George Wilson was born in about 1762 in Augusta Co., Virginia, the son of Henry Sr. and Mary [surname unknown] Wilson. Family details about their background can be found in the chapter on Henry Wilson, Sr. The family moved to Botetourt Co., Virginia before 1771, made a brief settlement near what is now Harrodsburg, Kentucky in 1775, and returned to Botetourt Co., Virginia. In 1779, they moved a second time to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and remained there until 1791, when they moved to Bourbon Co., Kentucky.

George Wilson married Polly Mitchell on July 29, 1786. She was born ca. 1765/66. The names of her parents have not been determined. George Wilson remained closely associated with members of the Mitchell family for the rest of his life, even after the death of Polly, and his second marriage to Elizabeth. The following Mitchells were present at the Dec. 20, 1813 estate sale for George Wilson: William Mitchell, James G. Mitchell, Samuel G. Mitchell, John Mitchell, and Robert Mitchell. The lawsuit Henry Wilson, Sr. vs. Henry Wilson, Jr. (Bourbon Co., Kentucky Civil Case File) reveals that in 1817, Robert Mitchell offered testimony that he was present at the residence of George Wilson when George Wilson drew up the deed between Henry Wilson, Sr. to Henry Wilson, Jr. George Wilson was deceased by the time of this lawsuit, so he couldn’t testify. Details can be found in the chapter on Henry Wilson, Sr.

But who were these Mitchells? They could have been Polly’s brothers, cousins, nephews. The names of the children of George and Polly (Mitchell) Wilson offer a few clues, the most obvious being John Mitchell Wilson. Another son was named Hamilton Wilson. He could have been named for Alexander Hamilton. A daughter was named Jane Rogers Wilson.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the parents or grandparents of Polly Mitchell turn out to be named John Mitchell and Jane Rogers. Bourbon Co., Kentucky marriage records show that on May 23, 1796, Elizabeth Mitchell married James Scott. This is noteworthy because George Wilson’s son, John Mitchell Wilson, named his second son, James Scott Wilson. Perhaps he was the namesake of a great uncle by marriage. On Sep. 10, 1794, another Elizabeth Mitchell (daughter of Samuel) married John Irvin. The Mitchell and Irvin(e) families apparently had several intermarriages.

Polly (Mitchell) Wilson died on Aug 5, 1803, in Bourbon Co., Kentucky. Before 1809, George Wilson married, his second wife, Elizabeth [surname unknown] in Fayette Co., Kentucky marriage records show that on Apr. 13, 1805, a George Wilson married Elizabeth Nichols. Although the timing was right, we must remember that there was another George Wilson in Fayette Co., Kentucky at the time, and this record might pertain to him.

George Wilson died in Nov. 1813 in Bourbon Co., Kentucky. His widow, Elizabeth, must have died in about 1832.

George’s Revolutionary War service was occluded from the light of history for many decades. The name George Wilson is rather common, and the mere inclusion of a George Wilson in a muster roll does NOT make him identical to this ancestor. The 1820 deposition of Henry Wilson [Jr.] (Draper Manuscripts 4 J, p. 77-79) proves that his brother was at least involved in a bit of public service:

“This deponent, Henry Wilson, aged sixty years, … About the fall ’81 or winter of 1781-2, this deponent was present when Jno Wilson entered into a contract with Joseph Lindsey to take up Buffalo meat at Lexington, or at any of the stations he choose where it would be well taken care of, for which Jos Lindsey offered to pay in land warrants or, if preferred, be personally responsible for whatever quantity of meat he would process in good order. This deponent went with his brother to hunt; they made their stand at Todd’s station, 5 or 6 miles southwardly from Lexington; they there brought in and dressed about 4000 weight of good beef, to be used for supply, as they understood from Lindsay, for a campaign against Detroit. The draughts were made and ordered to be held in readiness to march early in the spring. The expedition was ultimately abandoned and in consequence it was thought that the Indians would be very troublesome. In the spring, Lindsay had a guard and hunters employed at Leestown on the Kentucky. This deponent understood they were engaged in different wages; he had some hired by the day & men employed to bring in the meat; others were paid for the quantity of meat they delivered. The guard that had horses and choose to hunt he paid so much for every load of good beef delivered. This deponent further states that after the campaign was declined, and the men about to abandon Leesburgh, that Lindsey called on the men to go down and assist in removing stores to a more secure place. This deponent states that he was one of the guards called on, but that he got his brother George to go in his place, and said deponent went and met them at Harrods Landing of the Kentucky river, where he saw about twenty large canoes or pirogues loaded with fine dried beef. We brought it up to the mouth of Shawnee Run and deposited it in a cabin, built for the purpose, which was filled full he thinks. The cabin was about 16 feet square & the usual height…”

