Notes:

Abraham Willson's tombstone was likely elegantly engraved & lettered by John Bigg, as his grandfather John Willson, J.P., had given Bigg an affidavit for making & finishing 2 mill stones & a gravestone on 26 April, 1793, Miramichi. John Bigg had land up the river from on the Southwest branch of the Miramichi. Seventeen whole tombstones & parts of others are at Willson Point.

Abraham Willson was named after his grandfather Abraham Lakerman of Richmond, Staten Island, NY. - - -

Buried:

Notes:

Northumberland Co., New Brunswick, Deed Registry Books:
. 1793 Jun 16, Sarah Willson & John Willson Junior to William Babock, carpenter, the peaceable & quiet position for £15, improvements of 200 Acres, the Lot on NW Miramichi, by Richard Lawrence. Ref: Vol 2, Pg. 46, Q.C.D., W.S. of N.W.N.

. 1795 Jul 29, John Willson, Jur. A town of York Lot & 400 Acres
Ref: The York Report of 1795 Aug 12, C2980, p174.

. UCLPetition 2, To John Graves, Since, Lieut. Gov., John Willson, Jur.' formerly from NJ, left with my father as early as the year 1776 & was employed in driving my father's wagon in British services till the army return from the Jerseys to Staten Island & was embarking for the Head of Elk [Maryland c. 1777.8.25] when my fathers being deprived of his health so he could not go on board. I then retired with him & the rest of his family on Sand Island* from where I often served as a guide & volunteer with the British Army in many Excursions into the Jersey. Where I ran many risks & received wounds & continued in that Line till the Commencement of Peace when I went with my father & many Families to New Brunswick, Where I served as Lieutenant in an Independent Company & continued till my father thinking Proper to move to this Province. Humbly prays for a Lot of land with the broken front lying on the Humber between Lots located to Levy Devins & Jacob Philips & Lot 18 West side of Yonge Street & what ever more your Excellency of his wisdom may think proper to bestow on one of such a description.
Signed: 25 March, 1796, John Willson, Jur.
N.B. Your petitioner begs leave to accompany this with a commission from is Excellency Governor Carleton, J.WJ.
Envelope: Rec. March 31, 1796, Recommended for Lot 18, Yonge St,
Entered in Land Book B, Page 69.
Ref: Willson, John, Jur, UCLP, W Bundle 2, Petition 2, C1796 -1797 & C 950, p623.

Note1: Sandy Hooke, NJ. is a peninsula lying between Monmouth, NJ & Staten Island, NY on the north side. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse was a Refugetown, where the Tories received protection front he Continental army. Here they were strongly guarded by British cannon & many raid were made upon Middletown & Shrewsbury, plundering, burning & carrying off prisoners.
Ref: History of Middletown, NJ.

. UCLPetition 30, W Bundle 3, C2950 p1154. [This 2nd petition giving more battle details: -PJA]
To Hon. Peter Russell, Esq. The Petition of John Wilson Jurn., formerly of East Jersey. That your petitioner joined the British army in the year 1776 & was employed in the Quartermaster's General Department until the embarkation from Staten Island to the Chespeak [1777] at which time your petitioner was prevented from going by the bad state of health of his father. He then served as a volunteer guide & in many hazardous enterprises in the Jerseys when your petitioner received several bad wounds for which he never had any pay or other emolument whatever but continued in this situation till the Commencement of the Peace when he went to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick where he had where he had the honor to have a commission as Lieutenant in an Independent Company, your petitioner during or since these services, never recd. Any title for lands & came to this Country with his father together with settlers to the number of 60 souls.
Signed, John Willson, Junior. [Undated, but:] Read in Council, 1797 Jun 26.
Envelope: Rec.21 Jun 1797, Read Jun 24 The Commission accompanying this Petition does not give any specific a quantity of land.It however, conveys respectability to the Holder & the Committee will no doubt attend to it as will as the Services he address proof of in the Petition of Land which they may judge proper to recommend the petitioner, Signed, Peter Russell.
Recommended for 600 Acres including former grants. Signed, Peter Russell.I
Given a let. 1 Jul 1797.

. 1796 - To John Small, Esq., C. E. Council. I do hereby certify that Mr. Richard Lawrence & Mr. John Wilson Jun. are Loyalist UE in the surest sense of the word, & are so issued In the Order of Council in their favour, & as such pay no fees except your official fee of 5/6d. You will therefore please to insert these U.E. in their Order of Survey.
Envelope: Mr. Richard Lawrence & Mr. John Wilson Junior. Certificate of the Honorable Ea. Shaw, as to Loyalty in favor of the above persons.
Ref: 1st Hier & Devisee, H1146, p228. Archives or Canada.

. Inhabitants to York Township & adjoining Townships, assembled 1797 Jul 17th, Inhabitants of the Humber:
John Willson, Esq.: Men 2, Women 1;
John Wilson, Junr., Men 3, Women 2.

. 1806 Nov 11th, by Order in Council Old United Empire Loyalists List, Wilson, John Junr, Home District, Son of John Senr. Associated Loyalist. Ref: Appendix, Appendix B. centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the UEL.

. 1806 Sep 9. To Francis Gore, Esq., Petition of John Wilson, Junior. Joined the British standard at the breaking out, at which he joined the British Standard & went to New Brunswick with the Loyalist in 1783, till he came to this Province in 1792. His name is missing from the U.E. list, pray enter his name is that distinguished list. John Wilson says the contents contained in this Petition are well known to the Hon John McGill & Lt. Coll. Shaw. York, 9th Sept., 1806, John Wilson.
1808 Minutes of Town of York: John Wilson, Jr., 3 males, 2 females. Survey of settlers actually living on Yonge St:
York June 1798, Lot 18 West: John Webster? Wilson. 1 & half acres cleared. Small hut building. Surveyed by David W Smith, Esq.

Note2: Æneas Shaw b. Scotland - d. 1815 York, NJV & Queen's Rangers during Revolution. In company of Sam Smith, Adj. John Gill.2, & 9 others, snowshoed from NB to Quebec 1792 to join John Gov. Simcoe in Toronto. Shaw served as a member of the Executive Council of UC. They knew the Willson from the Revolution. - PJA

. John Willson, Jr. The entrance to his property at Lot 18 Yonge Street was marked with a tall elm tree. (Near Yonge & Empress Streets, Willowdale. -PJA)

. Yonge Street Petition to Gov. Hunter, 1800 January, 16th, Yonge Street is impassable - Signed, John Jr., Senior & Stillwell Willson, & 12 Yonge Street residents. Ref: # Wb.55.

. Petition in support of a Mill near Niagara for Timothy Skinner of Stamford Twp., Lincoln Co. 57 signatures, including, John Willson, Senior. & Junior. Aug 19 1800 These proposals cannot be accepted. (no signature)
Ref: UCLP S- 5 /60, Archives of Ontario film # C2808.
Note4: The Willsons signed this petition just after their own lease on the King's Mill had expired. - PJA.

. Town of York Meetings: 1801 Mar 7. - At a town meeting held on Monday, the 2nd of March inst. at the house of Messrs. & A Playter [Bloor St.], the following persons were elected to serve as public officers for the present year: Overseers of Highways, John Wilson Jr., - for Yonge Street, from No. 25 to Big Creek & half the bridge, [i.e. Steeles to York Mills Ave.]
Ref: York, Upper Canada Minutes of Town Meetings & Lists of Inhabitants 1797-1823

. 1802 June 4, Militia Drill - Just after Daybreak we got up took out our Horses & fed them. Miss Miles got up & prepared us some Breakfast. We soon got joined with Mr. B. Arnold & rode on, as fast as we could through the bad roads. We were joined by J Wilson Junr., 3 of the Mr. Johnsons, Hollingshead, Hoover, Henrick & some others, we all stopped at Eversons Tavern & drank some Whiskey, where more company came up, making 14 horseman. Pass'd an number on foot all going into town. At the Mill road I left them & got down to farther about 8 o'clock.
Soon came up & we walked into Town, dressed ourselves ...Hurried to the alarm Post to join the Company. The men attended pretty generally & we marched into Town & joined the Battalion in the Park. The Men look'd very well, we went through no exercise, only formed the Line. The Captains gave in their returns to the Colonel & he dismiss'd us offering a beaver hatt to the best marksman with the soot the board guns & another to the best there. Riffles we fired at the target by turns in the Company. The Town, of course, was full of people & a great number drunk, were wrestling, jumping, boxing, & the like all the evening...The House was full of all kinds of people.
Ref: Ely Playter's Diary.

. John Jr. was the trustee for a small chapel at York Mills which the Children of Peace used to hold services.

. His father John Senior left him land in Dorchester Twp., Norfolk Co., Ontario.

Toronto Sundries, Home District (Toronto) Quarter Sessions Minutes
. 1804 Apr 11, Wednesday - The following persons were appointed to be Constables in the Home District: John Wilson Jun, Yonge Street, Township of York.

. 1806 Apr 8, Tues. Jacob Comer VS John & Eleanor McBride, his wife, Assault. Eleanor McBride guilty. Wit: John Comer, John Willson, Jur., Joseph Shepherd.

. Grand Jury, John Willson Junior, Foreman. John Thomson VS. Bapistie Renaurd, Petty Larceny, Guilty.

* 1809 October 15 Sunday, Sunday, Banns, Henry Coon & Catherine Everson, both of the Township of York. 
Witnesses: John WILLSON & Adam Everson.
Note5: Without a signature etc. it is difficult to determine which John Willson, Senior or Junior, this could be. - PJA.

War of 1812 MUSTER:
. 1812 Feb 19 to 26 Apr 1813, Absent on sick leave, c 1203, pp 86, 88-96,102;
. 1812 Sep 8 - R, Wm. Marsh Jr, Jonathan Hale of Capt. Sam. Ridout's Co., 3 Regt. York Militia, Serj. Jacob Snyder, John Lamoreaux, Private Thos. Johnson, Priv. Stillwell Willson, D W Kendrick;
. 1812 Sept 13, Willson, John Capt., 3rd York Militia. Appointed officer for the day 14-9 1812, Garrison orders. C1203,
. 1812 Oct 16-24th, Pte. JW, 3rd YM, on the Muster Roll of Capt. Ridout's company. York Garrison 1812, film C1203. p 75.
. 1812 Sep 19 Leave of absence has been granted Until when: Sept 22, 6 o'clock pm. Other present: Danl. Cummer, Jacob Snyder, Geo Denison, Thomas Johnson, Isacc Willson (a cousin), John Montgomery, James Everson.

. 1812 Sep 8 to Sep 22. Stillwell Willson & Thos. Johnson, Remarks Discharged…
* Arms: no sword issued - only the Capt. & 1 other had any arms! - PJA)
. 1812 Nov 25 - Dec 24 - John Willson, Capt. Ridouts Co., 3YM, also Lt. D. W. Kendrick. Joseph Huff has a lead pencil missing through the whole time 17 Sep. Prisoner & committed to Gaol the same day.
. 1812 Sept 13, York Garrison Orders, Permission granted to his Co. to return to their homes until further orders, p.10
. 1812 Oct 16 59 Oct 19 - Rolls recorded as they marched into York Garrison 16 Oct 1812." - Thos. Johnson, John Willson, Peter Lawrence who transferred to Rifle Company 21st Oct - Isaac Willson, Danl. Cummer.
Lieut. Duke Wm Kendrick, killed Jan 1, 1813.

