Robert Wilson is our immigrant Wilson ancestor. He was the paternal grandfather of Abigail Wilson, who married Benedict Alford, the grandson of Sergeant Benedict Alford, on January 4, 1714. The oldest record currently available of Robert is from Windsor in 1646 when he and William Thrall purchased a property from Simon Horr, which included thirty acres of land granted to Horr by the town in 1640, on which he constructed a house and a barn.

Robert married Elizabeth Stebbins in about 1649 in Hartford, Connecticut. She was born about 1631 and was the second daughter of Edward Stebbins and Francis Tough. Robert and Elizabeth had two sons: John, born in 1950 and Samuel, born in 1652.

Robert died July 21, 1655, in Farmington, Connecticut, leaving his wife with two small boys, John, age five, and Samuel, age three. He was only thirty years old and left no Will. Elizabeth married Thomas Caldwell in 1658. In colonial times, the standard practice when a man married a widow with young children was for him to adopt and raise the children as his own. In this case, Elizabeth and Thomas abandoned her two children by Robert Wilson. John Wilson was raised by Elizabeth's parents, Edward and Francis Stebbins, in Hartford, and Samuel was adopted by his aunt and uncle, Robert's sister, Isabel Wilson, and her husband, William Phelps, Junior.

Click on the icon on the left to read about the lives of Robert Wilson and Elizabeth Stebbins.

Samuel Wilson was the father of Abigail Wilson, who married Benedict Alford on January 14, 1714. He was born in Farmington, Connecticut, on June 23, 1653, and was the second son of Robert Wilson and Elizabeth Stebbins. Samuel lost his father on July 21, 1655, when he was about three. Samuel's mother was Edward and Francis Stebbins' second daughter, and she likely moved her sons to her parent's homestead in Hartford after Robert's death. Sometime before 1658, when Samuel's mother married Thomas Caldwell, Robert's sister, Isabel Wilson, and her husband, William Phelps, Junior, who lived in Windsor, adopted Samuel. Samuel's older brother, John, was adopted by his grandparents, Edward and Francis Stebbins, and grew up in their home in Hartford.

Mary Griffin was born on March 1, 1651, the daughter of John Griffin and Anna Bancroft. Mary and Samuel Wilson married on May 1, 1672. They had eight children. Samuel Wilson died on August 3, 1697. He was only forty-four years old, and his young age and the lack of a Will indicate his death was unexpected and probably accidental. He had a substantial estate, and men with young families and large estates usually managed to draft or dictate a Will if they became seriously ill.

Mary married Anthony Hoskins, one of our ancestors, probably in 1699. Anthony was sixty-nine, and Mary was fifty. Mary had at least four underage children from Samuel that needed support, and Anthony's first wife had died only a few years earlier. Anthony was wealthy, and Mary had her funds from Samuel's estate. Mary lived until February of 1734/35.

Click on the icon on the left to read about the lives of Samuel Wilson and Mary Griffin.