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WilsonHistory

The Great Debate

Amariah Wilson, Sr., wrote in his Outline of the Wilson Family that "my grandfather James Wilson his name is on the Declaration of our Independence." As a result, some of my cousins believe that our ancestor, James Wilson, did sign the Declaration of Independence. I don't believe that Amariah actually ever met his grandfather. He may have been writing about family lore that he had heard somewhere or he was just taking advantage of the name similarity. Inasmuch as Amariah did not directly state that his grandfather actually signed the Declaration of Independence, I am not even convinced that he really believed it. Or, if he did believe it, he had to be in error. His own data about the Wilson family contradicts the theory that our James was the signer of the Declaration of Independence. Accordingly, I offer the following information to refute that theory:

James Wilson - the Signer of the Declaration of Independence

  • He was born September 14, 1742, near St. Andrews, Scotland.
  • His father died in Scotland before 1765, apparently without ever having been in America.
  • He immigrated to America around 1765 - 1766.
  • Nowhere in any of his biographies does it mention that he ever married Sarah Carson.
  • His first wife was Rachel Bird whom he married in 1771.
  • His second wife was Hannah Gray whom he married in 1793.
  • He had 6 children with Rachel and one child (who died in infancy) with Hannah.
  • Nowhere in any of his biographies does it mention that he had any other children.

The above information was gathered from many online biographies of James Wilson.

James Wilson - my Ancestor

  • His father, Thomas Wilson, immigrated to America.
  • He was born in 1730 (probably in America).
  • His wife was Sarah Carson and they had 5 children.
  • All of their children were born in America from 1752 to 1760.

This information was gathered from the writings of Amariah Wilson, Sr.

SUMMARY:

The Signer did not immigrate to America until after his father had died in Scotland. Our James was 12 years older than the Signer, lived with his father in America, and his children were all born in Pennsylvania years before the Signer immigrated to America. Additionally, the number of wives and children and their names for the two were totally different.