Wilson

William Wilson and Mary Pierce b. 1660

/ Kirstin Miller

William Wilson and Mary Pierce, my 8th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree

William Wilson was born around 1660 in Charlestown, Massachusetts to Edward Wilson and Mary Hale. William’s dad Edward and his uncle John Hale were Puritan ministers. John Hale was famous in the Salem witch trials and afterwards wrote a book about his involvement & thoughts. “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, in which he suggested the fear of witchcraft was so great that it impaired the judgment of everyone involved in the trials, possibly resulting in the death of innocent people.”

Mary Pierce was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 13, 1661. “Boston Records Births, Pearse Mary ye Daughter of John Pearse and of Isabell his wife borne 13 March 1661”. Her parents, John and Isabell Pierce, could have been born in America or England. There are not a lot of records for Mary Pierce.

William and Mary were married on October 1, 1685 in Charlestown. “William Wilson and Mary Pearce of Boston married by Humphry Davies Esq. Oct 1, 1685.” Mary and William had two kids: Samuel and Mary. William was a woodworker, he made chairs and was a turner, using a lathe to make bowls and candlesticks.

William Wilson in U.S., Craftperson Files, 1600-1995 at Ancestry.


In September of 1695 William and his neighbors learned a bridge was being built near their road. They were against this bridge, to stop it they threw lots of logs, stones and lumber onto the road. They were called to the Boston Court on September 30, 1695. The Court ordered them to remove ‘nuisances and annoyances’ by October 1 or the men would all pay fines. There’s no final court record with further fines or issues so it all must have worked out.

William wilson and neighbors didn;t want the bridge, A Report of the record commissioners of the city of Boston at HathiTrust


William died in 1732 in Boston, Mary’s death date in unknown. When William Wilson died, his son in law Samuel Connable, husband of Mary Wilson was the estate administrator. Samuel and Mary’s 2nd great granddaughter Leydia Connable, moved west from Massachusetts to Indiana, then to Dunkerton, Iowa in 1854.

Sources

Mary Wilson b. 1690

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Wilson 7th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.
Mary was born November 4, 1690 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents were William and Mary Pearce Wilson, they were both from Boston. Mary’s first husband was John Diamond in 1709, he died within 3 years. Mary’s 2nd husband was Samuel Connable, he was also a widow, they married July 23, 1713 in Boston at the Second Church. Cotton Mather was the pastor on the record, famous for his actions in the Salem witch hysteria and promoting the new smallpox vaccine.

Mary and Samuel had 6 sons and 4 daughters, all born in Boston. Samuel had a business, probably a distillery at Distal House Square now Bowker Street. The Connable family lived on Cross Street a couple city blocks east, all in the North End area. Businesses, houses and meadows are long gone. The Old Statehouse is still there, a couple city blocks south of the Connable home. The original statehouse from 1657 burned in the Fire of 1711, this one was built in 1712-13.


Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 at FamilySearch.org

Maybe this courthouse is where Mary presented her husband’s estate in 1746. Samuel died without a will. Mary with children made an agreement, “I Mary Cunnabell widow of Samuel Cunnabell as Exspressed in the foregoing Instrument do hereby Concent and agree to all that my Cheldren have agree’d upon in the afore written Instrument Relateing to my Decaced Husband and their Deceaced Fathers Estate In witness whereof I do hereunto Sett my hand and Seal this Ninteenth day of November anno domini 1746 In the twentyeth veair of his majestys Reigne.”

When Mary died in 1759 her and Samuel’s inventory were in the court, Their inventory included brass and iron kettles, a pestle and mortar, a frying pan, a ‘number of old books’, a featherbed and a chest of drawers, an old trunk, 4 swords and 3 silver spoons.

Sources