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Note: Among the brave and hardy band were the Wilsons. Alexander Wilson, the immigrant, was born in London- derry, Ireland, in 1659, and came to Londonderry, N. H., in 1719. Accompanying Alexander Wilson was a son, James, then a man of forty, who, history says, was eight years old at the time of the siege. If there were other children, the records do not establish it. There is said to be now in preparation a genealogy of another line of Wilsons, who claim descent from a son, William, a brother of James. Of this line is Dr. Frank Lamb Wilson, of Hollywood, California, who has in his possession an old clock and other relics brought from Londonderry. There is also a cousin of Dr. Frank Lamb Wilson, Earl Farwell Wilson, of Saginaw, Mich., who has made quite an exhaustive research of the Wil- son family, and believes there was a son William who preceded his father, Alexander, to Londonderry. The record of James Wilson, whose descendents are recorded in this book of somewhat intimate and per- sonal family history, is readily traced, as evidenced by the inscription on the old gravestone, and also through legal and town histories. He was prominent in town and church affairs and the owner of large tracts of land. He was forty-seven years old when in Londonderry, [26] Children: 3i.Janet3 Wilson, b. 1679 in Rashee, Antrim, Ireland. +4ii.Hugh Wilson b. 1681. 5iii.Thomas Wilson, b. 1685. Dan Willson: (I can't prove it yet but I believe Thomas is President Thomas Woodrow Wilson's great great great grandfather. Their linage show Thomas Wilson m. Elizabeth b. in Londonderry Ireland 1690 and his father is John Wilson. Their son John Wilson b. 1717 Londonderry Co. Ire d. Jul 9 1773 Letterkenny Twp., Franklin Co. PA m. Nancy Brekenridge. Was it John Wilson and Barbara Porter's son Thomas? A question perhaps answered in the future. Certainly the timeline is right and both were strong Presbyterians.) In Search of Ancestors N. H., on November 10th, 1727, he married Jennett Taggert, also a native of Londonderry, Ireland, and who came to this country with her sister Mary, the maternal grandmother of Horace Greeley. Both of these sisters lived to a remarkable old age, and their characteristics are set forth in the following tribute of Horace Greeley: "I think that I am indebted for my first impulse toward intellectual acquirement and exertion to my mother's grandmother, Mary Taggert, who came out from Ireland among the first settlers of Londonderry. She must have been well versed in Irish and Scotch tra- ditions and well informed and strong minded; and my mother being left motherless when quite young, her grandmother exerted a great influence over her mental development." ELEANOR WILSON DICKEY Eleanor Wilson, the eleventh child and youngest daughter of James and Jennett (Taggert) Wilson, was the maternal grandmother of Samuel Wilson Collins, of Caribou, Maine, and from her on the maternal side came the Collins families represented in this book. The romantic tradition that has come down through successive generations of the elopement of Eleanor Wil- son and William Dickey, on her eighteenth birthday, would indicate that she had inherited a spirit of daring from her brave ancestors that mocked at convention- alities and restraint. Whatever the cause of opposition to her marriage, she cast her lot with the man she loved, and through a long life marked by an unusual person- ality made a remarkable impression on her descendants for at least four generations. There are only a few glimpses of her life in Wind- ham, as a part of Londonderry was eventually called. An error in the "History of Windham," compiled in 1885 by Morrison, gives the record of Eleanor as marrying David Dickey, and that they "moved to Maine," and this error in the Christian name of Wil- [27] Our Folks and Your Folks liam Dickey has been perpetuated in all the records of the Wilson genealogies since that time. It is the only mention of their married life except the record of the birth of two sons, James, in 1772, and Andrew, in 1774. But that the name was