“Henry Wilson”

This proves that Henry Wilson, Jr.’s brother, George Wilson, was involved in hunting buffalo to provide beef for the Virginia Militia. This alone is enough to qualify George Wilson as a patriot ancestor. However, there is more. The muster rolls of Lincoln Co., Kentucky show several occasions when Henry Wilson [Jr.] served in the militia. Listed in the same muster rolls, we sometimes find the name George Wilson. The service has never been assigned to anyone else. It is obvious that, as brothers, Henry Wilson, Jr., and George Wilson liked to do things together. The following references probably pertain to him (George Rogers Clark and His Men, Military Records, 1778-1784, by Margery Heberling Harding, 1981):

(page 56-57) “A Pay Role of Captain John Allison Company under the Command of Colo. George Rogers Clark July 8, 1780” includes: Henery Wilson (private), George Wilson (private). They were listed side by side. They served until August 28, 1780. Capt. John Allison was serving under John Bowman. A sworn statement from Lincoln Co., Va. was made on March 28, 1783.

(page 83) “A Pay Role for Captain John Cowans Company of Militia who were on actual duty from the 22nd of March to the 22nd of April Inclusive 1781 for the defence of Lincoln County by order of Coln. John Bowman” includes: George Wilson (private).

(page 134) “A company of Lincoln County militia rendezvoused at Harrodsburg and defended Bullitt’s Lick in Jefferson County, 10 July 1782. A payroll of a party of the Lincoln Militia under Lieut. James Brown on actual service at Bullek Lick in Jefferson County by order of Col. Bena. Logan” includes: George Wilson (private) and John Mitchel (private). They were not side by side on the list. They served from July 10 to August 2, 1782.

(page 146-147) “A Pay Role for Capt. Samuel Kirkham Company of Lincoln County Militia under the command of Col. Benjamin Logan a burying the Dead at the bleu Lick and in the battle August 19th 1782” includes: George Wilson (private) and Joseph Willson (private). They were not side by side on the list. They served from August 17 to August 26, 1782.

(page 177-178) “A Pay Role of Lincoln Militia under Capt. Saml. Kirkham on actual Service on an Expedition against the Enemy Indians under Genl. Clark” includes: Joseph Wilson (private) and George Wilson (private). They were not side by side on the list. They served from October 22 to November 23, 1782.

(page 184-185) “A payroll of Lincoln Militia of Capt. Simon Kenton Company on actual Service on an Expedition against enemy Indians under the Command of General Clark 1782” includes Henry Willson (private), James Scott (private), George Wilson (private), and Thos. Wilson (private). Henry, James, and George were side by side. Thomas was further down the list. They entered service at Wilson Station. They served from Oct. 23 to Nov. 23, 1782.

A careful reading of the above document shows an affinity in the Revolutionary War records between a man named George Wilson and men named John Mitchell and James Scott. We can’t say for certain who these three men are. I think it would be unrealistic to conclude that none of these references to George Wilson pertained to our ancestor, George Wilson. NSSAR agreed and registered the service.

The above muster rolls show that George Wilson was as deeply involved in the Kentucky phase of the Revolutionary War as his brother, Henry Wilson, Jr., the hero of Bryant’s Station. However, George Wilson didn’t live long enough to make depositions for either the pension bureau or Lyman Draper. George Wilson’s service remained hidden until I found it.