ROBERT WILSON was probably born in Ireland about 1700, and though we have no proof, except that he was with this group of people, we can imagine that he came through Pennsylvania with them, perhaps by way of Maryland. There is much published information on the Wilson clan, but much of it is in error. The proliferation of common and heirloom names makes tracing this group extremely difficult. Wilson is also the eighth-most common name in the British Isles, which adds to the difficulty.
We don’t know from which county in Ireland he came, but again, a good guess would be Donegal. There were no Scots undertakers there named Wilson, but there was a British undertaker in Raphoe Parish, William Willson. ROBERT WILSON very probably came with the Scots-Irish group who came in the 1717-1720 migration. Since ROBERT probably came as a young adult, his parents may or may not have come with him. Many of the WILSONs who came from Ireland are related. Due to the proliferation of Christian names, however, it is easily embarrassing to try to untangle the skein of relationships. Therefore, we will relate, in general, a few things about some of the people named Wilson that were living near ROBERT in Augusta.
Captain John Wilson, born about 1701, was referred to as “gentleman,” and was captain of militia and was a representative of the House of Burgesses for 27 years, according to his tombstone. He was an elder in the North Mountain Church and died in 1773. His wife was Martha, who died at age 60. This John was probably an age-peer of ROBERT’s, and may have been a brother or a cousin. There doesn’t appear to be anyone in the Augusta group old enough to be ROBERT’s father. That this group of sojourners was strongly related by blood and marriage, as well as origin and religion, is not doubted. In this group, 80% of the time, the first son was named for the paternal grandfather, and if that were the case with ROBERT, his father would have been named John. There were even instances where if that child died, another child who is born later would be named the same Christian name.
The Children of Robert-1 and Jane _?_ Wilson
[as named in his will]
Jannet Wilson-2, who married John Holmes, and would later move to Rowan County with THOMAS and CATHERINE.
Frances Wilson-2, who was apparently unmarried at the time of the will.
John Wilson-2, was administrator of the estate and the only son named. The father of ROBERT’s grandson, [“nephew”] Robert Holmes.
Elizabeth Wilson-2
Jane Wilson-2
CATHERINE WILSON-2, who married THOMAS BELL.
In court on May 17, 1754, Ann, the wife of James Brown, called Justice William Wilson, Gentleman, a “rogue” and invited him to step down from the bench, so she could give him “what for.” She was taken into custody and arrested. In those days, the community punished common scolds with the ducking stool. The community did not feel itself complete until the stocks and the jail were built. William Wilson, who was a cousin of the Reverend William Wilson, had married Barbara McKane in Dublin and moved to the Forks of the Brandywine in Chester County, Pennsylvania, before 1720. His son, John, was born there in 1732, and became a surveyor of note and a Revolutionary soldier. William moved to Virginia about 1747 and stayed there until about 1762 when he and his family moved over to Highland County for a few months, but returned due to Indian pressure. [McCubbins Collection.]
A woman from Augusta, Margaret Hannah, related another story about the Wilson family. Joseph Wilson had an only son, also named Joseph. The elder Wilson and his wife were at home with two indentured-servant women and a male indentured-servant, who was enamored of one of the other servants. He had asked permission of the Wilsons to marry one of the women and was denied, since Mrs. Wilson did not think him a “fit” man to marry the woman.
The male servant told Mrs. Wilson he was going hunting and took the gun down off the peg, but instead, he turned the gun on the family and shot the couple. The servant fled and was never seen again. Joseph was an heirloom name of a group of the Wilsons that moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and some of this group ended up in North Carolina, then Tennessee.
Reverend Craig’s diary of baptisms for the Tinkling Spring Church notes the Presbyterian baptism of the illegitimate children of “papish convicts” into the church. These convicts were apparently Celtic Catholics, working off their sentences as indentured servants in the Scots-Irish households. Due to the scorn in which the Scots-Irish held the Celtic Irish, both from a racial and religious standpoint, their lots must have been harsh. One entry says:
January 1742. Mr. James Patton stood sponser for a [boy] baptized named Henery, born in his house of a papish convict servant a base person. Could not be brought to tell who was the father not withstanding all means used. But supposed to be begotton by one ….Hiky [Hickey?] an nother [sic] papish convict servant because they had been seen too great together. [Craig’s Baptisms.]
In the above instance, when the convict mother of a bastard child refused to give the father’s name, Reverend Craig noted that “much persuasion” had been used to extract the name from her. This probably means that she was whipped. In 1755, the Virginia Gazette published a proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief, the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., that “Garret Byrns, a convict servant man belonging to Alexander Finnie, of the city of Williamsburg, ran away from the Service at Wood’s Gap, in Augusta County.”
England was using the colonies, especially Virginia, as a dumping ground for its “criminal class.” People were deported for minor infractions and thefts, and required to serve from seven to fourteen years as virtual slaves. If a person or their family had the money to buy them out of this slavery when they reached the colonies, they did not have to serve this time as a servant, but could be immediately free, but could not return to England, or Ireland, as the case may be, until their number of years had expired. If the convict was sold on the docks of Virginia or another colony, the purchaser had a virtual stranglehold on the convict. It is obvious from Reverend Craig’s comments about the “base person” above, that the Scots-Irish did not have any love for these poor wretches. Many times the theft which would result in transportation might be for something of as little value as a handkerchief or of some food.
In 1755, the English Colonies had declared war on the French, and the fighting continued until 1758. Virginia supplied 800 men at first and more later. George Washington participated in this war. James Bell was captured in 1755, and Josiah Wilson was killed on South Branch, April 24, 1758. The fighting was only in the colonies and the French recruited the Indians to fight for them. This was the French and Indian War.