William, and not David, is proven by the records of Hancock County, which show that between the years 1791 and 1827 about twenty pieces of property were transferred to different persons by William Dickey, and that in 1823 one transfer was to his son Andrew, which was probably the home place where Andrew lived and died. The last transfer was in 1827, and William probably died not long after, as the death of Eleanor occurred in 1832, and she outlived her husband. It is the stories told by Eleanor to her grandchildren in Maine that throw a little light on the early history of her life. She was riding on horseback, accompanied by a sister, on her way home from Boston to Derry, when the "Dark Day" of 1780 came and forced them to dismount and tie their horses to a tree. She was forgiven by the church for her elopement, and given a "token" that admitted her to the com- munion once more. This question of what the "token" was proved to be most puzzling until we found the following description of the communion in Parker's History of Londonderry. He says: "The Lord's Supper was celebrated but twice in the year, spring and autumn, and it was then kept with almost the solemnities of the Jewish Passover. All sec- ular labor was laid aside by all the inhabitants, and it was a day of holy convocation. "Besides the Sabbath, all day Thursday, Saturday forenoon, and Monday forenoon were spent in public religious services, and strictly regarded as holy time. On such occasions several ministers were usually present to assist the pastor in his arduous work. "Previous to the Sabbath it was the custom to give out the "tokens," with one of which every communicant [28] In Search of Ancestors was required to be furnished. These were small pieces of lead of oblong shape, and marked with the letters 'L. D.,' meaning Londonderry. "On the Sabbath, the great day of the feast, tables stretching the whole length of the aisles were spread, at which the communicants sat and received the conse- crated elements. "The tables were 'fenced,' which was a prohibition and exclusion of any one from communicating who had not a 'token.' It was in the power of the elders who had the dis- tribution of the tokens to withhold one from any profes- sor whose life had been irregular or scandalous. "Unleavened bread, prepared in thin cakes, of an oval form, has always been used in this ordinance. The services of these occasions were often protracted until the going down of the sun. Nor were they deemed a weariness." The curtain now drops on the Windham scene, and we find William and Eleanor Dickey, in the year 1785, settled in the "Cove," seven miles from Belfast, near where the waters of the Penobscot River empty into Penobscot Bay, on the rugged coast of Maine. There had commenced in 1770 an emigration from Londonderry to Belfast, and probably many of their friends were among the number. It was a vast region known as Lincoln County, out of which in later years were formed the counties of Penobscot, Waldo, and Aroostook. It was here on a farm in the "Cove," which is in a part of the town of Stockton Springs, formerly called Prospect, that William, the youngest son of William and Eleanor Dickey, lived long after his generation had passed. He was survived by his wife, "Polly," who lived to be one hundred and three years old. "Aunt Polly," as she was familiarly called, had never seen a railroad, and had hoped to live to see the coming of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, whose depots and [29] Our Folks and Your Folks warehouses were to be erected on land belonging to the old farm on which she lived. But she died a few months before the whistle of the first engine was heard. To return to the story of Eleanor Wilson Dickey. Her life was undoubtedly one of privations and hard- ships. Her early religious training was always in evi- dence, and she brought up her family like her mother Jennett, in the fear and admonition of the Lord. "Remember the one thing needful," was a frequent exhortation that has come down from her to her grand- children and great-grandchildren. She was a charter