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/1561.1579.1740.1744.1749.1768 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