They that be wise shall shine
As the brightness of the firmament
And they that turn many to
Righteousness, as the stars for ever
And ever

From the tombstone of Rev. John McKemie Wilson

Pastor of Rocky River from April 30, 1802-July 30, 1831.

My family tree is ripe with men of the cloth. From my Scottish Presbyterians, Virginian Methodist Episcopal, German Lutherans and Primitive Baptists from the British shores, I can rattle off an entire list of ministers that went into the recipe that made me. Not one other, however, is as well-documented and revered as John McKemie Wilson.

First, let me get this out of the way. His middle name can be spelled a gazillion different ways, ending in y, ey, ie , Mc C or Mc K, middle initial e, a or i, in any combination of those. I'll may swing between them myself, and not really sure which is considered correct. John was one of my 5th Great Grandfathers, one of those comfortable middle ground ancestors, not too far back to elude records, but not close enough to be considered recent.

John was born with Presbyterian in his blood, and the records of it can take me back several more generations beyond the fifth distant, and back to the Plantation of Ulster.

John's roots were not Irish, but Scottish, but in 1610, a huge wave of Scottish Presbyterians had immigrated to Ireland, with a concentration in Ulster. New congregations were established with the protection of Oliver Cromwell. After the restoration of the monarchy, some ministers who were deemed rebellious were removed, while others were left and paid by William III for their conformity. Without going into an entire history, many of the former group opted for transportation to America. New Missions.

John was born about 1769, in the Sugar Creek, or Sugaw Creek, area of Mecklenburg County, NC.

The Church he attended as a child, Sugaw Creek Presbyterian, founded in 1756, still stands, and is still an active congregation. Amazing.

As a young man, this was where he was inspired to enter the ministry and follow in the footsteps of his forebears, Robert Wilson, directly, and Francis McKemie, called the father of Presbytery in America, indirectly, an ancestorial uncle relationship. He graduated from Hampden-Sidney College in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1791 with the highest honors. He then studied theology privately under the direction of Rev. James Hall D. D., from Iredell County. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Orange County, NC in 1793. He afterwards was sent out into the field by the Commission of Synod to the frontier, the mountains of North Carolina. He would achieve the title of Presbytery Divine.

Rev. Wilson would find himself in the area of Quaker Meadows, in Burke County, North Carolina. The Quaker Meadows Presbyterian Church was established in 1774, and is the oldest church in Burke County, founded primarily by a large Scotch-Irish population. They were a Presbyterian people, but as the organized council of this church insisted on their ministers being educated, it made the church difficult to grow and increase in the outer edges of the frontier. This was in contrast to say, the Baptists whose congregations would choose a Pastor among their own Congregation, someone called by God, but with little to no education, or the Methodists, who employed Circuit Riding Ministers, who covered large territories.

While in Quaker Meadows, John would meet his wife, Mary "Pretty Polly" Erwin, daughter of Patriot Col. Alexander Erwin and wife, Susannah Robinson Erwin. By 1797, he was serving two churches, not a great distance from each other, the one in Quaker Meadow, and The First Presbyterian Church of Morganton, whose people had been meeting casually since around 1780, without the guidance of an ordained minister.

John and Polly would have 9 children:

John McKemie Wilson II (1789-1839)
James Erwin Wilson (1797-1850)
Margaret McKemie Wilson (1799-1870) Married John Work Means -my line
Sarah Robinson Wilson (1799-1864) Married William E. White
Alexander Erwin Wilson (1803-1841)
Joseph Harvey Wilson (1810-1884)
William Erwin Wilson (1815-unk)
Harriett Ann Wilson (1818-1850) Married Richard C. Carson
Mary Erwin Wilson (dates unknown) Married James Smith Chambers.

Portrait of Sarah Robinson Wilson White

Polly Erwin Wilson was recorded as having been the perfect minister's wife, "and was found in her an amiable, pious and intelligent companion and pastor's wife, for more that thirty years. He survived her about five years", according to Rev. Dr. William Henry Foote, biographer and author.