member of the First Congregational Church of Sears- port. There was always a glamour of romance concerning her that still lingers, as evidenced by recent letters. One of her descendents writes: "There was a beautiful necklace of pearls, and lus- trous silks, that she sometimes wore, and her refined and lady-like manners were different from the class of people with whom she associated. There was also a quaintness of speech that marked the Londonderry emigrants. There was also the impression that she married beneath her station in life when she eloped with William Dickey." But the Dickey genealogy shows that the name is connected with some of the foremost families of the country. It was first known in this country in 1730, when some settled in Pennsylvania, some in Windham, and others in various parts of New England. The origin of the name is Scotch-Irish, and the Dickeys of the north of Ireland were families of influence in public life, and streets and fords and public halls are desig- nated as memorials of the name. Of the family of William Dickey, the man with whom Eleanor Dickey eloped, the following deduction seems to be the most plausible, and we present it after much research on our part, and assisted also by a pro- fessional genealogist and historian : [30] In Search of Ancestors In 1775, according to Morrison's History, there was living in Windham a William Dickey who was a weaver by trade, and who, it says, "taught Jane Dins- more how to weave." This same authority says that he was probably the father of Ensign William Dickey, one of the Revolutionary soldiers of Windham. It also says that he was probably the ancestor of Honorable William Dickey, of Fort Kent, Aroostook County. In the Vital Statistics of Londonderry there can be no other William Dickey of that town who could have married Eleanor Wilson. He was a weaver by trade, "and a very good weaver at that." And this supposi- tion seems to be substantiated by a conversation between William Dickey, of Fort Kent, and Samuel Wilson Col- lins, of Caribou, who met a few years before their death and who had lived in Aroostook County for many years, but had no personal acquaintance until their old age. In tracing the family name of Dickey, both came to the conclusion that they were cousins. Several children had been born to William and Eleanor Dickey before they moved to Maine, as related elsewhere, but James, the oldest son, then fifteen years old, may have remained with his grandparents in Wind- ham. There is a record of his marriage on March 20th, 1796, in Windham, to his cousin Mary, daughter of George and Mary (Wilson) Clark. Mary, the wife, died in Amherst, N. H., March 1 1th, 1852, and James in Manchester on March 13th, 1856. Both are buried in Amherst, where they resided for thirty years. It was through the correspondence of their daughter, Mrs. Sarah A. Hodgman, and granddaughter, Mrs. Sarah J. Blaisdell, the letters written in 1867 and printed in a previous chapter, that we have been able to connect James Dickey with the rest of the family in Maine. The genealogies of the Wilson descendants and brief sketches of some of the families follow : [31] Our Folks and Your Folks Genealogy Wilson-Dickey Families to Third Generation James Wilson, Argyleshire, Scotland, came to Lon- donderry, Ireland, in 1612. Alexander Wilson, his son, born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1659, and died in Londonderry, N. H., March 4th, 1752. James, his son, born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1680, accompanied his father to Londonderry, N. H., in 1719. He married Jennett Taggart, who died Jan- uary 12th, 1800, aged 97 years. James died June 12th, 1772, aged 92 years. Their children were: Agnes, born Aug. 2, 1728; married Samuel Fisher. George, born June 19, 1730; killed when young. Alexander, born May 5, 1731 ; married Jane McKean. James, born May 15, 1733. Mary, born Feb. 5, 1735 ; married George Clark. Janet, born April 20, 1737 ; unmarried. John, born Jan. 23, 1739; married Agnes Grimes. Samuel, died in 1742. Annis, born Sept. 23, 1743; married Thomas