. 1812 Oct 10, Officer for the day, Capt. JW, 3YM, C1203, p22
. 1812 Oct 24, Capt. York Garrison. Ref: c 1203, p29;
. 1812 Nov 9, Capt. Garrison to be officer for day. Regimental O. His Company to remove to & occupy Capt. Burn's rooms in the Garrison. Garrison Orders, York. Ref: C1203, p50.
. 1812 Nov 9, Capt. York Garrison Orders, Regimental officer. His Company to remove to & occupy Capt. Burn's Rooms in the Garrison, Ref: c1203, p 50;
. 1812 Nov 11 & 14th, Capt. JW of 3YM, To be captain. for the days 12 & 15 Nov., c1203, pp 52.56;
. 1812 Dec 25 - 1813 Jan 8, John Willson, 15 Days 7s 6p., also Thos. Johnson, Jhn. Montgomery, Jo. Johnson, Danl. Cummer. Contractors in Kings Works, struck off pay & provisions. Ridouts 3rd YM,
Note6: Written signed by John Willson, Sr., 1YM.
Ref: Upper Canada Nominal Rolls & Paylists, 510384, p825.

. 1812 Metal granted to him for action at Detroit, Pte. John Willson, York Militia.
Ref: British Military & Naval Records, Microfiche C1202, P.8, from Index only C11870, p.1480.

. 1813 Feb 19, Capt. Ridout's Co. 3YM. Employed on the King's Works at York Garrison 1812-1813. C1203, pp 64, 109; Kings Work, John Willson in contract since 1 Jan & getting out timber. KW Joseph Johnson, Thos. Johnson; Jno Willson went home sick Feb. 28th.

. 1813 Feb 19, Roll & State of my Company, Capt. S Ridout. Joseph Johnson on command gone to Niagara with sleigh; Thos. Johnson. K. W. (Kings Work).
John Willson went home sick 20 Feb. 1813.
. 1813 Feb 25 - Mar 2, John Willson, 13 days, pd. £1 7s 6d. On furlough from 2nd to 15th [March]. Ridouts 3YM;
. 1813 Feb 28 - Sick in Barracks, John Willson; Jno Willson went home sick Feb 28th.
. 1813 Mar 1st to 4th, Sick at home, John Willson, Jno. Montgomery;
. 1813 Mar 5th to 15th, Sick at home: John Willson, J Montgomery
. 1813 Mar 16, Sick in Barracks, Jno Willson, Jno Montgomery
* 1813 Apr 10, Sick in Hosp., Jno. Willson. Apr 11th. Sick in Barracks, Jno Willson.

. 1813 Mar 25 - Apr 24, John Willson, Days 31 pd. 15s 6p. & Isaac Willson promoted to Corporal 29 March. Ridouts 3rd YM.
. 1813 Mar 27, Kings Work, Jno Willson, in contract since 1 Jan & getting timber.
* 1813 Apr 25th & 26th, In Kings Work. Jno Willson.
* 1813 Apr 25 Prisoner of American Army & Navy, York Garrison, along with his father, Captain John Willson, & John Arnold. Released on parole.

. 1813 Oct 25 - Nov 24, John Willson, Days 26, pd. 13s. Capt. Stephen Heward's 3YM.

. 1813 April 14, York, Militia G. O. The proceeding. of a Court of Inquiry, held at York on the 10th instant, to examine & report on a complaint of Lieut. Colonel Chewitt, against Lieutenant John Wilson, of the 3rd regiment of York Militia, having been laid before his Honour the Major-General commanding, he has to observe that by the documents which have been under the examination of the court, the conduct of Lieutenant Wilson appears to have been highly reprehensible. However improper in itself, or wounding to his feelings, may have been what Lieut. Col. Chewitt said or wrote to his disadvantage, it would be no justification whatsoever of the very indecorous & insubordinate expressions contained in his letter to Lieut. Col. Chewitt, his commanding officer, dated 30th March last. When Lieutenant Wilson thought himself aggrieved, the mode to obtain redress was to lay his complaint in the regular way before a superior officer, from whom he might be assured he would receive it.
His Honour trusts that the observations which he has made will be considered by Lieutenant Wilson as a just reproof, & that it will have a propel influence on his future military conduct.
By order, Æneas Shaw, Adjt.-Gen'l Militia, Head Quarters.
Ref: Robertson's landmarks of TorontoV1 p609.

. 1815 Apr 15, Saturday. - Interesting York News: Lake Ontario is uncommonly sight. Immense flights of the wild pigeon from west to east on the 27th. The wild duck revisit our waters since peace was made.
"Never was a government more disappointed at not conquering a country than the American Government at not overrunning this province: Let us quote as a proof & as an object, that their commanders were instructed to name provisionally the place they successfully conquered. "Newark" [that is now, Niagara-on-the-Lake,] whilst in their possession was dubbed, "West Niagara, County of Ontario, State of Columbia." The editor had no very high opinion of the Americans in their effort to rename Newark.

. 1815 Jun 5, York. Return of Officers holding formerly Commissions residing within the limits of - 3rd Rg. York Militia, Lt. Col. Comd. Wm. Chewett, Maj. Wm. Allan, Capt. John Denison, Capt. Duncan Cameron who sent in his resignation, Capt. Playter, Capt. John Wilson,
J. WILSON, JUNR, late of the Nova Scotia Militia.
Ensign Snyder, late of the N.B. Militia.

. 1815 Dec 15 Militia & Defense Lists of Veterans of 1812-15 of Lower & Upper Canada to who medals have been granted & of those whose medals remain in the Adjutants General's Office: Privt. John Willson, York Corps. Action for which metal was granted, Detroit, Sent to Peter Shaver.
(Undated letter, c. 1813) Privt. John Willson of York to Peter Shaver for Detroit. Peter Shaver was member of Parliament for Dundas, Ontario & was contracted to provide heavy lumber & building materials for Fort Wellington on the St. Lawrence River at Prescott, Ontario.

. 1816 - Minutes of Town of York: John Wilson, Jr. 2 males over 16; 1 female over 16; 3 females under 16.

. 1816 May 8, Stillwell Willson, John Willson & Leonard Willcox, joint bond between Mr. All, Collector of the Port of York, for the Boat Lark.

. 1816 Joseph & Catherine [nee Fisher] donated 2.3/4 Acres of thier land high on th4 hill abobve York Mills for a church & churdyard. A fundrasing docuent for a church was signed by Joseph Shepard, Seneca Ketcheum & John Willson. St. John's Anglican Church was ready in fall 1816. John Willson served as a building trusteef rth the church.

. LAST WILL & TESTAMENT, dated 9 August, 1816:
Pay Funeral changes & debts. Wife Sarah the use of one third North Lot 18, First Con. Yonge. provided she remains my widow;
To oldest son John, the south half of Lot 18 & buildings & apparatuses.
Likewise to son Stillwell north half of Lot 18 with buildings;
To daughter Rebecca $100 paid equally by John & Stillwell.
To granddaughter Sarah Smith be paid $200 & 2 cows & 8 sheep when she arrives at 18 years & also one bed & bedding which in now in the house. The sons to equally maintain their mother.

All my Stock & moveables to his wife Sarah & then to Stillwill & his heirs. To Stillwell, 200 Acres in South Div. Dorchester, London District. Joseph Shepard, Twp. of York is sole, Executor of will.
Signed: Benjamin Slatar, John Willson, Jur, Alexander Montgomery, Elisha Pease, the 27th or 28 Dec. 1818.
Signed & sealed, York, 6 Feb, 1819, John Willson.

Ontario Land Registry North York Book 4, p2:
Lot 9, Con 1 EAST Yonge Street
. 1797 Mar 12 - Patent, Crown, to John Willson, Jr., All 210 Acres.
. 1797 Jul 11, - Release, Wm. Bond, to Samuel Heron,
to John Willson, Jr., All Acres, £200, All in al acres
. 1798 Sep 20, John Wilson et ux, to Samuel Heron, £12.10, All

Lot 18, Con 1 West Yonge Street
. 1805 Sep 19 - Patent, Crown, to John Willson Jr., All 190 Acres
. 1816 Aug 9 - Instrument 3355 WILL, Registered 1819 Mar 12, John Willson, Registered 12 Mar 1819.
. 1828 May 19, Bargain & Sale, Stillwell Willson et ux, to John Wedd, £130, N Half 105 Acres. [ i.e. Stillwell The Younger].
. 1829 Oct 15, B&S, John Willson at aux, to David Gibson, £400, 2 Half 106 Acres.
. 1830 Oct 8, R (?), Stillwell Willson Jr. to John Wedd, £130 N Half 105 A.

Lot 2, Con 1 East Yonge Street, North York Book 1, p10.
. 1798 Dec 17, Patent, Crown to Reuben Clark, 190 A.
. 1804 Nov 3, B&S, Reuben Clark, to John Willson, £xx, 190A.
. 1805 Oct 9, B&S, John Willson, to Wm. Allan, £xx, 190A.
. 1805 Sep 19 - Patent, Crown, to John Willson, Jr., All 210 Acres
. 1816 Aug 9 - Instrument 3355 WILL, John Willson, Registered 12 Mar 1819.
Note3b: Verification of which John Willson, ie. 2nd.? required. - PJA 2018. - - -

Page Two: WITNESSES TO HISTORY:
. 1816 Peter Lawrence & John Willson, at the Richmond Street Court House, Toronto, before chief Justices Powell & Campbell, Justice Boulton, W Allen. Early Scenes in Manitoba:
GRAND JURORS in the UPRISING at the SELKIRK RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Summary ! :
The Montreal North West Company of Fur Traders was a rival of the Hudson's Bay Company. Whilst the latter traded for the most part in the regions watered by the rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay, the former claimed for their operations the area drained by the streams running into Lake Superior. The North West Company of Montreal looked with no kindly eye on the settlement of Kildonan. An agricultural colony, in close proximity to their hunting grounds, seemed a dangerous innovation, tending to injure the local fur trade. Accordingly it was resolved to break up the infant colony. The Indians were told that they would assuredly be made "poor & miserable" by the new-comers if they were allowed to proceed with their improvements; because these would cause the buffalo to disappear. Lord Selkirk secured land for emigration purposed in land held by the Hudsons' Bay Company. In 1813 there were 100 settlers originating from the Scottish Clearances to the 'Selkirk Settlement' located at the confluence of the large Assiniboine & Red Rivers, with an outlet at York Factory on the Hudson's Bay.

In the spring of 1816, Mr. Semple, the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, appeared in person at the Red River, having been apprized of the growing troubles. At the Battle of the Seven Oaks, on the 18th of June, a band of men, headed by Cuthbert, Grant, Lacerte, Fraser, Hoole, & Thomas McKay, half-breed employees of the North West Company, the Governor of the Hudsons Bay Company was violently assaulted; & in the melee he was killed, together with 5 officers & 16 of his people. Chief Peguis, with the permission of Cuthbert Grant, stayed to bury the dead, the rest fled [eventually to the Grand Rendezvous at Fort William.]

En route to his colony, Lord Selkirk had used his troops under his authority as a magistrate to seize Fort William & arrest Nor’Wester William McGillivray & his two companions, & to hold the Fort’s assets for eventual arbitration, as payment for his colony’s losses. On Selkirk's return to Upper Canada, he was drawn into a lengthy lawsuit brought against him by the North West Company.

Out of these events sprang the memorable trials that took place in the York Court House in 1818.

On The judges were Chief Justice Powell, Mr. Justice Campbell, Mr. Justice Boulton, & Associate Justice W. Allan, Esq. The counsel for the Crown were Mr. Attorney-General Robinson, Mr. Solicitor-General Boulton. The counsel for the prisoners were Samuel Sherwood, Living P. Sherwood, & W. W. Baldwin, Esq. The juries in the three trials were not quite identical. Those that served on one or other of them are as follows: George Bond, Joseph Harrison, Wm. Harrison, Joseph Shepperd, Peter Lawrence, Joshua Leach, John McDougall, jun., Win, Moore, Alexander Montgomery, Peter Whitney, Jonathan Hale, Michael Whitmore, Harbour Stimpson, John Wilson, John Hough, Richard Herring.
1816 Jun 19th, the Trial by Grand Jury take place a the (old) Court House on Richmond in the Town of York, (Toronto).