In 1801, Rev. Wilson was called for by his hometown, from two churches needing his services. One of those was Rocky River Presbyterian in Cabarrus County, NC, but then part of Mecklenburg, the other was a Mecklenburg County church called "Philadelphia".

Rocky River was one of the seven congregations that covered the region of country represented in the convention at Charlotte, of Declaration memory, and was no disinterested spectator of the doings and catastrophe of the Regulation. The first settlers in the bounds of the congregation were all of the Scotch-Irish race, that landed in Pennsylvania, and after Carrying a short time there, or in Maryland, found their way to North Carolina. As was usual, they came in a company : Col. Robert Harris, on Reedy Creek ; his brother, Samuel Harris, on Clear Creek ; Andrew Davis, on Reedy Creek ; Moses Shelby, on Clear Creek ; Wm. White and his two brothers, James and Archibald, on or near Rocky River ; David Caldwell, on Caldwell's Creek ; and Adam Alexander on Clear Creek. Others probably came with these, but their names are not known. As the tide of emigration was turned by the Indian depredations to the peaceful streams of Carolina, the settlements rapidly increased and formed a vigorous, active and independent part of the county. The Morrison family came early to Rocky River from Scotland, making a short sojourn in Pennsylvania. There were three brothers, two of them lived to a great age. The descendants of the Harris, Alexander and Morrison families have been numerous ; of the latter, nine have entered the ministry, and others are preparing.

Thomas Hugh Spence, Jr., The Presbyterian Congregation on Rocky River (1954).

John McKemie Wilson was a man of peace. He did not participate in the militia or get involved in the War as a teenager, and still was a bit too young to, although brought up into what was referred to by the British as a "Hornets' Nest". His father was a merchant, having come to Mecklenburg from Philadelphia, and it's not clearly recounted, but he was somehow caught up in the fray of it, and died in 1780. Several early members of the daughters of the Revolution have used this lineage to join.

In the book, Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical, illustrative of the principles of a portion other early settlers. By Rev. William Henry Foote, an entire chapter, XXXIII is dedicated to Rev. Wilson

Other authors have drawn heavily on his history, it's easy to tell. The paragraph below tells a bit about his early life, with a mention of his raising and his father.

In another account of his childhood, from William B. Sprague, Annuals of the American Pulpit, vol. 4 (1858), John McKemie Wilson is painted as a playmate of future president, Andrew Jackson.

The articile continues with a tale from his toddler years, concerning a snake.

His touching of a snake that didn't bite him must have been a story often told by his mother and reveals the emollient nature he would take into adulthood.

John took the helm of sheparding the flocks of Rocky River and Philadelphia for about eleven years, during the period his children were growing up. During that time several young men in the area or within his congregations exhorted him to open up a school. They wished to enter the ministry under his tutalage.This he did about 1812 and that was his career for the next dozen years. During that time, he produced 25 students that followed his footsteps into the mission field and became preachers.Several of the congregation of Rocky River, which area had consisted of a penurious population, would not have had a classical education without John. His students were young men only. Women were excluded from his school, as it was considered improper at the time. It was said he was a beloved and popular instructor. His school was called The Rocky River Academy. He also helmed the building of a new church building, during his tenure as minister at Rocky River, which took place in 1807.

In 1829, at the age of 60, Rev. John McKemie Wilson was given the honorable degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of North Carolina, which was the first major college established in North Carolina.

Among the stories told of his like was how Andrew Jackson and his mother, who was a relative of theirs, took refuge in their home when John was a small boy, when the British force invaded South Carolina during the Revolutionary War and remained there for a few months between September of 1780 and February of 1781. Johns father, James, participated in the War effort and was killed during the time, the details unclear,(bet 1775-1780), but he left three children, John, his brother, James Jr.(1771-1884) who became a sheriff and a sister, Deborah, (1773-1804). A fourth child, named Isaac, born about 1775 is also sometimes included, he may have been born posthumously.

Another interesting tale of his life was how, after graduating college, he rode on a mission trip of 1000 miles through the mountains and foothills of North Carolina, which was a wild and dangerous area at the time.