Nesmith. Margaret, born Aug. 13, 1744; married Daniel McDuffee. Eleanor, born Jan. 23, 1746; married Wm. Dickey; re- moved to Prospect, Maine, now Stockton. Samuel, born March 13, 1747. George, born June 19, 1748; married Janet Simpson. _ Of these children of James and Jennet (Taggart) Wilson, we have taken the families of Mary, who mar- ried George Clark; Alexander, who married Jane Mc- Kean; Annis, who married Thomas Nesmith; Eleanor, who married William Dickey, and George, who mar- ried Janet Simpson, because their descendents are more or less related to the families represented in this book. Children of George and Mary (Wilson) Clark Betsy, George and Jennie never married. Nancy, married Hugh Alexander. Eleanor, married Wm. Alexander. [32] In Search of Ancestors James, married Molly Clyde. Annis, married John Craig. Robert, married Patty Adams. Mary, married James Dickey (her cousin, a son of Eleanor) Grizzell, married James Woodburn. George Clark, who married Mary Wilson, was a half-brother of "Ocean Mary," whose story is told in the History of Windham. James Wilson, whose wife was Eleanor Hopkins, had eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. The sons' names were David, James, Robert, and Sam- uel. James and David lived in Bradford, Vt., and James attained renown as the maker of the first pair of terrestrial and celestial globes made in America. An account of his work will be found in another place. Alexander married Jane McKean, and their chil- dren were : Agnes, born Aug. 25, 1757 James, born Apr. 24, 1759 Samuel, born Feb. 23, 1761 John, born Jan. 18, 1763 Alexander, born Oct. 14, 1764 Alexander died in Francestown, December, 1821, aged 90 years 7 months. Jane Wilson, a daughter of Alexander Wilson (an "excellent citizen of Francestown"), married George F. Billings, of South Deerfield, Mass., and their only child was Elizabeth F. Billings, born February 1st, 1855, who died in Pasadena, Cal., in 1919. Children of Annis Wilson and Thomas Nesmith Annis Wilson married Thomas Nesmith, March 26th, 1732. Annis was a daughter of Jennet Taggart Wilson. They commenced their wedded life in Wind- ham, "and dwelt together in peace and harmony till death sundered the ties." They accumulated a large property, and their house was ever the home of the poor and needy. He died in his fifty-eighth year, [33] Our Folks and Your Folks November 30th, 1789, and his widow survived him for 34 years. She died January 4th, 1824, aged 81 years. They had seven children. A son, John, succeeded his father on the homestead of some 400 acres. The ancient house was demolished a few years ago. It was a roomy old place, consisting of 17 rooms, with a store attached, and a large hall connected with it, which was a famous place for balls and dances in the "olden time." Perhaps it was at a ball given in the home of her sister, Annis Nesmith, that gave occasion to the elopement of Eleanor Wilson and William Dickey. A grandson, Col. Thomas Nesmith, was especially dear to his long-widowed grandmother, with whom much of his early life was spent. He was one of the promoters of manufacturing on the Merrimac River, and secured the charter to control the water power at Lawrence, Mass., of which city he may be claimed as the founder. He became the inventor of valuable machinery; was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1860, and declined a re-election in 1863. He was vice president of the State Temperance Alliance of Massachusetts, and in his will provided a "Nesmith Fund" for the care, support and education of the indi- gent blind in New Hampshire. Mrs. Alice McKevett, of Los Angeles, is connected with the Nesmith family through Arthur, a brother of Thomas Nesmith. Children of James and Mary (Clark) Dickey Annis � Born Dec. 22, 1796; married Chandler Chase; resi- dence, Dracut, Mass. ; three children. Mary W. � Born Oct. 23, 1798; married Robert Alexander; died in Derry, N. H., Oct. 30, 1855 ; twelve children. Eleanor � Born March 30, 1811; married Wm. Johnson, Sept. 12, 1828; residence, Manchester; two children. Robert C� Born Feb. 14, 1803 ; died Aug. 26, 1804. Nancy