Trials 1 & 2: The prisoners brought down from Fort William, after the lapse of nearly two years were arraigned as follows: "Paul Brown & F, F. Boucher, for the murder of Robert Semple, Esq., on the 19th of June, 1816. Johan Siveright, Alexander McKenzie, Hugh McGillis, John McDonald, John McLaughlin & Simon Fraser, as accessories to the same crime. Cooper & Bennerman, for taking, on the 3rd of April, 1S15, with force & arms, eight pieces of cannon & one howitzer, the property of the Right Hon. Thomas Earl of Selkirk, from his dwelling house. In each case the verdict was "not guilty."

Trial 3. The Earl of Selkirk was not present at any of the trials. The Jury found by the Grand Jury for "conspiracy to ruin the trade of the NorthWest Company;" a verdict £500 damages for having been seized & false imprisonment by the said Earl of Selkirk in Fort William, Ontario.

Note7: Fort William & Henry, is located at the top of Lake Superior. Now renamed Thunder Bay, Ontario. No doubt the 19 (French) Canadian Metis were apprehended at the annual Grand Rendezvous of fur traders at Ft. William.

Note8: This was a very important trail with many famous people of time being involved: Lord Selkirk, members of the 'Family Compact' the two Boltons, Allan, Robinson & Baldwin; the 2 northern explorers MacKenzine & Fraser; & many of the Lawrence-Willson neighbors.

Note9: John Willson, senior or junior, is not stated. Because of the presence of Peter Lawrence, I believe it was more likely John Junior as the Junior, because they in 1816 they lived closer together. On the other hand, his father, John Willson Senior, had moved further north to the Children of Peace's settlement in Sharon, Ontario, however, John the Senior was captured in the previous year in the War of 1812-13 at the Battle of Fort York. - PJA 2011. - - -

Birth:
John.2 'Junior' sometimes signed his name Wilson.

Died:
His will was dated 9 Oct 1816.

John married Sarah LAKERMAN on 23 Apr 1782 in St. Andrew's Church, Richmond. Sarah (daughter of Abraham LAKERMAN, The 4th, U.E. and Elizabeth HILLYER) was born on 25 Mar 1762 in Richmond, Staten Island, New York; died in By 1828 in York Twp., York Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sarah is the daughter of Elizabeth Hillyer & Abraham Lakerman.IV & U.E., of Richmond on Staten Isl., NYC.
* 1762, Mar 25, Abraham Lakerman & Elizabeth his wife, Daughter, Sarah.
* 1782 Mar 9, Marriage License, issued by Secretary of the Province of New York to:
John Willson & Sarah Lakerman. The actual marriage:
* 1782 Apr 23, at St. Andrew's Church, Richmond, NY.

. The Willson's arrived in the May Fleet group of 20 vessels bring 30,000 Loyalist at St. John's harbour the 10th & 18th May, 1783. The names of the vessels were:
The Camel, Union, Aurora, Hope, Otta, Spencer, Tempest?, Thames, Spring, Bridgewater, Favorite, Ann, Commerce, William, Lord Townsend, Sovereign, Sally, Cyrus, Britain, King George.
Ref: History of St. John. D R Jack.
Two other vessel were The Two Asters, commanded by Capt. Brown & the Bridgewater. Ref: Ripples on the St. John River in Loyalist Days.

. To Peter Russell, Upper Canada (Ontario):
The petitioner Sarah Wilson, Daughter of Abraham Lakerman late is His Majestry's Services as Captain of a Troop of Militia Horse. That your Petitioner Loyalists lands as a daughter to the above, he was being a firm friend & servant to Gov. She having been in this county for 3 years. [ c 1793 Oct.] & in duty bound will ever pray,
John Willson, Jur.

. Richard Lawrence maketh Oath & says that he knew the wife of John Wilson Jur. - (Sarah Lakerman) & that she was actually within the British lines last American war at New York, & that her father died within the British lines in the year 1776.
Signed, Richd. Lawrence.
Ref: Willson, Sarah Lakerman, DUE, UCLP W Bundle 4 1797-1799 Petition 2. Microfliche C2951.
Note1: Undated letter, but the above letter was received on 27 June, 1797 & marked read 26 May, 1798, eleven months later!
Richard Lawrence is Sarah Lakerman Willson's brother-in-law. - PJ Ahlberg.

. House of Uncle of Sarah Lakerman
. Richmond, NY, 1791 Jun 24, NY East Ward Assessment of Real & Personal Property:
The house of Isaac Van Tuyl. The small size & amount of its windows is characteristic of an early period. The large section is original unit, covered by a gambrel roof of New England type, has been restored & considerable altered.

. Recorded for further research: William Lakerman, died 16 Oct, 1805 & buried in Saint Andrews Church Cemetery, Richmondtown, New York.
Note2: that is, the same church that Sarah married John Lawrence. - - -

Birth:
Alt Spellings: Lacreman, Lackman, Lockman, Lakeman, however, the original Lacqueman.

Notes:

Married:
Alt Date 2 Mar 1782, Licenses issued to John Willson and Sarah Lackerman, Staten Isl., New York Vol XXXV, p 83

Notes:

A great deal of Canadian documents exist for John Willson, Esq., of which a selection is recorded here:
Note: No reference can be found that John Willson, Esq. was ever called or used the name John Miller Willson. - PJA 2010.

PART ONE:
John is the son of Sara Ladner & John Willson, Senior. .
* Deed (of unknown date) to John & James Willson for more land adjoining the first 100 Acres £29 - Jane & Rachel Drummond, only children of the Earl of Perth, Executed by Elias Bouodinot, Esq. Elizabeth Town, NJ.
Executed Elias Boudion, Esq. lawyer, ElizabethTown, NJ. [Date as below??]
* 1796 Dec 15, Tract of drowned lands along Wallkill, deeded to John & Samuel Willson from Joseph & William Sharp. (Deeds in the possession of Eva A Willson).
Ref: "Line of Descent of George Roger Gilbert"

. 1760 Oct. 16 - WILL of John Langstaff of Piscataway, NJ. To wife Mary & grandson John Langstaff, lands south of Ambrose Book. Witnesses John Willson, Jr. & John Arnold,
Note1: The 2, Langstaff & Arnold, also went to Upper Canada, where they were amongst many New Jersey exiles located near each other on north Yonge Street, Toronto. - PJ Ahlberg.

. John Wilson of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., Memorial, Summary now of Miramichi, Northumberland Co., 1786, joined troops at Woodbridge in 1777 in Forge Dept. Claim for 50 Acres & an house.
Ref: Commission for Loyalist Losses. # 12 /16 /187 -192, 63/115 & 109/320. Jan. 1787.

. Old United Empire Loyalists List
Wilson John Senr., (Home District) From Staten Island. Came in a settler in 1878 with 3 sons.
Ref: Appendix B.
Willson, John of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., Memorial, now of Northumberland Co., NB, sworn St. Johns, NB, 1786. He fled to the Army at Perth Amboy in 1777.
Schedule of LOSSES 81 Acres of land in Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., East New Jersey; 1 house, barn, out houses, Orchards, £1000; 3 Acres of Salt Meadow, £10; confiscated & sold by Congress; 5 Horses, £50; 9 Cows, £45; 4 young cattle, £8; Farming utensils & Household furniture £60,
Total: £1173. New York currency.

. 1784 May, Settled New Brunswick, Canada: John Wilson, Esq.:
8 in the family, 2 acres improved & a house.

. 1789 - 11 Jul 1793. John Willson, Esq. Sr., JP was the first Registrar for Northumberland, NB, 1787 to 1793.
John Willson & Family landed in New Brunswick, Canada in 1783 & was granted land on the Miramichi River, in Northumberland County. Gov. Thomas Carlton made him a Magistrate & Justice of the Peace. The salary for a magistrate in NB was £300 a year. His adventures there in this wild land would be enough for one lifetime, & to speak nothing of what preceded the Miramichi or what would come after.
A full history with documentation may be found at North York Public Library, Toronto & the Richmond Hill Public Library may be found under Richard Lawrence, John Brown Lawrence & John Willson of New Jersey, NB & Ontario. by P J Ahlberg, U.E., May 2009.

1791 Nov. 18 - Upper Canada Proclamation, creating the new province; & John Willson had already visited Governor J G Simcoe in Quebec City by the 17 Jun 1792 when Simcoe arrived Montreal & then again 26 July 1793 when he arrived in Niagara, Upper Canada).

. 1793 Apr 26, John Willson, JP, paid for a tombstone at Willson's Point, Miramichi, NB made for his grandson, Abraham Willson.

. WHY HE LEFT NEW BRUNSWICK:
Mr. Wilson further says, that when he left the Miramichi Settlement in the NB, he did it because the lands are not valuable for farmers & not worth clearing from the severity of the climate; that one of his sons-in-laws had already left the Settlement. Mr. Wilson says that a due care to provide for his family was the sole reason of this quitting Miramichi. He is his own person being better off there then he would possibly be elsewhere living almost without labour upon offices he possessed in that Country. A true statement, Signed, E B Littlehales, 16 July, 1794, Niagara.

. 1796 UPPER CANADA LAND PETITION & REVOLUTIONARY MUSTER:
UCLPetition 57. To John Graves Simcoe, Lieut. John Willson, Jur. He suffered much by this Rebel party (at the point of the bayonet) before the British Army Landed on Staten island, the making several attempts to join them but always hindered till when the British Army was Advancing [22 Oct 1776] from the White Plains (NY) to the Jersey. I then joined them at Woodbridge [New Jersey Dec 3, 1776] & went with them to Brunswick (NJ, Dec 16, 1776).
I then entered into James Christies' employ [i.e. the Quartermaster ] as a Forage master & ran Many risks of my Life, being twice taken Prisoner & confined but maid my escape & returned to my service again, till when the army returned from the Jerseys to Staten Island,
& embarked for the Head of Elk [river flowing towards Philadelphia, Dec. 1777] were my health would not admit of my going on board, to retrieved with my family on said Island where I continued till the commencement of the peace.
I then embarked with my family for Nova Scotia (since New Brunswick), where I drew 270 acres in Northumberland where I served in Sivil Commission & offices under Governor Carleton till July the 19th, 1793. There I set out with 60 men, women & children (Including my own family) for Niagara where we arrived on the 7th of next October. ... He wants Lots 4 & 5 on the River Humber & Lot 30 on west side of Yonge Street. March 25th, 1796, John Willson.

. 1777 Apr 26, OYSTER BAY, NJ: Upon the requisition of the Commissary General of Forage. You will be pleased to Detach a Captain, 2 Subalterns & 60 ranked & file, to cover and conduct a Foraging Party from the East end of Long Island & this shall be your sufficient Authority for so doing. Signed, T. Paterson.
. 1777 Dec 6, NYC HQ: Captains having horses are permitted to draw one ration of Forage from the 10th instant till further Orders,
no Forage to be drawn but for effective Horses.
Ref: Orderly book of the 3 battalions of Lowlier, commanded by Brigadier Gen. Oliver DeLancy 1776-78 at NYC.

. 1795, Jul 29 - John Willson, Junr. Town Lot and 400 Acres.
Ref: YORK REPORT, Summary of Land Grants. Ref: C2980, Page 178, etc.

. Schedule of grants to pay full fees to the Home District - William Jarvis Copy Books: Grant # 166 Wilson, John, Jun, 190 Acres, York, 12 Mar. 1794, U.E., Fee £3.5.2 Ref: Wm. Jarvis Papers, TPRL.

