The Wilson Family in America. 1st Generation American Known: Colonel William Wilson 

See Wilson Family Gateway Page
The Wilson family is Part of the Howard & Allied Family Lines  forming [with the Swope& Allied Family Lines] the basis of the Within the Vines Genealogical Study
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1. William [Col] WILSON1,2,3
Birth 16464,5
Death 17 Jun 17134
Burial Churchyard, St Johns, Hampton, Va4
"The following is a copy, which has been preserved, of an inscription which appeared on a tomb formerly in the churchyard of St John's, Hampton, but destroyed by Federal soldiers during the War Between the States: 'Under this stone lyes the body of Capt Willis Wilson, who departed this life the 19th of Nov in the year 1701, it being the 28th yof his age. The memory of the just is blessed. Prov 10. May his memory be recorded in everlasting remembrance. Under this also lyes the bodies of Colonel William Wilson, and of Jane, his wife, parents of the before mentioned Capt Wilson. the said Colonel Wilson died June 17 1713, aged 67 years, and his said wife on May 5, 1713, about 53 years, and left an only daughter surviving.' "  2,4
Occupation wealthy plantar, succesful merchant Hampton , accumulated large estate; See  Notes regarding his life and circumstance
Appointments House of Burgesses Rep Eliz City 1685. 1688. 1703 [and probably other years]6,7 JP and County Lt for Eliz City County; Naval Officer for Lower James  District 1699-17104 Govenor Spotswood wrote Oct 24th 1710 that he has resigned as Naval officer as above described 2 Also a Magistrate  for Eliz City
Resided of "Ceelys" plantation [of Elizabeth City County, Va], which mansion he built in 1702 8,9See Notes regarding this home and its land
Father Ancestor WILSON
Mother Unknown
Notes on Ascendancy He had a known brother, Col James WILSON [will dated Nov. 12, 1712, and probated Dec. 19, 1712]
"The origin of this Wilson family in England has not yet been established; they were possibly from Bristol [William and Mary Quareterly Vol VII, page 225] or they may have been derived from the Rev John Wilson, imcumbent in 1637 of Eliz River Parish, Norfolk County. " 4
Spouse of William Wilson  Jane4,2
Birth ca 1658
Death 5 May 1713, "About 58" on tomb [see transcript which says about 53 years old]10 
Burial Churchyard, St Johns, Hampton, Va "Under this also lyes the bodies of Colonel William Wilson, and of Jane, his wife, parents of the before mentioned Capt Wilson. the said Colonel Wilson died June 17 1713, aged 67 years, and his said wife on May 5, 1713, about 53 years, and left an only daughter surviving.' "  2,4
Children of 
William Wilson 
and 
Jane his wife
They are the known parents of Willis and Mary, and are often the proposed parents of Jane Wilson, who had three marriages [Curles, Ricketts, Sweeney]. There is no evidence to support this outright. Stouffer suggests that Jane was in fact the earlier wife of Willis, or his daughter. See Willis and Jane Wilson presented below  for further information on Jane..often purported to be this Williamís daughter. 
    • Willis [Captain] (ca1674-1701) Although his tomb indicates mentions no wife or progeny, Stauffer37 suggests that Jane  [otherwise believed Willis sister] was either his wife or daughter. Jane  is presented here as his sister, not in belief she belongs here, but for ease of negotitaion of her details. 
    • Mary (1675-1741)
    • Jane (-<1713) PURPORTED AND UNPROVEN DAUGHTER who may fit better into pedigree as wife or widow of Willis Wilson (ca1674-1701) suggested as her brother in most sources. 
Notes on his service  and public standing
Represented Warwick County i n the House of Burgesses from 1629-39. Colonel Wilson was for many years the presiding justice and most prominent personage of Elizabeth City County, being long the Royal Naval Officer of the Lower James, and a very wealthy planter. He it was who built 'Ceelys' in 1706. He died in 1713 but his will was doubtless recorded in the General Court, whose archives were destroyed in the conflagration of 1865, so that a detailed disposition of his large estate can not now be had1
 [see larger extract below]

About the Plantation Ceelys

From Pecquet de Bellet "Wilson Cary of Ceeley" and his family [Compiled by Wilson Miles Cary, of Baltimore, Md., with extracts from 'Virginia Historical Magazine', Vol IX, No., 1, July, 1901, and a few notes from Goode's 'Virginia Cousins']