Jane � Born Jan. 19, 1805 ; married John Priest, July 5, 1829; residence, Bradford, Mass.; five children. Sarah A. � Born Feb. 20, 1809; married Solomon Hodgman, Jan. 5, 1836; residence, Manchester; three children. [34] In Search of Ancestors �700738 Besmith � Born March 2, 1811 ; married Ambrose Charles, Feb. 7, 1839; died in Manchester July 26, 1875; five children. Eliza M. � Born May 31, 1813 ; married James Alexander, Jan. 7, 1836; died Mount Vernon, N. H., June 25, 1854; seven children. Harriet� Born July 26, 1815; married Timothy B. Phelps, Sept. 11, 1849; residence, Lyme, N. H. ; two children. Children of William and Sarah (Wilson) Dickey James � Born in Windham, N. H., Sept. 26, 1772; died in Man- chester, March 13, 1856; married Mary Clark, daughter of George and Mary (Wilson) Clark; ten children. Andrew� Born Jan. 9, 1774, in Windham; died Oct. 13, 1837, in Stockton, Me. He married Elizabeth Lancaster, born in Prospect, Oct. 23, 1776, on Dec. 26, 1797; ten children. Jane � Born in 1781 ; married Wm. Clewley. Sarah � Born in Windham about 1783; married Wm. Collins; residence, Calais. Eleanor � Born May 7, 1784; married Paul Revere Hichborn, a cousin of Paul Revere of Revolutionary fame. She was one year old when her parents moved to Maine ; died Jan. 7, 1860. Martha � Born Nov. 28, 1786, in Prospect, Me.; married John Saunders in 1808 ; residence. Prospect. Margaret � Born in Prospect, Oct. 2, 1778; married Capt. John Berry ; died Oct. 9, 1859. William� Born in Prospect, Dec. 10, 1793 ; died April 30, 1882, aged 89 years 4 months. He married Polly Lancaster, born in 1791, and who died Nov. 3, 1894, aged 103 years 11 months; no children. The greater part of this record is taken from tomb- stones in the cemetery at the "Cove," in what was formerly Prospect, but now Stockton, Maine. Descendents of Martha Dickey and John Saunders Martha, the eighth child of William and Eleanor (Wilson) Dickey, was born in Prospect, Maine, November 28th, 1786. In 1808 she was united in marriage with John Saunders, and of this union there were born eight children: Eleanor, Joseph, [35] Our Folks and Your Folks Nathaniel, Mary Jane, John, Martha, Charles and Peter. Of this number, only Eleanor, Joseph and John lived to mature age. Joseph married his cousin, Mary Eleanor Berry, daughter of John and Margaret (Dickey) Berry. There were no chil- dren. The descendents, therefore, are from Eleanor and John. Eleanor Saunders and Ansel Leighton Eleanor was married to Ansel Leighton of Bangor on Nov. 27th, 1836, and their children were four in number: Mary J., Maria L., Martha Louise, and Horace Wilson. Mary was married to Geo. Sumner Chalmers, Sept. 13th, 1859, and died Jan. 13th, 1913. Maria was married to Manly G. Trask on June 23rd, 1864. She died March 14th, 1915. Martha Louise died unmarried at the age of twenty-two years. Horace Wilson, the only son, married Alice M. Norton on Dec. 27th, 1893. There are no children by this marriage. Ansel and Eleanor (Saunders) Leighton lived for many years in Bangor, where Mr. Leighton established a successful plumbing and steam-fitting business. He died in 1877, and the business has been carried on since then by Manly G. Trask, his son-in-law, who came from New Sharon when but a lad with his parents, locating in Etna. Mr. Trask is a descendent of Osman Trask, who was born in England and came to this country about the year 1645. He was a brother of Capt. Wm. Trask, a friend and companion of Governor John Endicott. All of the name in this country probably are descended from these two brothers. On his mother's side he descends from Edmund Greenleaf, of French Huguenot stock, who was born in England and settled in Newberry, Mass., in 1635 ; the same ancestor from whom John Greenleaf Whittier descended. Miss Mattie L. Trask, the only living child of Manly G. and Maria (Leighton) Trask, comes into closer connection with the generation of her great-great-grandmother, Eleanor Wilson Dickey, than any other descendent that we have found. Her great-grandmother, Martha Dickey Saunders, lived with her daughter, Eleanor (Saunders) Leighton, for