. UCLPetition 37C, W Bundle 2, Microfiche C2950.
Willson I, John Sur. UE, On March 16, 1810 John purchase York Town Lots 3 & 4 N side, Hospital Street for £100 & sold it at an apparent lost of £50, the next year to Jesse Ketchum.

. 1800 Apr 8 * FIRST APPOINTMENT for the first HOME DISTRICT, Toronto, are Magistrates Wm. James, John Willson, J Small, J McGill. Ref: Toronto Sundries, Quarter Session Minutes.

PART TWO, New Brunswick, Canada to Toronto:

X-Reference: Richard Lawrence & John Willson Petition for RATIONS AT NIAGARA
The Simcoe Papers Toronto Public Reference Library & John McGill papers, TPL also, at the Baldwin Room: comprising 3 boxes of'True' hand written duplicates of correspondences & accounts for Upper Canada. Documents are In precarious state. Photocopies of the original documents may be seen in my book on R Lawrence & J Willson.

MAY FLEET's ARRIVAL AT YORK Summary:
John Willson & 46 people assembled & left New Brunswick together in 1793 to come to Ontario. Many of these people had known each other back in the United States, during & previously to the Revolutionary War. The May Fleet journey began in May 1783 at Staten Island, New York with the British evacuation to New Brunswick & Nova Scotia.
* About Nov. 1791 John Willson visited the new Governor, John Graves Simcoe during his arrival in Quebec City. In 1792 new land was offered in Upper Canada. Here is part of that journey from Kingston to the Town of York, today's Toronto, on north shore of Lake Ontario:

On 11 July, 1793 the group took a ship around NB & UP the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. On the 17th of August, at Montreal, Commandant Isaac W Clarke* assigned the group an 6 extra Canadians to guide the 3 bateaux past the Rapids of Lachine. The open bateau were 30 feet long & propelled with both a moveable sail, ropes & barge poles.
Note2*: Com. General Isaac Winslow Clarke, Head Quarters at Lachine, War of 1812.

When they arrived at the Port of Kingston they were sick & needed treatment from the kind doctors at Fort William Henry. They promised to repay the Fort for the 1543 rations they had been assigned. Even though the Commandant risked having to pay for the rations from his own military salary, Capt. Porter* wrote, " humanity induced me to act as I have done."
Note3: Capt. Richard Porter, Esq., Justice of Peace, 60th Regt. granted 1200 Acres of land in the Town of Kingston, 1794.

The Assembly had arrived at Kingston 28th day of August. For a month they waited for the next bateaux "but did not gain Niagara until 7th October, 1793." The late Chief Justice, the Honorable William Osgood, said he would speak to Simcoe for the further 1529 Rations the starving & sick families again required upon their arrival at Fort George at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Upper Canada. (Also referred in the documents as Newark or Head of the Lake (Ontario). By return poste, Governor Simcoe ordered the Fort commandant to convey the Loyalist by the Government boat, to north bank of Lake Ontario to the Town of York. Gov. Simcoe & his Queen's Rangers had themselves only arrived on the 29th of July, 1793 in the new Capital of York.

* 1793 Oct 7 - THE SIXTY PEOPLE of this new MAY FLEET arrival at York, included an additional 14 members of whom it is likely the Kendricks joined up at Kingston. The names of those 12 families who made the journey are:
John Willson, Richard Lawrence, Patrick Cobgon (Colgan, Colgin?), Joseph Kendrick, Peter Whitney (signed), John Kendrick, Titus Fitz [Fitch], Duke William Kendrick, Samuel Sinclair, Samuel Osborn, Hiram Kendrick, Peter Long.

John Willson had signed for army provisions for the group & it was he that was required to sign a receipt on 2 Nov., 1793 for £100 their repayment in 3 years. Some of the assembly had already moved on from the area & thus leaving no chance of their earning money for to repay Willson.

THE KINGS MILL ON THE HUMBER - Now known as The Old Mill, Etobicoke, (Toronto), Ontario:
Gov. Simcoe gave a License to John Willson & to John Brown Lawrence to build & operate the Kings Mill on the Humber River. Both Willson & Lawrence were lawyers who had done legal business together on occasion back in Burlington, NJ. As well both were friends of Gov. Simcoe.

* 1797-99 KINGS MILL First Hand DESCRIPTION *
* The Kingsmill was located between the 2 roads on the west side of the Humber at the spring above at the meadow. * The Mill seat was a log structure 30 feet by 60 feet long built on a small island in the Humber. A dam & mill race were built to allow salmon & other fish free passage up & down without being destroyed in the race or by the mill wheel. No one was allowed to catch these fish. It was here also that one of Governor Simcoe's own horse was stolen while in pasture on John Brown Lawrence's land & it was recovered sometime after his death.
A beautiful cedar swamp provided fencing for the house at the spring on the high banks. The Kingsmill was on the lower end of the famous Toronto Carrying Place Trail. On the high sandy bank opposite Kingsmill there stood for over thousand years a large village of Seneca longhouses.

The best British regulations to preserve the large runs of salmon & trout, also encouraged the cutting of trees along the river habitant. Old photos show graphically the hazards of spring break-up as ice boulders overflow onto the mill race & pond & on the island adjacent the Kingsmill.

. LUMBER from the HUMBER: One fourth of all lumber cut was due as rent payment to the Government. Thick pine slabs from the Kings sawmill were used in the Navy Hall at Niagara-on-Lake, Gov. Simcoe's home called Castle Frank; the First Parliament Buildings on Kings St., Toronto, & cedar was used to build the Howland's the Lambton Mill, a mile up stream at Dundas Street.
- Willson was paid from the public purse to deliver by oxen, the thick pine planks to Castle Frank on Bloor Street.
- 1798 May John Willson had cut lumber to build on his front lot in the Town of York.

. 1797 Jul 17 - Inhabitants to York Township & adjoining Townships, assembled, Inhabitants of the Humber:
John Willson, Esq.: Men 2, Women 1;
John Wilson, Junr.: Men 3, Women 2.

. 1797 Nov 9th - Lt. John McGill registered in his papers, an application from John Willson to purchase the Kings Mill which Willson found in need of improvements when he first took up the lease. A total of £299 income had been generated from 1794 -1796 the saw mill operations. Willson might have had an opportunity to purchase the Kingsmill, if Lieut. Gov. Simcoe remained in Upper Canada when the Mill lease opened up again in 1799.

. 1796 July 16 - From the government stores, Gov. Simcoe ordered to be issued to John Lawrence, Esq., a pair of French Bur Mill Stones & grist mill irons as needed for the befit of the settlers in that district. John Willson send the Government the first seven barrels of corn ears of flour that he had milled & measured on 20 October, 1796.
Note4: Is this the same French Burr mill stone sitting outside of current 'Old Mill Inn' on the Humber River? -PJA.

. Lease from the Kingsmill ran from 1 Jan 1796 to end of 1798. Unfortunately his partner John Lawrence died about the 10 July, 1798 & Willson friend & sponsor, Gov. Simcoe had returned to England due to ill health.

. ICE JAMS: Photos of ice jams at spring break up show clearly that the British engineers who chose this location in Upper Canada had no idea of the force of the Humber River in spring or the storm run off, especially with the increased deforestation would decimate the salmon fishery... Since Hurricane Hazel in 1957 the Humber Valley is considered a flood plain & is preserved as park land only. Contractors hired by the British to build the mill did not finish the job. The millstones cut too slowly & the mill race & pond & other repairs had to be done at the expense of John Willson. Willson was granted Lots 4 & 5 on the Humber River, but the Government mill on this property had to be leased out at the cost of half of the wood cut. The normal fee was usually one quarter of the wood cut. - P J Ahlberg 2009.

. 1799 Feb 13 - Petition for machinery for the mills at the Humber rejected. p226.
. 1800 Jan 12 - Proposal by the President respecting the mill on the Humber, p.202
. 1801 Oct 15 - Repairs authorized for the Mill at the Humber. page 156.
Ref: Report on Canadian Archives, 1891 edition.

( . 1804 Sep 15, York, Upper Canada. We understand the late heavy rains have done material damage to the roads in different parts of the country, insomuch as to render them in some places told impassible, by sweeping away the causeways & bridges. At the Credit the water suddenly rose to such a height as entirely to overflow the ground occupied by the Indians as an encampment, for the purpose of fishing, carried away all before it. The Indians, in the greatest consternation, narrowly escaped in the night, with their lives, after having lost their canoes, arms & other property. Considerable damage has also been sustained by individuals in many places in loss of corn, hay etc & particularly at & near Don river, in the breaking of Mill dams. We are informed that the Humber Mills are entirely destroyed.
Red: Morning Chronicle Newspaper, New York, NY., published Oct 2, 1804.)

. Nicholas Clinkenbroomer (Klingenbrunner) the first tailor of the Town of York states that he married a Sarah Sally White in York in January of 1799. The marriage was conducted by John Wilson J.P. because there was no Anglican Church in York as yet. Settled Yonge St. [1837 Chas Clinkenbroomer, 229 King St.; J. Clkinbroomer, Tailor , Duchess St.]

. 1799 Mar 23rd, John Willson advertised in the Oracle, York to sell Lots 4 & 5, the 50 acres & a most beautiful cedar swamp. Persons willing to purchase may know the conditions by applying to John Wilson, Esquire, on Yonge Street. When the lease expired it was purchased by Peter Whitney.

. 1800 May 26 - A Memorial of Indenture of Bargain & Sale, made A Memorial of Indenture of Bargain & sale dated 26 May, 1800, made between John Willson, Markham Twp., Esqr. & Rebecca his wife & Peter Whitney*, York Twp., whereby said John Willson hath granted a certain tract of land lying Lots 4 & 5, on the Humber, York Twp., 200 Acres. Signed & Sealed 26 May, 1800, John Willson, Wit: John Willson Jr. & Still. Willson., sworn before T. Ridout.
Ref: York Land Registry Office, Toronto
Note5: Peter Whitney resided on the Miramichi R. near John Willson & was one of the families brought with Willson to York. Later he lived Lot 3, Con 8 Markham near him.

. 1803 Apr 16, Sat. - On Tuesday night last, the saw mill situated on the Humber accidentally caught fire & was entirely consumed. We have not yet learned how the fire originated.
. 1804 Sep 22 - In our last week's paper, under the Oracle, we mentioned the Humber Mills as being destroyed. We are now happy to have it in our power to contradict that report & to inform the public that they have sustained little or no injury by the late floods.
Ref: The Oracle Newspaper.

. 1800 Jun 15 - Thomas Humberstone, Jr. was married to Ann Nancy Harrison, daughter of Christopher Harrison & Priscilla Peddle on 15 Jun 1800 in York, Ontario. They were married by Justice of the Peace John Willson of the Town of York because "there [was] no minister of the Church of England living within 18 miles of them." Thos. Humberston, L24, Con 1 W of Yonge St., He has a wooden leg, loss in War of 1812.

PART THREE, Life in Upper Canada:

. 1798 May 4, John Willson, Esq. Identification marks of Cattle, hoggs, sheep & swine: a swallow-fork in each ear.

UC LAND GRANTS:
. 1200 ACRES - Lots 4 & 5, on the Humber (adjoining the Kings Mill (Old Mill) June 1797;
. Lots 5, 6, 7, 8, Con 3,
. Dorchester Twp. South, Elgin County, 800 Acres (in the 'future Capital of Upper Canada', also near the land of Lt. Gen. John Graves Simcoe.) Lots 11-14, Con 480 acres. Lots 5, 6, 7, 8, Con 3, Dorchester South, 800 Acres
. Lot 30, Con 1 West Yonge Street, Vaughan, Settlement Duty paid 1801, finally granted Feb. 1809;
. Town of York Lots 3 & 4 N side of Hospital St., Purchased £100, Ontario St. to Sherbourne St. [1827 Bank of Upper Canada Building, 252 Adelaide St. E. 1830 Toronto's First Post Office, 260 Adelaide St. E.]