John spent so much time on the road, it's unknown if he appeared in any of the early census records of his lifespan, 1790 or 1800. He did, however, appear in the 1810, 1820 and 1830 censuses of Mecklenburg County, NC.

Name	Revd Jno M Wilson
Residence Date	6 Aug 1810
Residence Place	Capt Moore, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	4
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15	1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	2
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44	1
Number of Enslaved Persons	9
Number of Household Members Under 16	7
Number of Household Members Over 25	2
Number of Household Members	18

The 1820 cenus even named him as Reverend John M. Wilson. He had 8 children in the home at the time, and he and his wife were between 26 and 44.

Rev. John was also an author, having penned several recorded sermons, eulogies and books.

He published, a Sermon (1804): — Sermon (1811): — and an Appendix to a work on psalmody by the Rev. Dr. Ruffner, of Virginia. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, 4:90; Foote, Sketches of North Carolina; Allibone, Dict. of Brit and Amer. Authors, s.v. (J. L. S.)

Two paragraphs from United States Genealogies 1767 recount the ministerial and connected ancestry of Rev. John McKemie Wilson. See below.

Two of John and Polly's sons followed in their fathers footsteps, becoming ministers.John Jr. settled in the American southwest, while brother, Alexander went on to Africa. There's no recorded picture or portrait of John, Sr., but an image of his son Rev. John M. Wilson Jr., is shown in the clip below, a rather imposing and stern looking man.

A story on the parents of Rev. John M. Wilson is found below. Before reading, let me insert this tad bit of wisdom, the word "freeman" did not mean 'single'. It referred to a free person of color. That record was not of merchang James Wilson. This excerpt is from. "The Annuls of the American Pulpit" by Sprague, Footes Sketches and Laura Wilson Ford

"The parent of John Makemie Wilson, James Wilson, married a daughter of Matthew Patton of Peters Township, Cumberland Co, Pennsylvania and they had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth Wilson. After the death of his wife, James married the widow of Arthur Alexander, Margaret McCamy, the daughter of John and Margaret McCamy of Letterkenny, also of Cumberland Co, PA. Margaret and Arthur Alexander had three children, Mary, Ann, and Elias Alexander.

There is a James Wilson "freeman," which is said to mean single, on the 1750 tax list of Lancaster PA, in an area which became Cumberland Co within that year. In the absence of other evidence, we suppose he is this James Wilson. James and Margaret must have married about 1768, since they had four children, the oldest born 1769, and James Wilson died in 1776, believed to have been killed in the war for independence. Margaret Wilson is buried in Poplar Tent Cemetery in Mecklenburg Co, NC, where her stone says she died in 1802 at age 60.

The children of James and Margaret Wilson were John Makemie Wilson, James Wilson, Deborah Wilson and Isaac Wilson. John Makemie Wilson (1769-1831) attended Hampden-Sidney College where he graduated with highest honors in 1791. He was licensed to preach by the Presbyterian Church in 1793 and ordained in 1795. He was serving in Burke County, North Carolina when he married Mary Erwin, daughter of Alexander Erwin and his wife Sarah Robinson. They remained in Morganton until 1801when he was called to Rocky River and Philadelphia Churches where John Makemie Wilson is remembered for his long years of service and devoted following. There were numerous examples of little boys whose given names were John Makemie or John Makemie Wilson among his congregation.

The children of Mary Erwin and John Makemie Wilson were James Erwin Wilson, Sarah Robinson Wilson married William Elliott White, Margaret Makemie Wilson married John Work Means, Isaac Wilson, Alexander Erwin Wilson, John McKemie Wilson, Mary Erwin Wilson married Chambers, Harriet Ann Wilson married Richard C. Carson, and Joseph Harvey Wilson."

