel and Maria (BERGER) WILSON, was born on the old Wilson homestead at Mechanicsville, October 23, 1856. He acquired his education at the Tyro Hall School and at the Doylestown English and Classical Seminary. On leaving school he assisted his father in the seed business, and after a few years took an interest in the seed growing, part of the farm being allotted to him for that purpose. He later filled the position of postmaster at Mechanicsville for seven years. After his mother’s death he purchased the present farm of fifty-three acres of his father, and is a practical and enterprising farmer. He is a member of Doylestown Presbyterian church, in which he has been an elder for several years. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of Doylestown Lodge, No. 245, F. and A. M. and Doylestown Chapter, R. A. M. Mr., WILSON married, October 19, 1898, Fannie WATSON, daughter of Henry and Emeline (RICH) WATSON, of Buckingham, an account of whose ancestry is given in this work in the sketch of her brother, William WATSON. Mr. and Mrs. WILSON have no children.
Test taken from page 519 to 520 of:
Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III Transcribed August 2005 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html Published August 2005 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/
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