. From 1798 to about 1820 John lived at Lot 30, Con 1 Yonge Street. He ran a saw mill on his property & he was also a Justice of Peace. John's wife, Rebecca Thixton, died in June 1804 & was buried on her son property, at Lot 26, Yonge Street & Steeles.
(X-Ref: Wm. L. Willson for description of first burial site.)

A Record of the Marks of Horn Cattle, Sheep & Swine. For the Inhabitants of the Townships of York, Scarboro & Etobeconk:
. 1798 May 4th, 1798, John Willson, Esqr. - A Swallow-fork in each ear.
Ref: York, Upper Canada Minutes of Town Meetings, Toronto Ref. Library.

. UPPER CANADA SUNDRIES:
Willson J., 1814 February 8, York, page 7839 & Willson, John, 1814 March 12, York, Pg. 8019-21.
Ref: Archives of Canada, microfiche C 9822-25.

* 1798 Dec 19th, York Officers of the York Militia: John Willson, Esq., Justice of the Peace, formerly Capt. of Militia, in Nova Scotia, to be a Captain in the York Militia.

. " 1802 June 28th, a wolf's scalp certified by J. Wilson, Esq., taken in part of assessment £1. "Page n515.

* 1800 Apr 8, Tuesday. The First Sitting in Upper Canada of the Home District Magistrates:
Wm. Jarvis, JOHN WILLSON, John Small, James Macauly, Wm. Willcocks, Wm. Allan, John McGill, Alex Wood, Wm. Chewett, James Ruggles, signed. Justices of our said Lord the King, assigned to keep the Peace of our said Lord, the King in the Home District & also to hear & determine divers felonies, trespasses & other incidences in the said District. Wm. Jarvis, Esq., chose chairman. Commission opened & read.
Ref: Home District Quarter Session of the Peace Minutes. [i.e. Toronto, York County, Ontario.]

. 1805 Sept 18. John married Catherine B Kuhn who was the widow of a man also named John Willson, who had died 1788 in Duchess Co., New Jersey. They moved northward to Hope (Sharon, Ontario) which is very near Lake Simcoe. Catherine's s on David Willson had split off from the local Quaker group, to start his own group called the Children of Peace, who were having a renaissance of intellectual thought & music. John taught school at the Children of Peace, & John & his 2nd wife Katherine were buried in the Sharon Burial Grounds. John remained Anglican & Bishop Strachan said officiated at his funeral. When eventual son Wm. Ladner Willson's land was sold, Rebecca & John were reburied together under cairn at the Holy Trinity Church in Thornhill, not far from their home on Yonge Street. The Sharon Temple / Children of Peace celebrated their 200 anniversary in 2008 with candlelight concerts & is open as a museum.

WAR of 1812.
. 1812 Sept 14-15. Wilson's & Denison's Companies were dismissed from the Garrison with the detachments from other companies.
. 1812 Oct 17: Ely Playter: I sent the company home as not more than half the company appeared & went down to Captain Wilson's to see after the rest. Stayed all night at Wilson's as my horse left me. On Oct 16 I received a letter from Col. Chewed wording me to march the 1st company to York. Went early to some peoples houses but they keep out of they way. I was much vex at their conduct.
Ref: Ely Playters Diary.

Garrison Orders: Captains for the day tomorrow, Capt. Willson
. 1812 Oct 19 & 29th 1s Militia; Nov 3rd; Nov 8th; Nov 11th; Nov 14th
. 1812 Dec 22, York, - This day the Militia Garrison at York, Officers & men, unanimously contributed to the use of the Society one day's pay per muster.
Ref: The report of the Loyal & Patriotic Society of Upper Canada (for the relief of militiamen's families.)

* * Recapitulation of Fort York, (Toronto), WAR of 1812,
As a captain of the 1st Regiment, York Militia on duty at the captured at Fort York, John Willson was arrested & jailed. John Willson was one of the six officers that signed the papers of Recapitulation to the American invaders. Geo. Playter's Diary tells us, like him, John Willson was armed with a musket & ready for action!

1812 Sep 13, Thos. Ridout's Garrison Orders, Captain for the day tomorrow: Capt Willson. Capts Willson & Denisons Companies together will the Detachments of the Country. Companies now attached to the different companies in the York Garrison shall be permitted to return to their respective homes until further orders, but to hold themselves in readiness to return at shortest notice if required & the officers belong to the companies will take the necessary steps for collecting the men if it is found necessary to recall them.

* 1813 Apr 25 - York. Capt. John Willson, 1st York Militia, Prisoner of War at surrender of the Garrison of Ft. York 27 Apr 1813, captured by the Army & Navy of the US at York.
VERIFY UC SUNDRIES JR OR SR?
WillsonJ.1814 February 8York PAGE 7839
Willson John1814 March12York PAGE 8019-21

. 1814 Jun 10 - Men drafted in Capt. Wm. Jarvis Co., York Militia: STILLWELL WILLSON* formerly of Capt. Ridout 3YM,
Ira Kendrick, substitute for PETER LAWRENCE*,
Wm. Kendrick substitute for THOMAS JOHNSTON* formerly 3rd Reg. Capt Hamilton,
JOHN VANZANTE, Osborn Cox, all formerly 3rd Regt. York,
Isaac Vanderburgher* of 1st York Militia who is a substitute for Joshua Leack & John Willson of Capt Ridout's 3YM,
Jenlay Cameron of 1YM under Capt. Wilson, substitute for Thomas Wilson(*?) of Ridout's 3YMilitia.
Note6: All these are relatives* or neighbors & acquaintances.
Verify: It would appear that John Willson Jr. was likely still ill for him to hire a J. Cameron as his substitute . - PJA].

. John Willson #14005, Capt. of 3rd Reg. York Militia, Captured by Dearborne & Chauncy on 27 May 1813 at York U.C.,
. John Willson #14006, Lieutenant of 3rd Reg. York Militia, Captured by Dearborne & Chauncy on 27 May 1813 at York U.C.
Ref:

. UCLPetition 219, L Bunde 3, C2954, p660
To Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieu Gov. of UC, In Council
The Petition of John Willson, The Elder, Esq., of Markham,
Humbly Sheweth
That your petitioner, an American loyalist, and in the royal service during the American Rebellion, was among the first settlers of this Province, wherein he has ever since remained, & was again on service as Captain commanding a company of the 1st Regiment of York Militia during the late war, part of the time (in York Garrison) in 1812 & was on duty till the capture of York [ June 1813].
Your petition has received from Colonel Allan, who commanded the militia at York whilst your petition was on the duty, the accompanying certificate of his service, but as your petitioner did not command a Flank Company, he is informed by the Adjutant-General of Militia he cannot obtain his (the Adjutant-General's) Certificate for Land. John Willson, York, 28 June 1820.

. I certify that Capt. John Willson, of the 1st Regt. York Militia, was on duty in the Garrison of York during the winter of 1812, and the spring of 1813, under my command, as well as subsequently. He at all times did his duty faithfully and punctually, and with great zeal., Signed, Colonel Wm. Allan, Commander Militia & York Garrison, 15 June 1820.
Envelope: Deferred for Lt. Gov. Maitland, Entered Land Book K, page 411.

. Obituary notice: "At Hope Village, East Guillimbury, on the 8th inst., much & generally regretted, John Wilson, Esq., a native of the Province of New Jersey, aged 90 years & 14 days. Mr. Willson was a U.E. Loyalist & for a long period an active magistrate in the province of New Brunswick. He emigrated into Upper Canada 35 years ago [1793] & contented to enjoy good health until with a few days of his demise. At his request, expressed on his death bed, Doctor Strachan, Archdean on of York, went out to Gwillimbury & performed the last offices of the church over the remains. The venerable dignitary delivery a funeral oration in the chapel of the Children of Peace, in Hope, on the occasion, which was attended by a great concourse of friends, acquainted & relate vies the deceased.".
Ref: Colonial Advocate, Published 16 Jul 1829.
Hope, E. Gwillimbury is also now know as Sharon, Ontario.

* DEATH OF JOHN WILLSON: In your letter of the 24th ult., 1829, you asked about one John Willson who died at Hope (Sharon, ON) about. This old man was called Squire Willson. He was David Willson's stepfather, my father's stepmother's second husband (Katherine Kuhn). Her first husband, also called John Willson, died about 1788 in Duchess County, New York). She soon after married Squire Willson who was a man highly respected. He came, I believe for NS in Gov. Simcoe's time & was by the Governor much thought of. He had a large family by a former wife, but none by this one. There are a number of great grandchildren, living in the Twps. of York & Scarborough. Service of the Canada Company at the time of the settling of Goderich & neighborhood. When these old people became helpless, David Willson took them home and kept them until they died. They died poor but honest. They once had property which his children spent for them.
Ref: Extracted from a letter of 5 December, 1869, Holland Landing Richard Titus Willson.

. A still more complete family history & pictures may be found at North York Public Library, Toronto & at the Richmond Hill Library, under Richard Lawrence, U.E., John Willson, & John Brown Lawrence of New Jersey, NB & Ontario. Research & transcriptions by P J Ahlberg, U.E, May 2009. Thank you. - -- -

Lot 4 - 5, Con 2 & 3 on Humber [River]
North York Book 86, p45 & NY Book 87, p 3
. 1798 Oct 24, Patent, Crown, to John Willson, All (170?) Acres
. 1800 May 26, John Willson et ux, to Peter Whitney, Lots 4 & 5, in all Acres
. 1807 May 8, Peter Whitney et ux, to Jos Haines Jr, Lot in all
. 1827 Mar 19, B&S, Jos. Haines, Wm. Cooper, £320, Lot 4 & 5
. 1880 Apr 21, Grand, Peleg Howland to Mary Ford, $1800, Part 1 Acres S. Dundas Street.
. 1883 Apr 2, Ken Chrisholm, to Credit Valley Railway, $333, Part acre.
Note:7 Adjacent lots 1, 2, 3 belonged to John B Lawrence, Esq.

Ontario Land Registry Abstract Vaughan Book 179, p96
Lot 30, Con 1 West of Yonge Street { later renumbered as Lot 4, Con 1 West side Yonge St.
. 1810 Mar 29, Patent, Crown, to John Willson, Senior, All 210 Acres.
. 1811 Sep 15, Bargain&Sale, John Willson Senior et ux, to Stilwell Willson, £300, All 210A.
. 1819 Jan 30, Mortgage, Stillwell Willson, to Wm. Allan £175, All Acres
. 1822 May 23, B&S, SW, to Wm. Allan £175, All Acres
. 1823 Jul 26, Wm Allan to Henry John Boulton, £168, NE 55A.
. 1824 Jul 16 Indenture, SW, to Andrew McKendry, £12.10, 1/4 Acre.
. 1831 Aug 2, B&S, Stillwell Willson, to Jos. Milburn, £125, SWHalf 50 Acres of rear.
Note8: Lot 30, Con 1 WSY, Vaughan was a given for his partipation in the War of 1812.

Ontario Land Registry Abstract, Town of Toronto Book 684, p127
Lot 3 North side of Richmond St.,
. 1802 May 19, Patent, Crown, to James Elliott, 3/5 Acre
. 1804 Feb 23, B&S, Jas Elliott etall, to Jno Vanznate, 3/5 Acre
. 1805 Sep 5, B&S, Jno Vanzante, to T B Gough, All
. 1810 Mar 12, B&S, T B Gough, to Jno Willson, Senior, All
. 1811 Jan 29, B&S, Jno Willson, to Jesse Ketchum.