many years, and died in her home at an advanced age. Miss Trask readily recalls conversations of her grandmother, Eleanor Leighton, in regard to the quaint little body from Prospect, who was always a wel- come visitor in the homes of her children. Mention is made in [36] COLLINS HOME, CARIBOU, BUILT IN 1857 SOW OWNED BY HERSCHEL D. COLLINS In Search of Ancestors the introductory chapter of the peculiar salt-cellar in possession of Miss Trask, which came to her through this' great-grand- mother, Martha Dickey Saunders ; the only relic that is known to be in the possession of this branch of the Wilson family of Londonderry. Martha (Dickey) Saunders is buried in the Leighton lot in the beautiful Mount Hope cemetery of Bangor. Of the family of John Saunders, the second, three children are the only descendents : Helen M., born May 13th, 1846, and who married Luther Ferguson, Dec. 4th, 1864. Joseph H., born Dec. 7th, 1859, and who married Lottie Parkhurst in 1879, and then, on her death, Mrs. Eliza Grose, in 1882. Mary E., born Feb. 14th, 1861, and who married J. Frank Homans on July 10th, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Homans have two children, Luella A., born June 1st, 1881, and Edna J., born Nov. 22nd, 1885. Family of John and Margaret (Dickey) Berry John� Born 1809. Dorothy F.� Born May 25, 1811 ; died Dec. 6, 1886. Martha Jane � Born June, 1818; married Wm. Clewley. Joseph, Leonard, Mary, Eleanor � Dates unknown. Margaret Wilson � Married Ames. William. Daniel. Paulina � Married, first, Kimball, second, Collins. Susan Hichborn � Born 1835. Family of Andrew and Elizabeth (Lancaster) Dickey This list is copied from the old family Bible of Nancy Jane (Dickey) Mudgett through the courtesy of her daughter, Mrs. Martha Libbey Mudgett, of Linden Hills, Minn. Eleanor� Born Jan. 27, 1799; married Aug. 11, 1825, John Black; residence, Prospect. Elizabeth� Born Nov. 25, 1800; married John Griffin, Oct. 21, 1819. Mary � Born Aug. 8, 1802; married Edward K. Clifford, Aug. 19, 1824. [37] Our Folks and Your Folks Daniel� Born Feb. 23, 1804; married Mary Berry, Nov. 20, 1826. Mehitable � Born July 6, 1806; married Wilson Berry, June 3, 1829. Andrew � Born Jan. 9, 1809; married Julia Currier, no date. Nancy Jane � Born Nov. 3, 1811; married Willard Mudgett, Dec. 1, 1836. Amos � Born Aug. 27, 1814; married Clementine Seger. William� Born Feb. 28, 1817; married Mehitable Stude, Feb. 20, 1840. Lydia Abigail � Born Oct. 30, 1820; married Rufus Mudgett, no date. Family of Paul Revere Hichborn and Eleanor (Wilson) Dickey Susan Hichborn� Born Nov. 19, 1804. Sally� Born March 29, 1806. Robert� Born March 15, 1808. Henry� Born Jan. 18, 1810; died Sept. 10, 1825. Bab� Born March 22, 1813; died April 10, 1813. Albert� Born March 25, 1814; died April 11, 1815. Elmira� Born March 3, 1816. Thomas M.� Born Aug. 31, 1818. Wilson� Born Jan. 25, 1821 ; married Ardella Griffin. Eleanor� Born May 10, 1823. Josiah French � Born July 1, 1825. Henry Albert� Born Feb. 23, 1831. Wilson Hichborn, ninth child of Paul Revere and Eleanor (Dickey) Hichborn, married Ardella Griffin, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Dickey) Griffin. Their daughter, Miss Alice Hichborn, resides in Stockton Springs, Maine. She has served that town as assistant postmistress for many years. James Wilson, the Globe-Maker The following article, entitled "A Vermont Genius," published in 1904, was received through the courtesy of Mr. W. F. Waterman, of San Luis Obispo, Cal., who is a descendent of James Wilson, There is also a [38] In Search of Ancestors sister, Mrs. Jennie E. Gaffield, of Waterbury, Vt., and a son of W. F. Waterman, Dr. C. O. Waterman, of Long Beach, Cal., with whom we have had interesting correspondence. James Wilson, famous as the maker of the first globes manufactured in America, was a grandson of James and Jannett Taggert Wilson. He was born in Londonderry, N. H., and his education consisted of the three "R's" at fitful intervals in the district school and the slices of the Westminster catechism he
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