Family:Matthew Wilson and Unknown Spouse (1)

Thomas Wilson immigrated to Virginia from Ulster, Ireland about 1723 . After a few months in Philadelphia, he moved to the Valley of Virginia and settled on a portion of Borden's Grant near present Fairfield , Augusta County. Thomas Wilson wrote his will 5 April, 1773, "being a farmer of Augusta County, Virginia". The will was probated May 18 , 1773 in Augusta County Court. All his children are named in the will. Abstract of his will is found in "Augusta Records" by Judge Lyman Chalkley, Vol. iii, page 129. The following account speaks to the character of Thomas Wilson: Mathew Wilson was the brother of the 3 immigrant ancestors of the Wilsons of Botetourt County. He was from Ulster in Northern Ireland and most likely, a Scotsman descended from the families that immigrated to the Ulster Plantation in 1610 and later. During the reign of James I, Britain encouraged plantations to Ireland and Virginia, 1607. The ship on which Mathew, his wife and three young children and a maid sailed in 1720, was apparently damaged by storms. It floundered and sank near Stull, off the coast of France. He was drowned and lost . His wife, the maid and 3 children were rescued by another ship. The maid, infant baby girl and the mother died. The mother lived long enough to tell the story. The two boys, Moses, age 7 and James, age 3, were brought to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and cared for by strangers. Three uncles of the children came to Pennsylvania in 1723 (some accounts say 1727) and took James to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley which was being rapidly settled by the Scotch Irish Ulstermen. Moses Wilson was adopted by the family who had cared for him and he grew up in Pennsylvania, married and had children. The 3 brothers all went to Augusta County. Two of them, John Wilson and Robert Wilson, served as Burgesses from Augusta County. The third brother, THOMAS Wilson, adopted the orphaned James Wilson. James Wilson married his first cousin, Rebecca, daughter of his adopted father, Thomas. They settled in a portion of Augusta that later became Rockbridge County. This story came by oral history from Alex Waldrop , a cousin of George St. John and a Wilson descendant. The history had been researched for his aunt, Mrs. Carper. Chalkley's History of The Shenandoah Valley, Vol. 3 pp 129 is Thomas Wilson's will reciting names of his children. John Lewis is called the Founder of Augusta County, settling one of the first grants there in 1732. He is ancestor of General Andrew Lewis and of Preston Woodville.

History of The Shenandoah Valley, Vol. 3 pp 129. Lyman Chalkley