Ca 1616 Elizabeth married
Rev. John Wilson (1771) , son of
Rev. William Wilson (689) (ca 1542-May 1615) &
Isabel Woodhall (879) (ca 1546-bef 1615).
Born ca Dec 1588 in Windsor, Berkshire.57 John died in Boston, MA on 7 Aug 1667.57 Buried in Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Boston. Education: King’s College, Cambridge 1610, MA 1613.
According to Savage,25 John attended “Eton school, went to the University of Cambridge in 1602, as Mather tells, much of whose story of his early days has apocryphal sound, there of Christ's College had his A. B. 1605-6, and A. M. 1609, as by me in the registry of the University seen, though Mather would have it Emanuel; and Farmer writes at King's, where, indeed, may, as the Magnalia tells, have been the adm. After serving as chaplain in several houses, he was inducted at Sudbury in the south border of County Suffolk; there contined ten or twelve years but disgusted with the worhsip of forms and vestments growing in the church he encouraged the colonization of the Massachusetts Bay, and came 1630, with the Gov. and Company bringiing the charter in the Arbella. His wife Elizabeth whose name is not distinct. read in Mather, though in his usual roundabout way he says, Magn. III. cap. 3, p. 42, that Wilson designed to marry a daught ‘of the lady Mansfield, widow of Sir John,’ remained in England probably with care of the church.”
John “went back to Eng. and came again 1632, he brought [his wife] and son John, but the oldest son perhaps never was on this side of the ocean. The wife was sister of the wife of Robert Keayne, and her brother John with his family got over to Boston, two years later, in poverty; and tormented Keayne very much, if his will be good evidence as may, partly, be read in Geneal. Reg. VI. 156. He made a second voyage to Eng. 1634, and came again in the summer, of 1635, which led me [Savage] to mistake, formerly, the time of his wife’s coming, as she did not join our church before 20 Mar. 1636; whereas we see that this daughter Mary was baptized 8 Sept. 1633, unless the church record means a week later, the copy of town record certifies that she was born 12 Sept. He had requested admisson as freeman 19 Oct. 1630, and was sworn 3 July 1632, and died 7 Aug. 1667, and was buried on the Sunday following. Of the good desert of the first minister of Boston, abundant proof is found in the Magn. III. cap. 3, with some few lamentable characteristics of the author, perhaps little to be regarded in derogotory from the character of Wilson. Yet of one trait in him, the zeal for the glory of God, as exhib. at ‘Ill Newes from New England’ where the testimony of Obadiah Holmes, the bapt. confessor, is fully given we must regret that it surpassed the limits of self-respect, as well as common decency. Holmes tells after his sentence to imprisonm. and cruel scourg. ‘as I went from the Bar, I exprest myself in these words; I bless God I am count. worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus; whereupon John Wilson (their Pastor as they call him) strook me bef. the judgment-seat. and cursed me, saying, the curse of God or Jesus go with thee.’ For the imprecation upon the heretic lenity may be extended as we hope, by the final Judge, when he cometh in the clouds of heaven: but at the tribunal of gentlement the assault on a defenceless prisoner, even though convicted by his own confession of the crime of preaching what he thought truth, meets no indulgence. Graditude has always been express, for the found. of Boston church no doubt in some degree arising from the munificent contribribution of £1,000 by his brother William in England and the most judicious investment of part of that sum as in Col. Rec. I. 128 alluded to, and may by any minute antiquary be seen in 2 Mass. Hist. Coll. VIII. 228, all assisting in keeping active the generous emotion.”
From Joseph Gardner Bartlett’s article “Ancestry and descendants of Rev. John Wilson of Boston, Mass”:57
“After four year’s preparation at Eton school, he was admitted to King’s College, Cambridge, in 1602. While at the University he became deeply interested in the theological discussions of the day, and under the influence of Rev. Richard Rogers of Wethersfield, and of the celebrated Rev. William ames, D.D., he soon became converted to the principles of the Puritans. His nonconformity resulted in his being obliged to leave the University for a time, and he entered one of the Inns of Court to study for the legal profession; but his disposition for the ministry continuing, by the father’s influence he was returned to the University, where, at Christ College, he obtained the degree of B.A. in 1606, and M.A. in 1609.
“After preaching for a short time at Newport, Mortlake, henley, and other places, he lived for some years as chaplain in several honorable families. Then, for three years, he preached at Bumstead, Stoke, Clare, and Candish, all in co. Suffolk, until about 1620, whe he succeeded the Rev. William Jenkins at Sudbury, co. Suffolk, where he officiated some ten years with great acceptance to his parishioners. Being here persecuted and frequently suspended, for his non-conformity, he encouraged and supported the colonization of the Massachusetts Bay, and joined the first emigration, eoming to New England in the Spring of 1630, in the Arbella, with Gov. Winthrop, leaving his wife an children in England. Soon after the arrival of the company, the First Church of Boston was organized, on Jul 30, 1630, John Wilson being installed as teacher. After laboring for nearly a year, and filling an important part in establishing the colony on a permanently prosperous basis, he went back to England in Apr., 1631, returning to Boston in May, 1632, with his wife, son John, and daughter Elizabeth. A few months after his return, he was installed as pastor of the church, on Nov. 23, 1632, being succeeded as teacher by the celebrated Rev. John Cotton.