Ontario Land Registry, Toronto Book 683, p78
Lot 2, West side of George St, TOWN OF YORK
. 1801 May 20, Grant, Crown, to Saml Nash
. 1805 Feb 14 B&S, Saml Nash, to Jon Willson
. 1806 Oct 28, B&S, John Willson Senr eteux, to Joseph Willocks, W Half.
Note: Adjacent Lot 1 George St., is registered 1811 JANY 13 to daugher, Alice Osborn Vanzante. - - -

Birth:
Lawyer, Burlington, NJ.

Buried:
Children of Peace Burial Grounds.

Died:
Aged 90 years, 14 days. = 14 Jul 1739.

John married Rebekah /Thixton THICKSON(E) in 1760 in Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., New Jersey. Rebekah (daughter of Jonathan THICKSTUN, .1 and Mary Coats MARTIN) was born on 10 Jul 1743 in St James, Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., NJ; died on 6 Jun 1804 in Thornhill, Markham Twp., York Co., Ontario; was buried on 7 Jun 1804 in Thornhill, Markham Twp., York Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The spelling Rebekah Thixton is based on her own signature dated 1793.6.27.

From the biography of Rebecca & John's grandson:
. Mr John Willson OSBORN's mother was Alice WILSON, the daughter of John Willson & Rebecca THIXTON, his wife. She was born on Staten Island. She was educated in New York, where the family lived always a part of each year, her father being an officer in the British army, loyal to his king.
They, [John & Rebecca] left the United States & made a new home in Canada, living sometimes at Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Canancoqua*, & finally settling down at Toronto, buying land & laying, as they supposed, a permanent foundation for a home.
Ref: HISTORY OF VIGO & PARKE COUNTIES Together With Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley, by H.W. Beckwith - 1880, Terre Haute - pp. 169-175.
Note1: Original native place name for Kingston, Ontario. Fort Frontenac also named: Canacoqua or Kateracoui. Cataraqui is the French pronunciation.

. 1773 March 4, Piscataway, New Jersey, a William Thickstun was a witnesses to Rebecca Thixton's father-in-law, John Willson, senior.
Signatures known by Rebekah Willson:
. 1789 Oct 2 - Witnesses: New Brunswick land deed at Beobars Point, Miramichi, NB, Canada, granted by Jonathan Odell.

. 1792 Jun 26 - Likewise Rebekah Willson wife of the said John Willson relinquished her right of dower, 26 Jun 1793. Entered & registered at NewCastle, 29 Jun 1793, Book 2, p 103-6, John Willson, Register.

. 1793 Jun 21 - Indenture #69, between John Willson, Esq. & Rebakah his wife, & Geor. Roy £11 11 shillings, a lot on the point called Boars point, parish of New Castle, bounded by an alder bush marked standing on the north shore, SW Branch of Miramichi R., west of lot sold to Wm. Davidson. Signed & sealed, John & Rebeka Willson.
Registered John Willson, 2 July 1793.

. 1797 - January 18 - A weekly mail is established between Canada & the United States.
. 1797 - January 18 - "A mail for the upper counties, comprehending Niagara & Detroit, will be closed, at this office on Monday, 30th instant, at 4 o'clock in the evening, to be forwarded, from Montreal, by the annual winter express, on Thursday, 2nd February next."
Ref: Quebec Gazette, official government newspaper, Quebec, Canada.

. Obituary:
On Wednesday the 6th instant, at two in the morning, departed this life, much lamented, Rebecca Wilson, wife of John Wilson, Esq., of Yonge street, in the 63 year of her age. The following day her remains were followed by a numerous train of mourners, & friends to the place of interment, where a suitable oration was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Stuart on the solemn occasion.
Ref: THE ORACLE, York. Published Saturday, June 16, 1804, No. 8, Total # 684 (subscribers.)

Rebecca & John Willson were living with their son Wm. Ladner, at the time of Rebecca's death.

. BURIAL CAIRN
Willson - East face: John Willson Esq., aged 90 years & 11 days died July 8th 1829. Moved 1940 from East Gwillimbury. In mind Rebecca Willson wife of John Willson Esq. departed June 6th 1804, aged 61 years. Moved in 1940 from Lot 26 in Markham, which was a Loyalist grant to her son W. L. Willson. [Wm. Ladner Willson.]

West face: John Willson, U.E.L. born in Middlesex Cy, New Jersey, 1739. died in York Cy, Upper Canada, 1829. Also his wife. Rebecca Thixton, born in New Jersey, 1743 died in Markham Tp., Yonge St 1804.
John Willson brought his family to St. John, N.B. in the "May Fleet" in 1783, & came to Upper Canada in 1793. He held the lease of the "Kings Mill on St John's Creek" on the site of the present ruin known as the Old Mill on the Humber, from 1793 till 1799, when he came to Yonge St. with his son & a nephew, John Arnold. He was among the officers of the 1st York Regiment held prisoners at Fort York in April, 1813.

. RE-BURIALS: John had been buried in 1829 in Queensville Burial Grounds, with his second wife Katherine Kuhn. Rebecca had been buried in 1804 on her son's William's farm on 1 Jan.,1940, descendant Alice Willson of Toronto had them reburied together & had build also the stone cairn near south side fence, in Holy Trinity Cemetery. This incidentally would be adjacent to the property of her daughter, Mrs. Mary Willson Lawrence, which is the last lot in the Toronto. (This stone cairn is near south side fence, in Holy Trinity Cemetery, Richmond Hill on Yonge St., behind Baptist Church Holy Trinity Church which since has been moved when Yonge Street was widened from two lanes.)
Ref: North York Ref: Library, North York Enterprise, Newspaper Collection, R E. Wm. C H Dowson & Alice Willson. - PJ Ahlberg, 2010.

. 1940 Oct 10, North York: Erects Memorial Cairn of Boulders
Mr. W C H Dick Doson of 68 Parkview Ave., Willowdale has just completed the erection of a memorial cairn of field boulders in Thornhill Anglican Cemetery. This is to the memory of Capt. John Willson, Esq., & his wife Rebecca Thixton. ... His wife predeceased him in 1804. She was buried in what is now the lawn of Mr. Hugh Wilson (no relation) on the north side of Steeles Ave. near Bayview.
Her gravestone the oldest in the area is believed to have been carved & erected by her husband himself. It is a piece of unhewn river slate such as is found in the Humber river area. The lettering, crudely carved reads, "In Mind, Rebecca Willson, wife of John Willson, Esq. who died June the 6, 1804. " The two old head stones are set together in the east side of the cairn facing the rising sun, wind & storms. The cairn boulders are not hammer dressed but remain as they came from the field.
The cairn contains, history of Thornhill Anglican Church; other records, coins & stamps inc. a letter, sealed in a glass container.
The work was done for Miss Alice Willson of Toronto, who is a retired teacher of languages; & a direct descendent of those to whom the memorial is erected. She is also a descendent of Mr. Jacob Cummer founder of Willowdale.
Ref: North York Enterprise Newspaper.

Note: New Jersey Will mentions Arnold relations & Yonge St. neighbours Langstaff:
1797 Sept 15 Arnold, John, of Piscataway, Middlesex Co. Administrators James Arnold, David Thorn. Fellow bondsmen Henry Fourat & Joseph Thicksun all of said County.
Inventory £266 made by John Langstaff, senior & Junior.

St. James Episcopal Church, 2136 Woodbridge Ave., Edison, Piscataway, NJ. ' Founded 1666. Organized in 1704, this is the second church on the site. It was erected in 1837 in the new Greek Revival style, Although the cemetery does not appear well tended, the church has been kept us exceptionally well.' Edison was formerly called Raritan Township. Revolutionary War skirmishes took place in Bonhamtown, Piscataway on Woodbridge Avenue. St. James Episcopal Church building served as a barracks hospital for wounded British soldiers during the war. Piscatawaytown Burial Ground is also referred to as the White Church Cemetery.

For Research:
1. Thikston, Wm. & Ruth, daughter Patience, born Dec. 20, 1714.
Ref: Piscataway Town Hall, Register of Births, Vol. 2, 3rd series.
2. Rebecca Thicksun, born 18 May 1798, Bonhamtown, Middlesex, NJ d/o Lewis Wm. Thickstun & Mary Molly Compton. Is this a brother or some relation? & she married Chamberlain.
3. Rebecca Thickstun, b 1751 Piscataway, Middlesex NJ, d 23 Sep 1819 Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ. Relationship?
4. NJ Calendar of Wills: 1711-12 Feb. 12. Blackford, Samuel, of Piscataway, Witnesses: William Thick Stone, Wm. Lang, Ad. Hude. Proved April 29,1712.
5. WILL of Azariah Dunham of NB, Middlesex Co., NJ, 1789 Dec 23, to Daughter Jane, wife of Joseph Thixton of Piscataway, 30 Acres. - - -

Birth:
Rebekah Ref: Signatures dated 1793.6.27 Thickston, Thicksun, Thitston.

Died:
on property of son Wm. L Willson.

Buried:
Lot 26, Con 1 Yonge East Side, Wm L Willson property.

Notes:

Married:
St. James Church

Notes:

Alt Names: Lacreman, Lackman, Lockar, Lockman, Lakeman, however,
the original was named after The Marquis, Louis de Lacqueman who was a French Huguenot married to Anne De Sanchoy, & who was a daughter of the Duke de Sanchoi (Sanchoy).

. They had 3 children: Peter Lakerman b 1656, child b.1658 &
Abraham Lackerman or Lakeman, born 1660. The family fled to Holland & landed in New Amsterdam Mar 19, 1663. From Manhattan he moved to Staten Island where there was an old Dutch - French church at Richmond is also known as St. Andrew's.

* Staten Island's Most Endangered Buildings: Lockman /Lakeman House:
Lakeman-Cortelyou House, 2286 Richmond Road between Bryant & Otis Avenues. This Dutch farmhouse built by Abraham Lakeman in 1678 is the second-oldest building in Staten Island. It is now owned & maintained by Moravian Florist. It has yet to be recognized by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, 2012. Lakeman house is a medium sized fieldstone building with one narrow door & one window & a smaller attached fieldstone attached building with one larger door & no windows. Currently it is has a wooden upper story on the larger building.
Very little information is out there about his building, except for a listing at Preserve & Protect, which calls this an 18th-Century building another says 1678. Richmond Road is a colonial-era road whose origins go back to, perhaps, the Native American period prior to colonization. Richmond Road opposite the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.
The house was going to be torn down to make room for newer structures, but in 1999 the Kirchoffer family hired a architect from the island named David Carnivale. So in 2001 the plans were set into action after researching the history of the home. Carnivale discovered that even though the house had major structure problems, it was surprisingly intact. He uncovered three 17th century fire places, beautiful paneling walls where uncovered that dated to the 17th century as well.

The Four Abraham Lakerman:

1a. The son of Louis, Abraham Sr., b 1660, Leyden, Holland
married on 24 May 1738, Staten Isl., NY to Katherine Crocheron. Born c 1654 in Walloon area, Belgium & died 1734. 6 Lakerman children. Abraham Lakeman owed wooded land south of Fresh- Kill.
Ref: Annals of Staten Island, J J Clute.

1b. born c. 1715 Hester Lakerman, dau. of Abe Lakerman.1st & Kath. Crocheron of Richmond County, NY, married Nicholas Larzelere, WILL dated 1 Sep 1774 & proved 1 Apr. 1776.

1c. Dau. Sarah Lakerman.1, dau. of Abraham Lakerman & Cathrine Crocheron, both from Huguenot families, of south Staten Island. Sarah died bef. death of her father Abraham 25 Mar. 1734 as he does not mention her in his Will. About 1709, Sarah.1 married Issac VanTuyl, Baptized 5 Jan 1681 NY Dutch Church. Farmer at New Dorp, Staten Island. (His twin bro: Abraham VanTuyl d. 27 Nov., 1728).