In 1786, I (Wilson Miles Cary) made a horseback trip to the Peninsula of Virginia and travelled over all that section of country, with the purpose, if possible, of reconstructing the genealogy of my family, which, as embodied in a fine old vellum record, had been destroyed, together witht the family Bible, etc., etc., at the burning of our Fluvanna residence, Carysbrooke, Nov 26, 1826.In the clerk's office at Hampton, I found not only the original will of Col Wilson Cary, of which I already had obtained a copy in 1866, but that of his brother Miles Cary, of 'Ceelyes' as he styles himself, and which I then transcribed. ...
I rode to 'Ceelyes', on the banks of the James, three or four miles from Hampton, to visit the mansion so long the residence of my ancestors. The whole estate, containing some two thousand acres in Colonel Cary's time, lay along the river and adjoined the present Newport News. It was then occupied by a settlement of negro squatters, a section of 'Butler's Contrabands'. There was scarce a vestige of the old mansion remaining-the very foundations were obliterated-not a tree left standing, and the garden, which once ran in terraces to the river's edge, now a wilderness of weeds. I found the dispossessed proprietor, a young Mr Smith, quartered in a most primitive shanty, on the edge of the estate, almost despairing of ever enforcing his rights and ejecting the darkies, but still awaiting with what patience he might the otrageous dilatory proceedings of the reconstruction period. Mr Smith informed me that the negroes, after burning the fine old brick mansion to the ground, had entirely dismantled its walls, using them for the chimneys of their hovels. The original building was of large dimensions, two stories, with wings. Its age had been discovered by his father, who, on removing the porico to make some repairs, had found the figures 1706 on the lintel. The records of Elizabeth City inform us that the nucleus of the estate called 'Ceelys' consisted of two tracts of two hundred and fifty acres each, at the mouth of Saltford Creek, on the banks of James River, which were acquired by Colonel William Wilson in 1691 and 1695 from on Thomas Ceely-who represented Warwick County i n the House of Burgesses from 1629-39. Colonel Wilson was for many years the presiding justice and most prominent personage of Elizabeth City County, being long the Royal Naval Officer of the Lower James, and a very wealthy planter. He it was who built 'Ceelys' in 1706. He died in 1713 but his will was doubtless recorded in the General Court, whose archives were destroyed in the conflagration of 1865, so that a detailed disposition of his large estate can not now be had. His only son, Captain Willis, had died without issue in 1701. His daughter Mary (1675-1741) had first married William Roscow [transcriber's note, as given-should be Roscow], with whom she lies buried under a handsome monument at Blunt Point, in Warwick. After his death, which ocurred Nov 27, 1700, she did not long remain in weeds, but in April , 1702, commiserating the equally sad lot of a near neighbor, she bestowed her hand upon Colonel Miles Cary, of 'Richneck' who had been bereavedat the same time, his wife, Mary Milner, having left him, 'issueless' as he tombstone states, October 27, 1700. ....
Col Miles Cary died intestate, but from his tomb we learn the names of his children.
To the younger of his two sons, Miles, his grandfather Wilson's estate of 'Ceelys' descended, while he, dying a bachelor in 1756, willed it to his only brother Colonel Wilson Cary, of 'Richneck'. 1pages 49-51

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Children of  William Wilson  and  Jane his wife
1.1 Willis [Captain] WILSON
Child of William [Col] WILSON and Jane his Wife
Birth ca 1674
Death 19 Nov 1701, "in 28th year"4
Burial Churchyard, St Johns, Hampton, Va with parents and wife4
Occ Member House of Burgesses for Eliz City years 1693 and 962