Source: Annals of the American Pulpit by Sprague, Foote's Sketches and Laura Wilson Ford

The Kids

John McKemie (asa McKamey) Wilson, Jr. (1808-1881) graduated from Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, along with his brother, Alexander, in 1827. While John studied law and was later admitted to the bar, Alexander went in for the study of medicine and became a medical doctor. Oddly, shortly afterwards, both brothers entered the seminary. Alexander's heart led him afar, and he took his medical skills and religious calling to Africa and became one of America's earlies foreign missionairies.

Junior, the attorney/minister preferred to stay closer to the bone, first ministering to the congregations of Bethany and Tabor in Iredell County, not far from his Rocky River home. He then took over the ministry of his father's church, Rocky River, after his passing. He married a conspicuous lady that he'd met in Virginia named Philadelphia Herndon Fox. I love how they named children in those days, so haughty and auspicious.

Their first destination West was to Fulton, Missouri, where Junior became a circuit rider, servicing multiple congregations. Much his father's son, he founded two schools while there, a Seminary, and another for young women that taught a classical education.

Twenty-five years into their marriage, Junior decided to pack up his village of a family, consisting of himself, his wife, eleven children and 19 slaves, and a caravan of supplies, furnishings, religious and educational books and supplies, including a piano and harpsichord, and made his way to the wilds of Texas.

Once there, he settled in as the minister of the Seguin Presbyterian Church, only the second one to fill that roll. Still interested in increasing the educational opportunities for girls and women, he became the headmaster of the Guadalupe Female Academy. If that was not enough divergence from his original path of study, he became a Potter, and established Wilson's Pottery after the Civil War.

Joseph Harvey Wilson (1810-1884) was an attorney in Charlotte where he practiced law for 50 years. He had attended Washington College in Virginia where he entered at 13 and graduated with honors at 13. He was referred to as "The Great Solicitor". He was the Speaker of the N.C. Senate in 1866-1867. He was married twice, first to Julia Patton of Burke County with whom he had four children and next to Mary Louisa Phifer with whom he had four more.

Isaac Wilson (1802-1880) Was a co-executor of his father's Will, along with Junior and Alex. He was a quiet country doctor in Mecklenburg County.

James Erwin Wilson was also a medical doctor. He was married twice, first to Elizabeth Kerr and second to Elizabeth Ferguson and had three children by each. He removed first to Tennessee and second to Alabama.

William Erwin Wilson (1791-1871) the second born son, was reared to Farm life and devoted his time to agricultural pursuits.

The four daughters, Margaret, Sarah, Mary and Harriett, all married well and within their class, to Doctors, Merchants and an Attorney. They were dutiful and well educated wives and mothers.

Rev. John McKemie Wilson's Last Days

John's last days included a trip to his wife's hometown and his old stomping grounds, Morganton, in Burke County, to attend a church meeting. He didn't sleep much or well during these things and after returning home, the 61 year old minister appeared exhausted, more so than usual. He never seemed to recover from the weary trip. On his last day of life, he was peaceful, calm and humble, enjoying laughter and conversation with his family. His wife, Polly Erwin Wilson had passed on five years prior. He yelled out to one of his single sons who remained in the home at about 3 am the next morning, and complained that he was cold. He then appeared to have had a stroke, in my opinion. It is recorded that his speech first became incoherent, and then he went silent.

He passed away at about nine the next morning, on July 30, 1831.

A Dr. Robinson from the Poplar Tent congregation performed the funeral, he was said to have been a lifelong friend of John. The funeral was held under a beautiful grove of trees, because the Santuary of Rocky River was too small to hold the multitude of friends, family, parishoners and former students, and the curious of the community who showed up. He had toucheded so many lives.

After his father's funeral, Rev. Alexander Wilson, the missionary, set off for East Africa. He came under a lot of duress and danger among the Zulu tribe, who were in the middle of a War. During the course of it, his wife, Martha Jane Smithey Wilson was killed and he was forced to flee home with his infant daughter, Martha Smithey Wilson. He remained home for awhile, caring for his daughter until she was a few years old, but his heart and mission was called again to Africa. He returned, this time to the West Coast of Africa and lost his life at Cape Palmas in 1842. He is buried in Fishtown, Potupo District, River Gee, Liberia.