Rob, for your information and assistance, I copy below my notes for the John WILSON who m my aunt Mary MARQUIS. I have seen no evidence or suggestions but that this John WILSON arr Opoequon area 1737, m Mary MARQUIS ca 1740 and had 2 ch, Mary & ch d 1742 Opequon and bur Opequon Preaby Cem, owned land there in 1746, 56, & in his 1762 will Frederick Co, VA where he left opequon land to MARQUIS relatives and is bur 1762 next to wf Mary & ch. During this period he is referred to in several writings as "The School Teacher of Opequon". Do you see a hole in this continuity or which of the below citations apply to your gf John WILSON. What citations do you have for your gf John WILSON's stay in Opequon? Have you found any notations of any other marriages for any John WILSON at Opequon during this 1737-1762 period? Hal McCawley of CA, a descendant of the MARQUIS of Opequon. RELATIVES??: 4 Jan 2002 Chas Crickman writes: "There was a Robert Willson/Wilson who settled east of the church ca 1740, also a Thomas Wilson also in 1740 south of the church. From Cartmell's History it is stated: 'It appears that Robert Willson a brother [of John] came at the same time and settled on his plat of ground near the railroad station at Kernstown [written ca 1908]; erected a stone and log dwelling combined; lived there and reared a family, who intermarried with the Glass and McDowell families. The Willson family removed to Kentucky and Tennessee.' I see no reference to Thomas. John came in 1737 per his gravestone. Quoting from the biography in History of Washington Co, Pa: ³William Marquis and his wife, Margaret, with their children, Thomas and Mary, came to America from the north of Ireland in 1720, and first settled near Winchester, Va. The daughter, Mary married John Willson, but died shortly thereafter². Mary was born about 1720 (age 22 at death in 1742) so Mary was an infant if they arrived in the US in 1720 and the Marquis' certainly didn't "first settle" in Opequon that early. It appears John met and married Mary at Opequon soon after arriving in 1736 to have two children before her death in 1742??" There is another John WILLSON of the same era of Frederick Co that went on to KY and OH. He is the ancestor of researcher Betsy Earley, 6429 Winding Tree Dr, New Carlisle, OH 45344 <[email protected]> !RESIDENCE: William MARQUIS and Margaret COLVILL along with John Wilson & Mary MARQUIS listed among first generation of Opequon Settlers arriving in the 1730s . "The VA Magazine of Hist & Bio" Vol 98/3, July 1990 P-432. RESIDENCE/RELATIVES: The Orange county records contain grants by Hite to Robert Wilson on May 5, 1740 (O.D.B. 4 - Page 14) and on February 17, 1736, to Thomas Wilson (O.D.B. 1 -Page 442), both of which grants were in the Kernstown area; and it is our belief that John Wilson acquired a part of this land. !BUSINESS: 26 Aug 1742 John WILSON was granted license to keep ordinary at his house. "Orange Co Road Orders 1734-49" by Ann Brush Miller 1984 !CEMETERY: John Willson, his wife Mary Marcus (who died in 1742 at the age of 22 years) and their two children are buried in the Old Opequon church cemetery. The reverse side of the Tombstone is engraved "From Ireland July 6th 1737" (Some Old Homes of Frederick County, Virginia, by Garland Quarles, p. 310, quoting Reverend William Henry Foote D.D. "Sketches of Virginia - Second Series, p. 20 (1835).) !TAX LIST: 1744 Tax List for Old Frederick Co, VA lists John Wilson 250#. !WILL: Frederick Co, VA WB 3/40 dated 20 Feb 1762 and proved 7 Apr 1762, wills half of land to each of bros James & Wm MARQUIS, bond interests to minors John & Thomas MARQUIS & their unnamed sisters. (all believed to be ch of his BIL Thomas MARQUIS & wf Mary COLVILLE (both deceased). Exec: Samuel Colville, Jr. wit: Samuel Vance, John Beckett, Hugh Brown, Samuel Beckett. !LAND: "VA No Neck Land Grants, Vol II 1742-1775" by Gray lists abstract of grant H-705 of 16 Oct 1756 survey of John WILSON & Thomas MARQUIS' 586A as 'adj to Operquon Cr & Marquis spring house, Gab'l Jones, John Harrow, Stephen Hossifell, Robert Wilson, Geo Hoge, and Lewis Stephen's Rd', BUT Joyner's "Abs of VA No Neck Warr..." Vol II claims the tract is 'near Opequon adj Wm Hoge Sr, John Bullaugh, Gab Jones, John Harrow, Stephen Hosifall, Robt Wilson, Geo Hogg. Calvin's patent", while O'Dell's "Pion of Old Fred Co" claims the tract is on the E side of Opequon, bounded by Jones Rd on S & W, and Apple Valley Rd from Middle Rd runs to the E of Property??? ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 2:52 PM Subject: [VAFREDER] Re: John Willson/Wilson > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/gAC.2ACE/1561.1579.1740.1744.1749.1 768 > > Message Board Post: > > Hi, Joyce. I am working on the descendants of the John Willson/Wilson who died in Berkeley County, VA in 1783 and I am focusing now on Mary Marquis. Many of us are having a lot of trouble identifying the wives of John Willson/Wilson. > > I am hoping that you have some documentation showing that this John Willson/Wilson is the same one who came to America from County Argmagh, Ireland in 1737. What I am thinking now is that Mary Marquis was indeed John's first wife and that they were not married long. She may have died in childbirth about 1742. John's second wife may have been Eleanor Van Metre and his third wife, Jane, is the one who is listed in his 1783 will. > > It it interesting to note that John had a daughter named Eleanor and his son, James Wilson (who married Jane Baldwin), had a daughter named Mary V. Wilson and another daughter named Jane Wilson. It is possible that Mary's middle initial stands for Van Metre, but that is just speculation on my part (it may also stand for Vance as this name may be connected somehow). > > I also believe that John's other son, Edward Wilson Sr., may have had four daughters named Eleanor, Mary, Jane and Susannah. John's other son, Jacob, also had a daughter named Eleanor. Another daughter of John was named named Mary Jane Wilson (who married John Jones). I am wondering if Mary Marquis' middle name could have been Jane. > > Researcher LaVelda Faull was kind enough to send me the following information: > > In trying to determine the name of the first wife of John Wilson, the following statements were made in a paper by Crockett Allen Harrison in 1980 (copy at the public library in Winchester, Clark Co., Ky): > > "A plausible assumption as to her identity can be made. Correspondence and notes of Christene Bergen, a tireless genealogist and record searcher of Berkeley County have been preserved in sixteen large bound volumes that are filed in the office of the County Surveyor of Berkeley County, West > Virginia. A Mrs. Ruth A. Dillon who was a native of the area but whose correspondence came from California offered the opinion that the first wife of John Wilson was Eleanor Van Metre. There was such a family in the area, one of the very first in fact, and they had a large land grant in the immediate area of the land of John Wilson. Records of the second wife of John Wilson selling Van Metre land long after the death of her husband have been found. > > In one letter Mrs. Dillon who was a Wilson descendent, but not of John Wilson, had this to say, 'I only searched the three sons of the first wife - EDWARD had a wife JANE, WILLIAM had a wife JANE (she was a Duncan) but I forget the name of the wife of JAMES. At the time of JOHN WILSON's death, his daughter ELEANOR by his first wife was dead. I have boxes of material on these lines.' The last correspondence with Mrs. Dillon was in the 1960's and the letter I addressed to her was returned. Her files are probably in a library in San Diego or with some family member but I have made no effort as yet to locate them. I just hope that they are as well preserved as the Christene Bergen files." > > (Lavelda has done a lot of research on John's son, Edward Wilson). > > If John came to America about 1737 and if Mary Marquis died during childbirth in 1742, then it is certainly possible that they did not have any previous children during this time period. On the other hand, the information I have states that John's son Edward Sr. may have been b. about 1738 in Berkeley County, VA. But I think most or all of these dates are fuzzy. > > I hope you receive this e-mail as it has been several years since you posted your inquiry. I would be very interested in knowing if you have obtained additional information since then. I would very much like to hear from you and/or other posters out there (such as the Sarge) who may be able to shed some light on this mystery. Please feel free to e-mail me directly. > > Best regards, > Rob > > > > ==== VAFREDER Mailing List ==== > FREDERICK COUNTY UNSUBSCRIPTION DIRECTIONS > [email protected] UNSUBSCRIBE (as subject) > [email protected] UNSUBSCRIBE (as subject) >