It is probable that the Pilson family originally belonged to Augusta County. In 1760 Richard of that name purchased from Jean Kincaid two hundred and twenty-four acres lying at the foot of the Blue Ridge. He appears to have died not long after, and the property descended to his son Samuel. In 1778 Samuel was living in Augusta, and in that year sold the land to William Pilson. William sold it to Nathaniel Harlow in 1783, and five years later it was the first purchase of John Dettor, of York County, Pennsylvania. It is likely that Samuel and William were brothers, and that Mary Pilson, who became the wife of William Wallace in 1771, was their sister.
John Pilson next appears, and was the son of Samuel. He was a man of sterling character, sincere piety, and the strictest integrity. He carried on the mercantile business in parnership with his cousin William Wallace until the death of William in 1809, and then conducted it alone for many years. The store stood on the old Staunton Road on the north side of the branch, opposite the house now owned by Rev. Dabney Davis. He invested the earnings of his business in the old Hardin property, which in 1837 he sold to Thomas C. Bowen. He was appointed a magistrate in 1824 and served for a time as ruling elder in the Mountain Plains Church. He never married, but was once engaged to his cousin Polly Wallace. Their union being opposed by friends because of relationship, they quietly acquiesced, but withal still loved and lived in each other's eyes until her death in 1845; and to her memory he remained a constant until his own death, which occurred ten years later. A nephew, Matthew Pilson, from Augusta County, was for some years an assistant in the store. After John's death he returned to Augusta, where he died not long ago at an advanced age.