2. His son, Abraham Lakerman Jr. born 1683 Staten Island, - died c 20 Mar 1734. In 1704 Justice for Richmond Co., Gentleman. Also New Castle, Delaware,
married Lammetje Van (Vechten) Veght, born 1685 Staten. (She was mentioned in the Will dated 28 Nov. 1732 of Gerritt Veght b. 1656.)
Verify this Abraham Lakermans, wife Anje, His wife 25 Mar 1734, proved 23 Apr 1734.

3. Their son, this Abraham.III married Sarah Jones.

4. Now their son, Abraham .IVth and U.E., married Elizabeth Hilliard. They had 3 children:
i. Sarah Lakerman b.23 Mar, 1762;
ii. Margrit Lacreman, born 25 Dec 1767, &
iii. Abraham.v Lacreman, born 4 Apr 1772.

Abraham Lacreman-Lockman the 4th, & U.E,. WILL of:
His father's own sorrel horse & a gun, & into the Revolution Abraham took them to his death in 1776.
Ref: To the above, The Lockman & Flaacke Families of Early NY by Frances Flaake Donaldon, a granddaughter, 1965.
Abraham Lakerman, Justice of Peace, County of Richmond, NY In 18 Sept 1704 he erected a County jail. A court house was ordered to be built by Abraham Lakerman & Ellis Duxbur, Jos. Billop & John Stillwell.
Ref: Staten Island, by D V Smith.

Jannetie [Jeannette] Lakerman of NY, widow of Peter Lakerman, Bolter, Peter's house: now 51-53, Stone St., NY. Jannetie is also the widow of Evert Wessells, cooper.
Her grandson in law, Nicholas Eyres, lived E side of Broad St. & Stone St. * Mill St., Now South Wm. Street.
Ref: Leaves of A Stunted Shrub, Vol Two,By William G Scroggins.

. Ellius Duxbury Joseph Billopp, Daniel Locke Ephraim Tayler & Abraham Lakeman 5 of Her Majesties Justices of the peace for the County of Richmond being met together on the 18 Sept, Day of September & in the Third year of the Reign of our Sovereinge Lady Anne over England Scotland France & Ireland Queene Defender of the faith & Anno Dom - 1704 & by the Majority of Votes made Choice of Lambert Garrison Sheriff; Jaques Pollion, Gen. & Antony Tyfe yeoman for to looke for the most convenient place in the center of the Said County to build & erect an edifice on [ends here].

. This Instrument was Recorded for the Comr* of the highways the 7th Day of April in the year 1705.
23th March 1705. A Road Laid out by Joseph Billopp & Jaques Pollion [& Cap* Nicholos Manning,"interpolated in margin] To of the Comrs. appointed by act of assembly for the Laying out Roads in the County of Richmond as followeth, [ferry, in margin,]
from the houfe where Abraham Lake now Dwells along the up Land of the waterside & along the front of Juftic-Duxbury, Lambart Durland Nicl[?] Tunison Garrett Veighte & So over a bridge to be made over a Creek & then.

. The following Instrument was recorded for the surveyors of the high Ways of the West Division of the County of Richmond & for year 1719 This 21 Day of March 1719-20.
Memorandum the 19th Day of March 17 xx. That it is thought fit by us whose names are hereunder written that there be a convent Landing place at the Southwest Side of James Dey's Barn in the Sd west Division at the Creek & have agreed to have the road run from the Common highway along the SW. side of his orchard to said landing place from which landing place there has been formerly transported Timber for Building, Bricks Hay & other Things & that there be a Swinging Gate erected on Sd high way about 70 Yards from the Brook that crosses the main Road,
As Witness our hands the day & year above written Nathan Britten, John Laturette & Abraham Lakerman, Justices.
Ref: Historical & Genealogical Miscellany, Volume 1, by John Stillwell, extracted from Richmond county Records, NY, NY.

Recorded for further research:
. 1731 den 23 Mey Louis, Isak Lakerman X Catharina Christopher. Wit: Hans Christopher, Lena van Pelt.
. 1734 16 Juny Eduard, Jean Parlie, X Abigail Jones. Wit: Nicolas Lazelier, Esther Lakerman.
. A 1720 den I Mey, Catharina, Isaak van Tuyl X Sara Lakerman. Wit: Abrah: Lakerman, Antje van Tuyl.
. 1724 den 6en April Geertruyd, Isaak van Tuyl X Sara Lakerman. Wit: Nicolas Lageler, Esther Lakerman.
. 1722 Jun 3, Baptized Anna, daughter of Israel Du Secoy & Geertruydt Van Deventer. Witnesses: Abraham Lakeman; Anna Van Tuyl.
Ref: Staten Isl., NY, Church. - - -

Birth:
Alt Name: Lackman, Larzelere (Dutch)

Died:

Abraham married Elizabeth HILLYER on 23 May 1760 in New York, New York. Elizabeth was born in 1740 in Richmond, Staten Island, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Elizabeth is the daughter of (Elizabeth Hance Dey [Duyts])
& John Hillyer, Esq. - his WILL was dated 9 Oct 1775, Staten Island, Richmond, NYC.
They married in 1714.
John Hillyear was the sheriff & a St. Andrews' vestryman in 1751.

Of further interest is the following :
Ann Lakerman married 5 Feb 1759 to Lawrence Hillyer.
Ref: M.B. Vol. II, page 176, New York States Archives. - - -

Birth:
Alt name originally: Hilliard & Hillyer.

Notes:

Married:

Notes:

. 1701 Dec 19, born, John, son of John & Hannah Wilson.
Ref: Piscataway Town Hall, Register of Births, Vol. 2, 3rd series.

. John Willson, the weaver, left his farm in Piscataway & moved in about 1746 to Sussex County, NJ.

* 1759 Apr 7 - "This indenture made the 7th day of April, in the 32 year of the reign of King George the Second, Anno Domino, 1759 between John Wilson, of Wantage Precinct, in the county of Sussex, of the first part & Samuel, son of the said John Wilson, of the town & county aforesaid of the other part; witnesseth that the said John Wilson in consideration of the sum of £50 proclamation money in hand paid by the said Samuel Wilson, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath bargained, granted, sold, rebased, engeossed? & confirmed & by these presents doth sell.... all that 105 acres of land, strict measure, situated on the west side of the head of the drowned lands, beginning at a white oak tree standing south 6 degrees east 8 chains, from the head of a large spring by said Willson's house, then ....to the place of beginning; to which said Wilson hath right, by virtue of a deed to him from William Alexander, Earl of Sterling, (referring here to his deed first above mentioned).
In witness whereof the parties have hereunto set their hands & seals the day & year first above written.
Sealed & delivered in the presence of John Havens, Richard Gardner,
John Wilson."
Ref: NJ Secretary Office, Perth Amboy, Book K2, P401.

* 1759 Dec 17 - Evi. A. Wilson at Deckertown, N.J., Evi, also has another deed, whereby the said Samuel Wilson, purchased of William Alexander, Earl of Sterling, Peter VanBrough Livingston & other, December 17, 1759, "for & in consideration of £ 38.16s.4d," two tracts of land adjoining the first above named 100 acre farm situate "on the North branch of Beaver Run, called Hubb's cabin or run, & one boundary of which was where Haven's road crosses said run' containing 40 & 90/100 acres & 13 & 44/100 acres respectively. We judge from this that the witness to the John & Samuel deed.
Note: John Havens, was at that time a neighbor & near or at where Asa Havens now lives, as old traditions have kept the remembrance of the old road alive. John Gavens was perhaps the pioneer settler of that family in Wantage.

. 1751 June 14, John Willson received 100 Acres of unappropriated 'drowned lands' from William Alexander, Earl of Sterling, Scotland from the East Jersey Proprietors.
[About 1760 this land was transfer by deed this land to son, Samuel Willson.]
Ref: Liber A.B 3, p 218, Public records of the Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey in the Surveyor General's office at Perth Amboy in Book S.M. 4, page 53."

. Then John & wife Sarah returned about 1760 to Piscataway with John Junior (i.e. b. 1739, later to be referred to as Senior), with is wife Rebekah Thickston from Piscataway & their son John Willson Sr. lived on the Piscataway farm until he died in 1775.

John Willson Sr. purchased small amounts of land, forming one farm from:
. 1728 John Willson, weaver, purchased 32 Acres from Stephen Arnold.
. 1734, Samuel Leonard, 1743, Chas. Wilson, 1764 & 1766, Robt Martin. 1751 Perth Amboy drowned lands & deeded to son Samuel Willson.

* From the testimony of his son, John Willson junior (later called John Willson, I. Senior, UE., born 1739-1829.)
United Empire Loyalist, Part 2, New Claim:
John Wilson, late of Jersey, Claimant appears & being sworn saith he came to this N.B. Province in the May Fleet. ….Was possessed of one estate in Piscataway, came by this father's will, Produces Probate whereby it appears that his father, John Wilson gives Claimt., after few Legacies, all the remainder of his estate real & personal, to him. Will dated 4 March, 1773. Claimant had 2 elder brothers, who were both provided for in his father's lifetime. He died in April 1775. Claimant was in possession with his father, & continued in possession after his father's death till he came.
... The Estate consisted of about 100 Acres purchased by his father at different times. Produces deeds. These lands were in his father's possession, after he had portioned out claimant's two brothers'. There was a large orchard, an dwelling house & barn. Vals. It at £1,000 York Cury.
They were confiscated & sold Monday, 22 March, 1779. It has gone thro several hands; was in possession of Simeon Randal, & one Little, who claimt. heard last left a stock on his farm, 4 horses, 2 cows, 4 young cattle, farming utensils, some furniture. Enough of the farm was clear. This farm was well improved, buildings good. Vals. xx per acre. He heard it was confiscated & sold. A Rebel Commissary was the first purchaser. He had good team & was in good circumstances.

There were many Willson relatives in County Antrim, the descendants of William of Orange's soldiers from Northumberland England/ lowland Scotland.

. 1700 Dec. 22. Confirmation to William LAWRENCE of Middletown, holding 1-20 of 1-24 share of the Province, in full for his second dividend, of:
1. 10 acres, W. of Wakake Creek & Richard HARTSHORNE, N. said HARTSHORN, E. J. ROCKMAN Junior & J. WILSON Junior, S. J. WILSON Senior;
2. 15 a. of meadow on the Eastside of said creek, from said HARTSHORN's to the mouth of the creek, including 2 sedge banks on the West side;
3. 17 a. of upland on the West side of & along said creek, adjoining Zebulon CLAYTON;
4. 36 a. on Manasquam R., below Stony Point, adjoining R. Hartshorn;
5. 40 a. there, between John Lawrence, the Rock Pond & the sea;
6. 47 a. being all the sedge islands in Manasquam R., from Joseph Lawrence's upper corner to the sea; 7, 70 a. on the South side of said river below Hartshorns Island to the sea; 815 a. on a branch of Leonard's Sawmill brook, called Mirry Bog Brook; in all 250 acres.
Note1: Verify this John Willson.
Ref: NJ Colonial Documents.

. 1763 - Wilson, James, Monmouth married Catherine Stillwell of Monmouth on 1 Jun 1765.
Note2: Grandson is Stillwell Willson, born NJ. - PJA.

. 1773 Mar 4, WILL of JOHN WILLSON of Piscataway, Middlesex Co.,
Advanced in age. Son Samuel 20 shillings, Wife, Sarah, furniture,
Son John rest of personal & real estate.
Executor: Son John Willson.
Witnesses: William Thickstun*, Sarah Ross, John Ross.
Proved: 1774 Jun 14.
Inventory £174.2.0, made by Thomas Munday* & John Arnold*.

