Collateral Families:
Those Families whose Members have Married into the Wilson Family
- General Introduction
- The Extent of Information that will be Included on Collateral Families
- Generation Numbers for Collateral Families
- The Present Situation in regard to Reporting on Collateral Families
Each of us has many ancestral families. Many of us identify more closely with families other than our Wilson Ancestors. In particular, we tend to identify most closely with the family whose surname we carry. We acknowledge some of these other families here.
If another of your families is not mentioned, it is either because we do not have much research on that family, or because we have not yet prepared the pages for the information we have. We invite you to check with us to find out what information we already have, and then to do some research and submit your findings for inclusion in the Wilson Family Genealogy.
Many family members have helped with information and research on collateral families. We want especially to thank Bill for permitting the inclusion of his research into the ancestors of Eunice Charlotte (Seeley) Wilson, wife of Alexander Wilson Jr.
Including collateral families was traditional in the main genealogy that was used for this website. In adding to the information on collateral families, we realized that the early pioneer families lived together, moved together, and intermarried over several generations. This makes sense - if you were moving into the wilderness, you would undoubtedly feel safer with family members or people you knew and trusted watching your back. But it also means that some family members married people they knew were cousins, while others married cousins they might not have known were cousins. Some lines have become very tangled over the years. We have attempted to provide information on the various family lines that pass through the same collateral families. If you know of someone we have missed, please let us know.
As we added collateral family members, we also realized that more than being just a family genealogy, the story of Alexander and Jane (Armour) Wilson and their descendants was becoming a story of the birth and growth of a nation.
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The Extent of Information that will be Included on Collateral Families
Including collateral families presents the question of just how much information should/could we include. There needs to be a place we stop, because it was never our intention for the Wilson Family Genealogy to be all-inclusive of every collateral family. The decision tentatively reached is that ancestors in a direct line to the individual marrying into the Wilson family will be provided to the extent known. Additional information, including information relating to famous or otherwise interesting members of a collateral family, will be provided when we are aware of the relationship. In a few cases, present descendants of collateral families have shared information with us such as photos, stories and even auto-biographies of their ancestors. To the extent possible, we have included, or will include as time permits, this type of information, even though it is sometimes a bit removed from our main focus. These additional stories provide great insights into the times in which our own ancestors lived.
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Generation Numbers for Collateral Families
Our general goal is to take as many collateral families as possible back to the original ancestor in America. As we did with the Wilson family, we have given generation numbers to those collateral families for which we have been able to determine the first ancestor in America. The generation numbers for each collateral family are:
- Generation 1 = First person/couple in America with that surname who is/are a direct ancestor(s) of an individual who married into the Wilson family
- Generation 2 = Second Generation in America
- Generation 3 = Third Generation in America
- Etc.
If we have information about family members with that surname who did not come to America, we have assigned those family members Generation Numbers utilizing letters.
- Generation A = The parents of the first person in America with that surname who is a direct ancestor of an individual who married into the Wilson family, including the parents of that person's wife
- Generation B = The grandparents
- Generation C = The great-grandparents
- Etc.
If we do not have information going back to the first collateral family ancestor in America, we have provided as much information as we have, but have not assigned that family any Generation Numbers. We will add Generation Numbers for these families, if and when we find sufficient information.
Please note: In some instances, we have relied on family trees published online by other people. We have not verified all of the information in these other family trees. However, we will provide a link to the online family tree that we found, so that anyone who wishes to, can follow up on that information.
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The Present Situation in regard to Reporting on Collateral Families
Please note: At the present time, information on Collateral Families has been removed from this website because we are doing extensive work on this information. Collateral family information will be added back as soon as possible, probably in sections.