The following is a copy, which has been preserved, of an inscription which appeared on a tomb formerly in the churchyard of St John's, Hampton, but destroyed by Federal soldiers during the War Between the States: "Under this stone lyes the body of Capt Willis Wilson, who departed this life the 19th of Nov in the year 1701, it being the 28th yof his age. The memory of the just is blessed. Prov 10. May his memory be recorded in everlasting remembrance." 2,4
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1.2a Mary WILSON1,4,2,11
Child of William [Col] WILSON and Jane his Wife
See Dedicated Page to this Direct Ancestor with Far More Information on marriages and Children [with sources]
Birth Oct 167512,13,14
Death 11 Jan 1741, Blunt Point , Warwick County, Va with first husband4,2
Burial Blount Point, Warwick Co., With first husband
1st Spouse William ROSCOW11,4 See Dedidicated Page to this Direct Ancestor with Far More Information
Birth 30 Nov 1664, Chorley, Lancashire, England2
Death 2 Nov 1700, Blunt Point, Warwick Co, Virginia2
Father James ROSCOW See Dedidicated Page
Mother Unknown
Marriage 1695, Virginia, 16,17
Children of Mary Wilson 
Surnamed ROSCOW 
  • James (>1695-)
  • William(>1695->1736) See Dedidicated Page to this Direct Ancestor with Far More Information
  • Willis (1701-)
  • 2nd Spouse Miles [Col] Cary1
    Birth ca 1655 [1656], of Warwick Co Virginia18,19
    Death 17 Feb 1708, "Richneck"4, Warwick County, Virginia 
    Father  Myles or  Miles [Col]  Cary , Esq (1621-1667)
    Mother Anne Taylor
    Marriage 13 Apr 170220,21,22
    Children of Mary Wilson 
    Surnamed CARY
  • Wilson [Col] (1703-1772) 
  • Mary (1704-1775) 
  • Anne (1706-<1749) 
  • Miles (1708-1756)
  • 3rd Spouse Dr. Archibald BLAIR23,24,25,26,27
    Birth Scotland27
    Death about 1734 [1736]28,29
    Father Ancestor BLAIR
    Marriage 1720, 3rd husband30,31,32
    Children Surnamed BLAIR 
    of unknown matrilineage [possibly Mary's] 
  • James (died  circa1733)
  • Elizabeth  (died 1775)
  • Harrison
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    1.3a Jane WILSON33,34
    PURPORTED AND UNPROVEN DAUGHTER of William [Col] WILSON and Jane his Wife. 
    Jane  may fit better into pedigree as wife or widow of Willis Wilson (ca1674-1701) , a known child of William [Col] WILSON and Jane his Wife. 
    Death bef 17 Jun 1713, if father is correct, and it is felt correct at source
    Desc probable dtr who died before her father.Married three times, may also have married Whiting35,36
    Spouse # 13 Nicholas [Col] CURLE2
    Death 15 Aug 17143
    Father Pasco CURLE
    Marriage Date Unknown. 2nd wife3
    Spouse # 23 James RICKETTS3
    Marriage  Date Unknown . 2nd husband3
    Spouse # 3 3 Meritt SWEENEY3
    Marriage  Date Unknown .3rd husband3
    NOTATIONS on her 
    CONFUSED ASCENDANCY
    Her ascendancy is not clear. This writer feels her more likely a  wife or widow of Willis Wilson, [her brother as shown in other sources] and as purported by Stauffer37. Many sources seem to state that Willis had no progeny, certainly his tomb tells no tale of marriage or child. Still, Stouffer discusses many reasons why she better fits here as wife or daughter to Willis, than as his sister, as is so frequently shown. In the case of being a wife, who may have lived with her inlaws about 7 years and until marriage to Nicholas Curles, as Stouffer suggests, she would be known as Jane Wilson, but would not likely have been born Jane Wilson. She is knwon to have married three times, and the first to Nicholas CURLES, in most, minus Staufferís possible scenario, where she was either a wife of Willis, or his daughter. 
    See below. 

    As daughter to Col William Wilson and his wife Jane this is offered as support: 
    ìThough the tombstone of Col William Wilson states that he left ëbut one daughter survivingí it seems certain that he left two daughters surviving, Mary, who married , first William Roscow; second, Miles Cary; third, Dr Archibald Blair; and the above named Jane, who had her motherís name, Jane, and married also three times. In Curle vs Allen, it is stated that Wilson Curle (her son) was grandson and devisee of Col William Wilson. And a deed from Thomas Mingham and Ann his wife to John Selden, in 1740, states that the land conveyed was ëoriginally bequeathed by William Wilson to his grandson Wilson Curle.í ì38.

    As daughterin law or grandaughter via Willis  to Col William Wilson and his wife Jane this is offered as support: :
    Much evidence is given by Stouffer37 to support his belief that Jane Wilson was NOT a dtr of Col Wilson, but of his son, Wilson. First, he points to the tomb of Col William Wilson, mounted at the same time Jane was a wife and mother. Next he mentions that Jane Wilson brought suit after suit regarding the estate of Nicholas Curles, her first husband, while the suits brought by her ësisterí Mary for her fatherís estate are always made by Mary Cary Wilson, and none include Jane Cary Ricketts. Because of the marriage to Sweeney and the dates of birth of those children, he further feels she could not be sister to Willis and  Mary Cary. Regarding the deed mentioned from Thomas Mingham and Ann his wife to John Selden, in 1740, stating that the land conveyed was ëoriginally bequeathed by William Wilson to his grandson Wilson Curle ë Stouffer maintains that Jane , living with her inlaws or grandparents after death of Willis Wilson and before marriage to Curles,  would come to be known as a daughter.  He concludes Jane is either the widow or daughter of Willis. See W T Stauffer ìthe Old Farms out of which the City of Newport News was erected, with some Account of the Families which Dwelt thereî  [Fourth Installment} Found in Genealogies of Virginia Families From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Genealogical Publishing Co, Baltimore. 1982. [image of same in multi media under NewportVaFirst Families, WTV folder, Va Subject heading] 

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