Hannah James
Descent: Meghan Jane Leineweber ← Catherine Raye Lobb ← Patricia Jane Loomis ← Edward Byron Loomis ← Isaac Hayes Loomis ← Juliette Cordelia Hayes ← Nelson Hayes ← Rhoda Slaughter ← Lois Carpenter ← Benjamin Carpenter ← Elizabeth Wilson ← Benjamin Wilson ← Hannah James
In brief
Born about 1631 in Woburn, Massachusetts. About 1652: Arrived in Salem, Massachusetts from England with her husband and infant child. She married about 1650.
Family
Children
- John Wilsonb. Abt. 1652 in Englandm. Johanna Carter around 1672 near Woburn, Massachusettsm. Rebecca ____, May 25, 1713, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. February 1, 1734[1735], in Bedford, Massachusetts
- Sarah Wilsonb. Abt. 1653 around Salem, Massachusettsm. Samuel Snowd. June 15, 1686, in Woburn, Massachusetts one week after childbirth
- ____ Wilsonb. Abt. 1655d. Struck by Lightning
- Dorcas Wilsonb. January 29, 1657, around Salem, Massachusettsm. Aaron Cleveland, September 26, 1675, in Woburn, Massachusettsd. November 29, 1714, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Samuel Wilsonb. December 29, 1658, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Elizabeth Peirce, February 24, 1681[1682] in Woburn, Massachusettsd. November 21, 1729, in Woburn, Massachusetts
- Francis Wilsonb. Abt. 1660 around Woburn, Massachusettsm. Ruth Duntlin, March 6, 1683, in Woburn, Massachusettsd. August 15, 1724, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- James Wilsonb. Abt. 1663 around Woburn, Massachusettsm. Deborah Peirce, January 19, 1687, near Woburn, Massachusettsm. Margaret Russ, April 17, 1704, in Andover, Massachusettsd. Around Killingly, Connecticut
- Abigail Wilsonb. August 8, 1666, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Joseph Hildreth, February 25, 1683[1684] in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Jonathan Barrett around 1708d. November 27, 1747, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts
- Elizabeth Wilsonb. August 6, 1668, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Isaac Hildreth, November 12, 1685, in Chelmsford, Massachusettsd. January 4, 1743, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts
- Benjamin Wilson · in this lineb. October 15, 1670, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Elizabeth Fuller, Abt. 1693 near Woburn, Massachusettsd. July 11, 1750, in Ashford, Connecticut
- Hannah Wilsonb. May 31, 1672, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Jonathan Peirce, November 19, 1689, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. James Proctor around 1695d. February 27, 1726, in Woburn, Massachusetts
Life story
A Washerwoman's Testimony
Hannah James arrived in Salem, Massachusetts, around 1652 with her husband, John Wilson, and their infant child — family tradition holds that John fled England to avoid a second call-up to fight the Scots, and that Hannah, undeterred by the danger, insisted on following him even after their ship struck a rock in Boston Harbor and sank, the women and children reaching shore by lifeboat. Hannah took up work as a washerwoman despite never having done domestic labor before, and later served as a midwife, giving testimony in several Massachusetts court cases through the 1660s involving disputed paternity, property damage, and gossip about a neighbor's pregnancy. As Baptists, she and John were repeatedly fined for failing to attend the town's Puritan services. In 1697, fearing she might be swept up in the Salem witch trials for lacking strong local ties, Hannah left her husband and moved in with her daughter in Woburn without the town's permission; her sons and sons-in-law posted an eighty-pound bond guaranteeing the town against any costs of harboring her.
Sources (2)
- Ken Stevens, Wilsons from New England: Volume J, Descendants of John Wilson of Woburn, Massachusetts (Walpole, New Hampshire: Ken Stevens, 1991); digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/descendantsofjoh00stev : accessed 10 August 2026).
- William Utermohlen, “Elizabeth Fuller of Salem and Woburn, Massachusetts; Rehoboth, Rhode Island; and Ashford, Connecticut – Probable Wife of Benjamin Wilson,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 178 (Spring 2024): 169-188; image copy, American Ancestors, (https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/82242/169/97028178 : accessed 10 August 2026).