Benjamin Wilson
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
In brief
Born October 15, 1670, in Woburn, Massachusetts. He married about 1693 near Woburn, Massachusetts. He died July 11, 1750, in Ashford, Connecticut.
Family
Children
- John Wilsonb. January 9, 1694, in Woburn, Massachusettsd. January 27, 1706[1707], in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Benjamin Wilsonb. November 21, 1695, in Woburn, Massachusettsm. Elizabeth ____m. Elizabeth Sprague around 1731/1732 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Jonathan Wilsonb. December 8, 1698, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. Hannah Haile around March 20, 1723[1724] near Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. September 2, 1729, near Newport, Rhode Island
- Rebecca Wilsonb. January 20, 1701, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. Joseph Whiton, April 9, 1720, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. March 17, 1776, in Ashford, Connecticut
- Hannah Wilsonb. October 7, 1702, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Francis Wilsonb. September 7, 1704, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Elizabeth Wilson · in this lineb. July 8, 1706, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. Edward Carpenter, August 12, 1724, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. April 24, 1791, in Swansea, Massachusetts or Guilford, Vermont
- Samuel Wilsonb. January 5, 1707[1708], in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Ruth Wilsonb. April 7, 1710, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. Joseph Jacob, October 26, 1732, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. October 4, 1802, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Bethiah Wilsonb. December 4, 1711, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. John Beverly, May 5, 1731, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. Daniel Wilmarth, April 18, 1733, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. Abt. October 1776 in Dighton, Massachusetts
- Abigail Wilsonb. August 30, 1713, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. November 5, 1713, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
- Mary Wilsonb. October 17, 1714, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsm. Ebenezer Cole, June 10, 1740, in Rehoboth, Massachusettsd. March 26, 1794, in Shaftsbury, Vermont
Siblings
- 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
- 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 Weaver's New Start in Rehoboth
Benjamin Wilson was born October 15, 1670, in Woburn, Massachusetts, and in 1690 served with his brother Francis in Captain Samuel Gallup's expedition against Canada, traveling overland via Albany toward Quebec. Working as a weaver, Benjamin fell on hard times in Woburn — in 1697 the town granted him a tax exemption on account of his poverty, while noting he remained diligent in his community role — and that same year he followed his brother to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, buying land along the Palmer River. He rebuilt his fortunes there over the following decades, steadily acquiring more land and serving the town in a long string of civic posts: hayward, constable, tithingman, fence-viewer, and hogreeve.
A Founder of Palmer River Church
Benjamin joined Rehoboth's church in 1705, and in 1710 he and fifty neighbors in the Palmer River area successfully petitioned to be excused from the ministerial tax until their own parish was established; in 1721 he became one of ten founding members of the new Palmer River Church, built beside his own land. Beginning in 1718 he distributed his property among his children in stages, and around 1733 he moved to Ashford, Connecticut, likely to live with his daughter Rebecca and her husband. Benjamin died in Ashford on July 11, 1750, struck by lightning, and was buried at the Old Ashford Cemetery.
Sources (3)
- Amos B. Carpenter, A Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family in America (Amherst, Massachusetts: Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, 1898).
- 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).