* Note3: * Thomas Munday is the husband of dau. Sarah Willson. Thomas Mundy Sr. was dead 8.10.1773, I suppose he could have done the inventory between Mar. 4 1773 and the time he died, before the Will was proven OR possibly his son Thomas Munday, Jr. married 3 years previous in 1770 to Sarah Willson.
Ref: Nick Mundy Sanborn Sr., 2016.)
. Wm. Thickstun is related to daughter-in-law Rebekek Thickston (John Willson.1 ( & John Arnold are Willson-in-laws.)
Ref: NJ Lib L, p.147, volume XXXIV, Abstracts of Wills 171-1770.

. (The date of landing of the Willsons has not yet been established. This John Willson was born 1701 in Piscataway, New Jersey: - PJA.)

Recorded for further research:
. 1725 Aug. 26. Cock, Walter, of Burlington Township, brickmaker; … 1727 April I. Account of the estate by the executor, Robert Jones, who has paid debts due to John Willson.
. 1688 Sept. 2. WILL of Tartt, Edward, of Monmouth Co.; Divides real & personal estate between Margery Joebes, John Rutman, junior, Thomas Renshall, Sara Rutman, John Willson junior, sister Elizabeth & her daughters.
James Grover & John Willson junior.
Witnesses: John Throckmorton & John Stout. Proved September 25, 1688.
Ref: N.J. Archives, XXL, p. 131

. 1700 Oct. 15. WILL of Tatham, Elizabeth, of Burlington, widow.

. 1724 July 14. WILL of Tan Hook, Lawrence, of Monmouth Co., Esq're …bonds & mortgages due by John Lawrence, John … John Willson & others.

. Witness: WILL Proved. 1761 May 26, John Willson, son, Henry salt meadow in Piscataway,
Grandsons, John & Wm. Hopkins,
Dau. Sarah Hopkins, deceased, Son Henry.
Witnesses: David Conger, John Wilson, Jr., John Arnold, NJ
Archives, first Series, Vol. XXXIII, p. 241
Ref: Bonham & related family lines.

. Further research, (Verify which John Willson): Along with Capt. Wm. Lawrence, a John Wilson was one of the original purchases of land from the Indians, 1667. He was awarded town lot # 3 Middleton & others.
Ref: Salter’s History of Monmouth & Ocean Counties New Jersey. - - -

Birth:
Older spellings: Piscataqua Town. Wilfon. Also Styled himself as 'junior', relative to your perspective.

John married Sarah LADNER in 1738. Sarah was born in 1705 in New Jersey; died in 1773 in New Jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Verify this Sarah Ladner is the daughter Elizabeth Jouet & Absolom Ladner of Elizabethtown, NJ.

Recorder for further research:
. There were Ladner's living in Piscataway, NJ: Anna Ladner, born 1728 married 1748 in Baptist Church of Piscataway to Peter Martin of Piscataway, NJ.

. Mary Ladner, born 1689, Essex Co., NJ - 1733.1.5, Elizabeth, NJ, d/o Elizabeth Jouet & Absalom Ladner.
Mary Ladner married 1709 NJ to Anthony Little, 1685-1733. Six Little children.
. Peter Ladner, b 1693 Elizabethtown, NJ.
. Daniel Ladner, b 1695, Elizabethtown, NJ.
. Sarah Ladner, 1705- c1773 NJ.

. WILL of Robert Ladner, of Elizabeth Town, Essex Co., saddler;
Wife Sarah sole heiress & executrix of real & personal estate.
Witnesses: Benjamin Trotter, Jacob Mitchell, Samuel Whitehead.
Proved August 25, 1718. Lib. A, p. 109.
Robert's WILL is dated 29 Jun 1718.
Ref: NJ Archives Vol 23, P 278.

* Additionally, in this WILL, a grandson of John & Sarah is named William Ladner. {of which 1718 would be too early for William Ladner Willson of Vaughan Twp., Ontario.
Further research to identify relationship.

. Also recorded for further research, as demonstrated, Ladner family in NJ:
. April 1779 Tax List. New Brunswick, North Ward, Middlesex Co., NJ:
Ladner, Andrew L, householder.

. COMPARE WITH: 1793 New Jersey Militia Census Piscataway, Middlesex Co., NJ: Robt. Ladner, aged 22, that is born 1771. - - -

Birth:


Died:
verify.

Notes:

Ulster & Orange Counties, NJ Marriages:
. 1737 Oct 25, Samuel Willson, Piscataway X Mary Martin, Piscataway, NJ.
. 1743 May 11, Mary Martin, Piscataway X John Thickston, Piscataway, NJ.
Ref: History of the First Baptist Church of Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey.

. History of Long Island: Hempstead. In 1647 there were 57 freeholders in the [Hempstead] township, & a formal division of the land was made anions'.
X-Ref: Compare Samuel's brother John Willson, Jr. married Rebecca Thickston/Thixton. -PJA.
. 1746 Nov 18, WILL of Jeremiah Bloomfield, 1693-1746. Witness: John Thickston.

They were as follows: Richard Gildersleeve, William Lawrence, William Thickstone (Thickstone), Thomas Willet, John Lawrence, Thomas. (etc.)
In 1673 the list had passed the hundred mark, as may be seen from the enumeration preserved in A'anderkemp's Translation of Dutch Records, XXII.

. 1747 May 26, WILL of John Thickston of Middlesex Co., NJ, blacksmith.
Mary Thickston, widow, renounces her right of administration & desires that William Clawson be appointed.
Witnesses: Samuel Martin, Isaac Manning.,
Ref: NJ Wills, Lib 3, page 476.

XRef: 1749 May 26. Bond of William Clawson of Essex Co. & Isaac Manning of Middlesex Co., yeoman, principal creditors, as administrators.
John Deare of Perth Amboy, Fellow bondsman. - - -

Birth:
(Original English name was Theakston).

Died:
Verify this John Thickston.

Jonathan married Mary Coats MARTIN on 11 May 1733 in Monmouth Co., New Jersey. Mary (daughter of Benjamin MARTIN, .Jr. and Philoreta SLATER) was born on 10 Mar 1710 in Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., New Jersey; died in 1755 in Woodbridge, Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., NJ. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Mary is the daughter of Susannah Alger & Joseph Josiah Martin, both of Piscatawy, NJ.

. 1747 May 26, WILL of John Thickston of Middlesex Co., blacksmith.
Mary Thickston, widow, renounces her right of administration & desires that William Clawson be appointed.
Witnesses: Samuel Martin, Isaac Manbing.

. 1747 May 26. Bond, Wm. Clawson of Essex Co. & Isaac Manning of Middlesex Co., yeomen, principal creditors, as administrators. Jean Dear of Perth Amboy, Fellow Bondsman.
Ref: NJ State Archives, Lib E, p46

. 1750 July 7, WILL of Josep Martin, of Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., yeoman
wife Elisabeth, Children: William, Merrit, Valentine, Benjamin, John, Joseph, Katherine Codington, Sarah Connet, Rebecca Morgan, Sussanah Kelley, Mary Coats. Personal property.
Proven 1757 Jun 7.
Ref: NJ Wills, Lib. F. P429.

Martin Family Land:
. 1755 Jul 1 - WILL of Benjamin Martin, of Piscataway, Middlesex Co.,
Wife Philerato,
Sons: Benjamin, Nathanael, Peter.
Daughter Zerviah, wife of Jeremiah Blackford,
Grandchildren: Athanasius, James, Luther;
Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Ruben - sons of Benj;
Mary, Isiah & Benj - children of Nehmiah & Elizabeth Bonham;
Zerviah, d/ of Zedekiah & Anna Bonham.
Leaves Land bough of father Ben. Martin, home farm on the Mill Brook, Woodbridge, bought in part of John Martin & John Bloomfield; land bought of brother Jonathan Martin; 16 A. in Essex Co. bough to Samuel drake & Isaac Chandler; a lot at vineyard not of Wm. Edinfield?.
Executors: son Benjamin, son-in-law, John Blackford, & cousin James Martin.
. 1757 May 10, Inventory £190.16.3, incl his purse, £37.8.8. Large Bible, a Bible in another gone, other books.
. 1757 May 3 Proved.
Ref: NJ Wills, Lib F, p422.

Her Grandfather's WILL:
. 1755 Apr 2, WILL OF Peter Martin, Piscataway, Wife Sarah, Children Robt., Peter, Zirviah Runyon, Priscilla, Mary Faurat & Sarah Martin. Grandsons: Thos. (s/o of late eldson son Mulford Martain), Mulford & Sam. Martain, Lot of 39 Acres in Woodbridge, adjoining Gershom Martain, salt meadow; home farm, adjoining John Willson*; salt meadow in Martain's Neck, & same at the moth of the Great Pond.
Ref: NJ Wills, Lib 10, p293.

Note* - Adjoining John Willson's land:
This is the land of the father of John Willson, Sen. (1739-1829);
- So we see here that his future spouse to be, Rebecca Thickson's grandparents,
lived on the land adjoining in Piscataway, NJ. - PJA.
Is this the same home farm as on Mill Brook, Woodbridge?

Research & transcriptions by PJ Ahlberg. Thank you. 2019. - - -

Birth:


Died:
Verify DOD.

Notes:

Abraham Lakerman.1 is the son of Abraham Lacreman, b1660 in Leydon, Holland, & Catherine Crocheron.

Executor, Legal Work:
. 1697 Oct 12 - Benjamin Fletch, Governor, Know ye at at New York, the WILL of John Lacuna was proven & Peter Lacuna & Abraham Lockerman, Wakeman are confirmed as Executors.
Ref: Staten Island Wills & Letters of Administration, Richmond County, New York, Liber 5-6:198.

. 1697 Oct 2 - John LeConte, Richmond Co. being in good health.
to daughter Susannah, all my estate, after the death of my wife Hester Leconte or when she shall marry again,
If Hester should remarry before my daughter comes of age, she is to have £20. But if she do not remarry, than she shall enjoy the use of all the estate, till my 6 daughters come of age.
If Susannah should die, the estate is to go to Peter & Wm. Lucent.
Executors: Brother Peter Leconte & his friend Abraham Lockerman, Wakeman.
Buried my body in the garden by my own house.
Richmond County, New York, Liber 5-6:199.
Peter Le Counte, Staten Isl. wife Margaret, use of all estate,
son John LeConte £50 & 2 lots of & meadow.
Executors Jacob Garriot, & Abraham Lockman.
Ref: Richmond County, New York, Liber 7:159.

. 1724 Dec 20 - WILL of Isaac Van Tuyn, in the name of God, Amen. I, ISAAC VAN TUYL, of Richmond County, Gentleman, being very sick. I leave to my eldest son, Isaac, or such of my sons as shall be the eldest at my decease, one Golden Pistole, in full of all presence as Heir-at-Law.
I leave to my wife Sarah, full power to dispose of all estate, during her widowhood, but if she marries, she is to have this power in conjunction with my executors.
I leave to my son Isaac, ?50. To my sons, Abraham & John, ?30each. After the above four sums be taken, which amount to ?111, 8s., all the rest is to be divided among all my children, Isaac, Abraham, John, Catharine, & Gertruy.
My wife is to have her maintenance during her life.
Executors: I make my wife & Abraham Lakerman, & Abraham Van Tuyl, Gentlemen.

. 1734 WILL of Abraham Lakerman devised £100 to daughter Catharine, wife of John Morgan, Richmond County. [John Morton, b 1652, Constable & Surveyor 1704.- - -

Birth:
1682 Verify

Abraham married Sarah JONES on 24 May 1738 in Staten Island, New York City, New York. Sarah was born in 1710. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]