Wilson Family Genealogy
Stories about Jane (Wilson) Pawling
For many years, the only information family tradition preserved about Jane Wilson was that she had married a man named Levi Pawling. While looking through old papers belonging to her maternal grandfather, Benjamin Ernest Wilson, Fern Eleanor (Cook) Lynn found three sheets of paper in Ben's handwriting that contained information about Jane and Levi's descendants. The notes were obviously not intended to be a strict genealogy, but appeared to have been written quickly during a conversation with someone who knew the family. That "someone" has not been positively identified, although it is now known from journals kept by Ben's wife, Mary Catherine (Smoyer) Wilson, that Ben and Mary visited several descendants of Jane and Levi in 1914 and 1922.
Much later, through on-line research, the family located information in various genealogical and family history books about the Pawling family, including many members of the family in addition to Jane and Levi. In almost every case, the publications agreed with Ben's notes and clarified notes that had been subject to various interpretations.
These historical books were supplemented with research into the censuses. During the course of this research, the family realized that several unknown people whose names and birthdates were recorded in Mary's birthday book were actually descendants of Jane and Levi.