Willis Wilson

There were born to Willis and Elizabeth Goodrich Wilson two sons (family Bible of Benjamin and Ann Seay Wilson). Willis died in 1794 at the age of 84, having served his country well.

However, source says he died 1740, and his widow remarried.

Family

Marriage June 7, 1728 in Norfolk County, VA (Source: p. 102. Virginia County Records: Miscellaneous County Records by William A. Crozier, Googlebooks)

Harry Herndon McLean, The Wilson family, Somerset and Barter Hill branch (1950), pp. 8-10 https://archive.org/stream/wilsonfamilysome00mcle/wilsonfamilysome0...:

Samuel married a Miss Mason and lived in Norfolk, Virginia, where he died in 1710, a few months before the birth of his only child—a son, Willis—who was named for his grandmother. Willis Wilson's father having died a few months before his birth, and his mother having married again, young Willis was reared by his uncle Solomon in Norfolk, Virginia. Living thus in such close proximity to the sea, where he could watch the ocean-going vessels come and go, and where he could meet the old sea-captains, and listen to their tales of adventure, we are not surprised to find that young Willis soon developed quite a fondness for the sea, and the adventures about which he had heard so much. He received instruction in the art of navigation and became a sea-captain, sailing his vessels between James River points and the West Indies. Sometimes, in order to secure a full cargo for a trip, it was necessary for him to operate a smaller vessel up the James River and its tributaries, to bring the freight down to the seagoing vessels anchored further down the river. On one such trip he was accompanied by his intimate friend Samuel Boush (for whom Boush Street in Norfolk, Virginia, was named). On this trip these young men met Misses Elizabeth and Frances Goodrich, the charming daughters of Mr. Benjamin Goodrich (the spelling of this name was verified by wills on file in the Norfolk County Court House), a prominent planter who lived at or near the mouth of the Chicahominy River. It is certain that these young men made many more such trips together, for I find that Miss Frances Goodrich and Samuel Boush were later married; and that Miss Elizabeth Goodrich and Willis Wilson were married in 1732 and settled in Norfolk County, Virginia. Willis Wilson was a prominent man in his time, and commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, for he was elected to represent Norfolk County in the famous House of Burgesses of the Commonwealth of Virginia for the “Assembly of 1748- 1749, Session of October 27th, 1748, Session of April 10th, 1749.” Stanard’s Colonial Virginia Register, also Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 25.

There were born to Willis and Elizabeth Goodrich Wilson two sons (family Bible of Benjamin and Ann Seay Wilson). Willis died in 1794 at the age of 84, having served his country well.

Benjamin, the first child of Willis and Elizabeth Goodrich Wilson, was born December 26, 1733, at the home of his grandfather, Benjamin Goodrich, at or near the junction of the Chica¬ hominy and James Rivers. He married Miss Ann Seay and settled on the Willis River in Cumberland County, Virginia.

John P., the second child of Willis and Elizabeth Goodrich Wilson, was born in 1736. He married and settled in West Virginia and became the father of one son, whom he named John P., Jr. This John P., Jr., married his second cousin, Maria Wilson (see page 33).

Benjamin Wilson, the first child of Willis and Elizabeth Good¬ rich Wilson, was born December 26, 1733, married Miss Ann Seay, a daughter of James Seay, a Huguenot family from the waters of the York River, in 1750, and established and settled the “Somerset” Plantation on the Willis River in Cumberland County, Virginia, where he and his faithful and devoted wife reared eight sons and five daughters, most of whom lived to be old people. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Wilson both died in 1814, having lived together as man and wife for more than sixty years.

Benjamin Wilson served in the Army through the entire Revolutionary War with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel (list of the Colonial Soldiers of Virginia in the State Library in Richmond, Virginia). From henceforth he will be known as “Colonel Ben.”

https://archive.org/stream/wilsonfamilysome00mcle/wilsonfamilysome0...

https://books.google.com/books?id=lYc36qT7PiIC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&d...