John Wilson
b. January 9, 1694, in Woburn, Massachusetts · d. January 27, 1706[1707], in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Benjamin Wilson
b. November 21, 1695, in Woburn, Massachusetts
m. Elizabeth ____; Elizabeth Sprague around 17312/17323 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Jonathan Wilson
b. December 8, 1698, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts · d. September 2, 1729, near Newport, Rhode Island
m. Hannah Haile around March 20, 1723[1724] near Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Rebecca Wilson
b. January 20, 1701, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts · d. March 17, 1776, in Ashford, Connecticut
m. Joseph Whiton, April 9, 1720, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Hannah Wilson
b. October 7, 1702, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Francis Wilson
b. September 7, 1704, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Samuel Wilson
b. January 5, 1707[1708], in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Ruth Wilson
b. April 7, 1710, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts · d. October 4, 1802, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
m. Joseph Jacob, October 26, 1732, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Bethiah Wilson
b. December 4, 1711, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts · d. Abt. October 1776 in Dighton, Massachusetts
m. John Beverly, May 5, 1731, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts; Daniel Wilmarth, April 18, 1733, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Abigail Wilson
b. August 30, 1713, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts · d. November 5, 1713, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Mary Wilson
b. October 17, 1714, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts · d. March 26, 1794, in Shaftsbury, Vermont
m. Ebenezer Cole, June 10, 1740, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Siblings

John Wilson
b. Abt. 1652 in England · d. February 1, 1734[1735], in Bedford, Massachusetts
m. Johanna Carter around 1672 near Woburn, Massachusetts; Rebecca ____, May 25, 1713, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Sarah Wilson
b. Abt. 1653 around Salem, Massachusetts · d. June 15, 1686, in Woburn, Massachusetts one week after childbirth
m. Samuel Snow
____ Wilson
b. Abt. 1655
Death: Struck by Lightning
Dorcas Wilson
b. January 29, 1657, around Salem, Massachusetts · d. November 29, 1714, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
m. Aaron Cleveland, September 26, 1675, in Woburn, Massachusetts
Samuel Wilson
b. December 29, 1658, in Woburn, Massachusetts · d. November 21, 1729, in Woburn, Massachusetts
m. Elizabeth Peirce, February 24, 1681[1682] in Woburn, Massachusetts
Francis Wilson
b. Abt. 1660 around Woburn, Massachusetts · d. August 15, 1724, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
m. Ruth Duntlin, March 6, 1683, in Woburn, Massachusetts
James Wilson
b. Abt. 1663 around Woburn, Massachusetts · d. Around Killingly, Connecticut
m. Deborah Peirce, January 19, 1687, near Woburn, Massachusetts; Margaret Russ, April 17, 1704, in Andover, Massachusetts
Abigail Wilson
b. August 8, 1666, in Woburn, Massachusetts · d. November 27, 1747, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts
m. Joseph Hildreth, February 25, 1683[1684] in Woburn, Massachusetts; Jonathan Barrett around 1708
Hannah Wilson
b. May 31, 1672, in Woburn, Massachusetts · d. February 27, 1726, in Woburn, Massachusetts
m. Jonathan Peirce, November 19, 1689, in Woburn, Massachusetts; James Proctor around 1695

In brief

Born October 15, 1670, in Woburn, Massachusetts. He married Abt and worked as weaver. He died July 112/153, 1750, in Ashford, Connecticut.

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.

At a glance

Work

Weaver, Husbandman

Lived

Woburn, Massachusetts · Rehoboth, Massachusetts · Ashford, Connecticut

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).