“In the autumn of 1631, Mr. Wilson made another voyage to England, to settle the estate of his brother Edmund, but returned to Boston in Oct. 1635, and continuted as pastor for thirty-five years, until his death, Aug. 7, 1667, being associated, after Mr. Cotton’s death in 1652, with Rev. John Norton as teacher. During his ministry, he frequently made visits to the Indian settlements with Rev. John Eliot, the ‘Apostle,’ and labored as a missionary to the savages.
“Many contemporary writers and records bear witness to the high esteem and veneration in which Rev. John Wilson was held. While not endowed with as brilliant talents as the Rev. John Cotton, he was, nevertheless, a devout, learned, zealous, and able man, and his sympathetic nature, kindness of heart, and generosity to the needy, greatly endeared him to his parishoners. Of his character, Cotton Mather says: ‘If the picture of this good and therein great man were to be exactly give, great zeal with great love would be the two principal strokes that joined with orthodoxy should make up his portraiture.’ His zeal in the ‘orthodoxy’ of his religious views, however, was carried to intolerance and bigotry, as was commonly the case in that period of strenuous religious opinions. His portrait in oil is in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
“Among his published works were: ‘Some Helps to Faith’ (London, 1625); ‘Famous Deliverances of the English Nation,’ a poem (London, 1626); a Latin poem to the memory of Rev. John Harvard; and a tract, ‘The Day Breaking if not the Sun Rising, of the Gospel with the Indians in New England’ (1647).
“Mr. Wilson’s house and garden in Boston were situated on the north-west corner of the present State and Devonshire streets. Portions of this property he disposed of during his lifetime, and the remainder he deeded to his son John and daughter Mary Danforth, on May 31, 1667. (Suffolk Co. Deeds, vol. v., fol. 233.) They sold it to Hezekiah Usher, on July 2, 1668, for £433.7.0. (Ibid, vol. x. fol. 98.) On Apr. 1, 1634, Mr. Wilson was granted two hundred acres at ‘Mystic’ by the General Court (Mass. Colony Records, vol. i, p. 114),, and this farm, covering what is now the Wellington districtg of Medford, he sold to Thomas Blanchard, on Feb. 12, 1650-1. (Suffolk Co. Deeds, vol. i, fol. 223). On Dec. 8, 1634, he was given a grant of land at Braintree, by the town of Boston, on condition that he would relinquish to the town the grant at ‘Mastic’ by the General Court: but as he was obliged to go to considerable expe4nse to secure a clear title, it was voted on Dec. 4, 1635, that he be allowed the Braintree grant in addition to the Mystic grant. (Boston Town Records, Record Commisioners’ Report, vol. ii, p. 2, 6.) This Braintree grant, comprising some 750 acres, was over half a mile wide, and located on both sides of the present line of the Old Colony Rail Road, and extended from the vicinity of Squantum street in Wollaston southward to beyond Adams street in Quincy. This farm (which was rented to Alexander Marsh, Thomas Faxon, and others, for many years), Mr. Wilson gave by deed, on May 31, 1667, to his son John and daughter Mary Danforth. (Suffolk Co. Deeds, vol. v, fol. 233.) They divided the property in 1687, Rev. John Wilson, Jr., taking the southern portion, and his sister the northern part. (Suffolk Co. Deeds, vol. xxvi, fol. 8.) The southern portion was occupied by Dr. John Wilson (son of Rev. John of Medfield, and grandson of Rev. John of Boston) from 1692 until his death in 1728, and a small part of it continued in the possession of his lineal male descendants until the death of his grandon Dr. John Wilson of Sherborn in 1756. (Suffolk Co. Deeds, vol. cvi, fol. 187.)
“In 1637, Rev. John Wilson went as chaplain in the expedition against the Pequot Indians, and for this service received a grant of one thousand acres from the General Court, on June 6, 1639. (Mass. Colony Records, vol. i, p. 263.) After several changes, this grant was finally located, on Oct. 16, 1660, on both sides of the Souhegan River, in the present towns of Amherst and Merrimack, N.H. (Mass. Colony Records, vol. iv, p. 412); and on Dec. 3, 1660, was sold by Mr. Wilson to simon Lynde of Boston (Suffolk Co. Deeds, vol. iii, fol. 449).
“His will, dated May 31, 1667, names wife Elizabeth deceased; grandson John Wilson, Jr., under age, and grand-daughter Bridget wife of Nicholas Prideaux, merchant, of Barbadoes, children of his deceased son Dr. Edmund Wilson of London; son Rev. John of Medfield; daughter Mary wife of Rev. Samuel Danforth of Roxbury; Sarah, Elizabeth, John, and Susanna, children of son John; John, Mary, Elizabeth, and Samuel, children of daughter mary Danforth; cousin (i.e. nephew) Edward Rawson; brother (in-law) John Mansfield; cousin Mrs. Sarah Higginson; cousin Benjamin Briscoe; and cousin William Smith (Suffolk Co. Probate, vol. vi, fol. 1; and Register, ante, vol. xvvii, p. 343.) The total inventory was £1718.14.6, and the Braintree farm being valued at £1300.”