Colonel John Wilson Sr.

John Wilson

Birth: 11 MAY 1726 in South Kingstown, RI (twin of Jeremiah)

Death: 1815 in South Kingstown, RI

Father: Jeremiah Wilson b: 1674 in Kingstown, RI

Mother: Mary Smith b: 10 AUG 1690 in Salem, MA

Marriage (1) 21 NOV 1762 in South Kingstown, RI

Wife: Hannah Hazard b: 5 AUG 1732 in South Kingstown, RI

Children:

• John Wilson b: 24 JUL 1763 in South Kingstown, RI
• Thomas Wilson b: ABT 1765
• Robert Arnold Wilson b: ABT 1768 in South Kingstown, RI

Marriage (2) 9 MAY 1779 in East Greenwich, RI

Wife: Thankful Davis b: 24 MAR 1736/37 in East Greenwich, RI

"in 1761 John Wilson was appointed Major in the Colonial army. The next year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, by this title he has usually been known. In the struggle for independence he adhered to the cause of the crown. Several of the Wilson family were attainted as Tories, and banished from their homes until the war was over, and, although he remained at his home throughout the war the absence of his name from all army records during that time is an indication that he did not participate in the struggle."

New England Historical & Genealogical Register, v144, Page: 302 & 305

Col. John Wilson and Mrs. Hannah Hazard, of Col. Thomas, were married by Rev. Joseph Torrey, Nov. 21, 1762. Narragansett Historical Register v 3

"Colonel John Wilson lived on Tower Hill, in a house built by his grandfather Samuel Wilson. From this grandfather have descended seven generations, some of whom live on Tower Hill to-day, and own a part of the original land bought by Samuel as one of the purchasers of the tract of land known as the Pettaquamscut Purchase. He (Samuel) built the first house on Tower Hill ; this house was forty-two feet by fifty-six, two stories high with a roof of one-third altitude. The only architectural ornament was about the front door, which was constructed after the Ionic order with two large Ionic volutes, which formed the door-cap, and projected a foot and a half from the building. It had besides a modillion cornice. This house was silled three times, the last time in the year 1817. The manner of silling in those days was to frame the sill together, and then place large white-oak knees in the corners, after the manner of ship-carpentry. The house had a brick chimney fourteen feet square at the base, which contained three ovens (one of which was in the cellar) and eleven separate smoke-flues. There was also a boiling spring in the cellar, and a good well of water near each side of the house. The wells are still to be seen. The windows were of diamond-pane glass set in lead. The windows, and perhaps the frame of the house, was made in the mother country. The house was built soon after the Pettaquamscut Purchase, and was not taken down until the year 1823, when another was built very near the site of the old house. It is now the property of Charles Pollock, a great-grandson of Colonel John Wilson.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century Tower Hill was a prosperous place; the situation was incomparable, and nearly all of the wealthy families had representatives established there in younger sons or married daughters. It was the " court - end " of the town. There were fourteen houses, six of them with large gambrelled roofs, which were erected by wealthy and enterprising men who spared no pains to make them attractive. There were also several inns or taverns, as they were then called. A coach passed through the place twice a week from the South Ferry to New London, and returned, carrying passengers and the mails ; as many as eight coaches have been known to arrive at the place in one morning. Balls and dances were of frequent occurrence, guests coming from Newport and the neighboring plantations of Boston Neck. Trees stood before each door, and in front of each house were little gardens filled with blooming shrubs.

During the war of 1 8 1 2, the Atlantic coast was blockaded by a British fleet from Portland to Cape May, and it was difficult to carry any merchandise through Long Island Sound. Sometimes, however, an old molasses drogher would land a cargo at Stonington, which would be carried by land to Providence and Boston by means of oxen. Frequently there would be thirty ox-teams loaded with molasses on the road at one time in close proximity to each other, straggling on to the extent of nearly half a mile. The drivers usually stopped over night at the old Brown house, where George and Rowland Brown kept a tavern."

The above account of the Wilson house and the old Tower Hill is taken, by permission, from the papers of Mr. James Wilson, a grandson of Colonel John Wilson. Mr. Wilson is now (1895) approaching his ninetieth year.

Hannah Hazard, and the other daughters of Colonel Thomas Hazard, were well educated and accomplished women for their day, when the women of the family were considered educated if they could read and write. Their accomplishments were spinning and weaving. But Hannah could work in wax, making figures and flowers that were very much admired. Some few of these pieces are treasured by her descendants to this day, while the fingers that wrought them so deftly have long been dust and ashes."

The Hazard Family of Rhode Island, 1635-1894: Being a Genealogy and History ... By Caroline Elizabeth Robinson

Sources:

New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Media: Book, v 144, Page: 307

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dominicch...

Rhode Island, Marriages, 1724-1916 - https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8VB-Y52

The Hazard Family of Rhode Island, 1635-1894: Being a Genealogy and History ... By Caroline Elizabeth Robinson

http://onerhodeislandfamily.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/narraganset...