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JEREMIAH WILSON (1665–1743), son of Benjamin Wilson and Ann Unknown

HANNAH UNKNOWN (b. say 1668)

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Jeremiah Wilson, the son of Benjamin and Ann Wilson, was born on 26 October 1665 in Charlestown (now in Boston). [1] He was baptized there on 22[!] October 1665. (One of these records is incorrect) [2] He died on 22 March 1743, age 76, in Bolton, Worcester County, Massachusetts. [3] He married Hannah Beman on 27 December 1687 in Lancaster. [4]

Hannah was born say 1668. This would make her about 19 when she married and 43 when her youngest son was born.

Nourse says that Jeremiah was a son of Benjamin of Charlestown and was an active church member. [5, 305].

Jeremiah's grave in the Old Common Burial Ground in Lancaster says: [6][7]

It is unknown who the Hannah who married Jeremiah was. There is also no apparent evidence that the Beaman family in Lancaster—that of Gamaliel Beaman—had a daughter named Hannah.

On 14 April 1704—during Queen Anne's War—Jeremiah was in a garrison with James Butler, Gamaliel Beaman and others in Lancaster. [5, 144]

Jeremiah Wilson signed the covenant of the First Church in Lancaster in 1708. [6]

Jeremiah was at a town meeting in Lancaster on 2 February 1718/9 and proposed a highway at Broad Meadow Hill. On 5 February 1721/2 he appeared at a meeting and offered to donate a small strip of land for such a highway. [5, 188, 199]

Jeremiah Wilson, glazier of Bolton, being "well stricken in years," made his will on 26 January 1742. He left bequests to his eldest son Benjamin, his second son Jeremiah, his third son Joseph, his fourth son Samuel, his fifth son Jonathan, his youngest son Nathaniel, his daughter Hannah Butler, the heirs of his daughter Mehitable, his daughter Sarah Pratt, her husband Josiah Pratt, and their sons Joseph and Josiah Pratt, and his youngest daughter Hannah Newton. Jeremiah said that his son Nathaniel had given bond to provide a comfortable subsistence to him and his wife Hannah. He named his son Jonathan his executor. Inventory was taken on his estate on 30 March 1743; it was presented in court, the witnesses took oath, and the will was allowed on 4 May 1743. [8]

Children of Jeremiah and Hannah Wilson: Birth order uncertain

i. Benjamin Wilson was born say 1688. He married Rebecca Bemus on 24 April 1712 in Marlborough. [VRM]

Benjamin and Rebecca were admitted to the church in Lancaster on 27 June 1716. [6]

ii. Hannah Wilson was born say 1691. She married James Butler.

iii. Mehitable Wilson was born say 1693. She died by 26 January 1742, when she was referred to as deceased in her father's will. She married John Houghton on 18 November 1718 in Lancaster. [6]

John and Mehitable were admitted to the church in Lancaster on 1 January 1720/1. [6]

iv. Sarah Wilson was baptized on 24 May 1696 in Charlestown. [2] She married Josiah Pratt.

Sarah's baptismal record says that her mother Hannah was a member of the church in Lancaster.

v. Jeremiah Wilson was born about 1701. He died on 23 July 1745, age 44, in Bolton. [3] He married Elizabeth ___.

Elizabeth was admitted to the church in Lancaster on 13 September 1723/4. [6]

vi. Joseph Wilson married Rebecca Phelps on 21 September 1726 in Lancaster. [6]

Joseph Wilson was on Joseph Blanchard's muster roll from August to October 1725. [5, 242]

Rebecca was admitted to the church in Lancaster on 11 August 1734. [6] On 8 July 1739 the church dismissed Rebecca and recommended her to the church in Nichewaug (in Petersham, Worcester County, Massachusetts). [6]

vii. Samuel Wilson was named in his father's will.

viii. Jonathan Wilson married Hephzibah Wilder on 2 August 1733 in Lancaster. [6]

ix. Captain Nathaniel Wilson was baptized on 8 April 1711 in Lancaster. [6] He died on 19 August 1778, age 66. He married Eunice Davenport on 20 February 1734/5 in Lancaster. [6]

His grave in the Old Common Burial Ground in Lancaster says: [7]

x. Hannah Wilson (possibly) married ___ Newton

It seems implausible that Jeremiah had two daughters named Hannah, but he refers to a second and youngest daughter—Hannah Newton—in his will.

Endnotes:

1. Vital Records of Charlestown, Massachusetts: "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620–1850," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Charlestown.

2. "Record-Book of the First Church in Charlestown," New England Historical and Genealogical Register

3. Vital Records of Bolton, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, MA: F.P. Rice, 1910).

4. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), 3: 1690.

5. Henry S. Nourse, The Earliest Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1725 (Lancaster: J. Coulter, 1884), 143 (garrison), no one is listed as commander, so it is possible this was just a group that had houses near each other.

6. Nourse, Henry S., Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1850 (Clinton, MA, W. J. Coulter, Printer, 1890), 270 (James signs the covenant).

7. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 20 December 2023), memorial pages for:

8. "Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 66406 (Jeremiah, Sr.). The signaature is from Jeremiah's will.

9. Vital Records of Marlborough, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester: F.P. Rice, 1908).

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Last revised: 20-Dec-2023