Daniel M. Wilson

Daniel M. Wilson, his wife, and his father were part of the adaptive Compromise Generation. His mother was part of the heroic, civic-minded Republican Generation. His children were part of the idealistic Transcendental Generation.

[ The Wilson house in North Saugus ]
The Wilson house in North Saugus
[Click the picture to enlarge it.]

In 1850, Daniel and his wife, Nancy, lived next to their son Horace and daughter-in-law Sarah. By the 1860s, however, they were living with their daughter Margaret and son-in-law Artemas Edmands, our ancestors.

Year by year in the life of Daniel M. Wilson

The childhood of Daniel M. Wilson in its historical context
The adolescence and prime adulthood of Daniel M. Wilson in their historical context
The midlife and early elderhood years of Daniel M. Wilson in their historical context
The last years of Daniel M. Wilson in their historical context

Descent chart

Birth of Daniel M. Wilson
Born: 21 March 1788
Birthplace: Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
Parents
Father: Benjamin Wilson II, 1767-1843(1) The 1843 death date for Benjamin Wilson II comes from cousin Nancy B. Edmands Allen (our cousin through Artemas Seymour Edmands and his second son, Edward Wesley Edmands). Cousin (our cousin through Artemas Seymour Edmands and his eldest son, Arthur Seymour Edmands) has challenged that date with the statement in correspondence with me: "For some reason I have that Benj. who died Saugus 8-19-1844 [1843?] is not ours?? . . . All I wrote was 'not ours' on the record, didn't write why." This needs further investigation. There are many good reasons to challenge Nancy's data.
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(our ancestor), from Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts
Mother: Margaret Mansfield, 1765-1812 (our ancestor), from Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
Siblings
Sister: Sukey Wilson, b. 9 March 1790
Brother: Benjamin Wilson, b. 25 December 1792
Sister: Polly Wilson, b. 1 August 1799
Brother: Moses Wilson, b. 10 August 1803
Spouse and children
Wife: Nancy Fisk, 1785-1864(2) Cousin Patricia Brown Mathews, following (a descendant of Harrison Gray Wilson, through Nellie Wilson and William H. Fairchild), has 1787, not 1785, as Nancy's birthyear, and Kingsley, Rhode Island (not Killingly, William County, Connecticut), as her birthplace. Apparently, Sandy Dulaney was citing a census record for the birthyear and a death record for the birthplace. The 1785-in-Killingly information came from cousin-compilers Nancy B. Edmands Allen and her brother, Theodore Wesley "Ted" Edmands, and it had inspired an interesting and intriguing speculation in me: Nancy's father was Samuel Fisk, who was the son of "Deacon Ephraim Fisk." Samuel married Nancy's mother, young Sabrina Wright, in August 1785. According to the information I had from Nancy Allen and Ted Edmands, their daughter Nancy Fisk was born in 1785--in an unspecified month, but you can do the math. Little Nancy was, according to my compiler cousins Nancy and Ted, born in a town in Killingly, Connecticut, many miles from where her parents were married, in Hardwick, Massachusetts. Nancy was recorded as a Quaker--an interesting fact, considering that her paternal grandfather was a deacon (probably Congregationalist). My imagination produced the following drama: Samuel had made his sweetheart Sabrina pregnant, stern Deacon Ephraim did not approve, Samuel and Sabrina ran far away to distant Hardwick, where their baby daughter was born, and they joined a more accepting group of worshippers: the Society of Friends (Quakers). On the other hand, if we trust the vital statistics supplied by cousins Pat and Sandy, the foregoing soap opera did not happen. (I don't know when the Congregationalist deacon's son and daughter-in-law became Quakers.)
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(our ancestor)
from Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut
(daughter of
Samuel Fisk and Sabrina Wright Fisk [our ancestors],
from Johnston, Providence County, Rhode Island and Hardwick, Worcester County, Massachusetts
.
Married 23 December(3) Patricia Brown Mathews, following Sandy Dulaney, has 8 November 1807 as the wedding date.
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1807
in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts(4) Patricia Brown Mathews, following Sandy Dulaney, has Hardwick (Hardwich?), Worcester County, Massachusetts as the wedding place.
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Daughter: Margaret M. Wilson, 1811-1879(5) An alternate spelling that Pat Mathews found is "Margarate."
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(our ancestor)
Son: Horace Wilson
Born 1817
---- in New York (New York City?)
---- Shoemaker
Married Sarah UNKNOWN
------ b. 1827
    Children:
    Percy Wilson, b. 1850
    ---- m. Hannah UNKNOWN, b. 1850
    ---- resided in Saugus in 1880
    Sarah H. Wilson, b. 1852
    Lilla Wilson, b. 1854
Died 29 August 1871
---- Saugus, Essex Co., MA.
Son: Harrison Gray Wilson
Born 18 September 1819(6) This birthdate for Harrison (and many other vital statistics about him) came from Patricia Brown Mathews, following Sandy Dulaney. Our other sources had 1820 as a birthyear (no month and day had been provided).
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Married 28 November 1841
------ in Saugus, Essex Co., MA,
------ to his sister-in-law,
------ Esther Edmands, 1825-1894
-------- (daughter of Lott Edmands, 1791-1877
--------- and Esther Burrill Edmands, 1790-1883,
--------- our ancestors)
    Children:
    Jerome Wilson, 1844-1884
    ---- m. <1868 Susan UNKNOWN, 1843-1886
    Rosalinda "Rose" Wilson, 1848-<1880
    ---- m. UNKNOWN Moulton
    ---- daughter: Reliefe Moulton, b. 1868
    Margaret L. Wilson, b. 1854
    (7) This birthdate for Margaret came from Patricia Brown Mathews, following Sandy Dulaney. Our other sources had 1857 as her birthyear.
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    Nellie M. Wilson, 1859-1933
    ---- m. 13 November 1885
    ---- to William H. Fairchild
    ------ (b. 4 November 1860 [California]
    ------ d. 1931)
Died between 1900 and 1910.
Son: Daniel Wilson
Born 1824 or 1825
---- Shoemaker
Married Mary UNKNOWN
------ 1829-1887
    Children:
    Oliver Wilson, b. 1848
    Ella Wilson, b. 1854
    George Wilson, b. 1856
Died 1902.
Other information
Occupation: Probably farmer
In his old age, living with his daughter and son-in-law, he was listed as a shoemaker
Religion: No information available
Death of Daniel M. Wilson
Died: 9 May 1869
(age 81 years 1 month 18 days)
Deathplace: Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts
Burial place: No information available
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Sources on Daniel M. Wilson:

  • Nancy B. Edmands Allen, b. 1925.
  • b. 1951, a cousin of ours (a great-granddaughter of Arthur Seymour Edmands), for considerable information, including (among many other things) the death date of Daniel (from the Saugus Town Hall records) and many vital statistics on his children. She cites (a descendant of Harrison Gray Wilson, through Nellie Wilson and William H. Fairchild), as a main source. Pat also cites the Saugus town records and the census records of 1850, 1860, and 1880.
  • Ethel Jean Edmands Weeks, b. 1909 in an interview with Allan Christie Edmands II, b. 1942
  • Mary Caroline Findley Edmands
  • Theodore Wesley "Ted" Edmands, 1928-1999, citing the census data (compiled by Ann S. Larnhart, PO Box 1487, Boston, MA 02117) for 1855 and 1865, demonstrating that the birthyear for Esther Edmands Wilson was 1825, not 1820. The records he cited for 1865 had Daniel living with Margaret and Artemas Edmands. his daughter and son-in-law.

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