Marty and Karla Grant
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Wilson Genealogy - Burke, Yancey, Mitchell and Avery Co., NC
Welcome to my Wilson genealogy pages. I am interested in the Wilson surname in Burke and Yancey Co., NC, more particularly in the Linville and Toe River Valley sections, some of which later became Mitchell and Avery County.
Wilson is th 14th most common surname in the United States as of the 2010 census.
I am not certain that I actually have Wilson ancestry. Let me explain why I think I might. My ancestor David Carpenter (c1806-1870s) was twice married. His second wife was Mira Gregg (or Gragg) whom he married ca 1840 in Yancey Co., NC. By her had several children.
However, I’m descended from David’s 1st wife, by whom he had four children: William Carpenter (1830) (my ancestor), Wilson Carpenter (c1834), Levi D. Carpenter (c1837) and Thomas D. Carpenter (c1839). The first Mrs. David Carpenter died between ca 1839 and 1840, perhaps in child birth with Thomas. To date we have found no record of her given name nor maiden name. She seems to be with David on the 1830 census, apparently newlywed since no children were listed with them. She and David were both listed as age 15-19 (born ca 1810/1815). That is incorrect regarding David for he was born ca 1806 per his 1850 and 1860 census entries. Perhaps hers is off in 1830 as well, but regardless, this census entry is all we have for her.
The only strong clue to her name is their second son, “Wilson” Carpenter. Why did they name him that? There were no Carpenter - Wilson familial connections prior to ca 1830 as far as I’m aware, though they were certainly neighbors in old Burke/Yancey counties.
One logical conclusion is that Wilson is an ancestral name, i.e. David’s mother’s maiden name. This is possible, for we don’t know his mother’s maiden name. She was Margaret, wife of Jacob Carpenter. However, if Margaret were a Wilson, you’d think other children of hers would use “Wilson” as a name in her honor, but none did. Thus, I don’t think Margaret was the source of the name “Wilson Carpenter.”
The next likely explanation is that David’s wife was a Wilson, and they named their son “Wilson” in honor of her and her family. This is certainly reasonable. David’s older brother William Carpenter married an Elizabeth Wilson in 1831, which would have been after David’s marriage to a Miss Wilson, so perhaps David’s wife and William’s wife are siblings. It does show a Carpenter - Wilson connection after David’s marriage.
A third possibility is that Wilson Carpenter was named in honor of someone with Wilson as their given name, such as Wilson Burleson (c1805-1876) (David’s 1st cousin-in-law), or Wilson McKinnie (1780s-aft 1830), relationship unknown, but lived in the same area, or Wilson Young (1793) who also lived in the area. I believe all three of those men were probably named for their own Wilson ancestors, though I don’t know that for certain. Regardless, they lived near the Carpenters so any of them could be the namesake for Wilson Carpenter, perhaps one of them is Mrs. David Carpenter’s brother or father.
A fourth possibility is that Wilson Carpenter was named in honor of a close friend of David’s, perhaps one of those men just mentioned, and there is no (close) family connection. Or, finally, perhaps they just liked the name and it was for noone in particular.
Since the first three possibilities all point to Wilson ancestry, I’ve decided to try to sort out the Wilsons of the area on the assumption that I have Wilson ancestry. I didn’t realize what a job it would be. For example, there are 31 Wilson households on the 1840 census in Yancey Co., NC! That was a surprising number, but I did my best to identify them all. I’ve found numerous online Wilson trees, none documented of course and often contradictory, so I had to basically start from scratch. Despite the large number of Wilsons in the area, I think I’ve managed to sort many of them out quite well, though I still haven’t solved the main mystery of who David Carpenter’s wife was.
I started with the proven Wilson connection, i.e. David Carpenter’s brother William Carpenter’s wife Elizabeth Wilson (married 1831). “Uncle Jake” Carpenter (their son) recorded the deaths of his Wilson grandparents in his “Anthology of Death,” and listed them as William Wilison (sic) dying 1847, and Elizabeth dying in 1842. He also named a few others Wilsons, most of whom turned out to be his uncles, aunts or 1st cousins. One issue is that he referred to his grandmother as “Elizabeth” yet all documentation (and there is tons of it) list her as Ann and it clearly the same person he referred to. I don’t know why got her name wrong unless he confused her with his own mother who was named Elizabeth Wilson. Regardless, I wanted to assume that Elizabeth Wilson Carpenter (c1803-1886) and my Mrs. David Carpenter were sisters. I have not been able to prove that so far. Census analysis, which isn’t an exact science, suggests Mrs. David Carpenter was not a child of William & Ann. Nor was David Carpenter mentioned in the extensive court records related to the divorce of William Wilson and his wife Ann wherein several of their other children were named or mentioned, including Elizabeth Wilson Carpenter and her husband William. However, by that time David Carpenter’s wife was already dead, so that could explain her not being mentioned.
My tentative conclusion at this point is that Mrs. David Carpenter was a Wilson and possibly a child of William Wilson (1777-1847) and Ann Mackey Wilson (1770/75-1842) who married in 1799. If she wasn’t their child, then she must be a child of one of the other Wilsons in the area, thus my attempt to sort them all out.
Other potential Wilson ancestors: If we assume David Carpenter’s wife was a Miss Wilson, and that she was born in that same area where she died, then she would probably be on the 1820 census with her parents. That area was part of Burke County at that time and there were ten Wilson households with at least one daughter in her likely age group (aged under 10, i.e. born ca 1810/1820). Only a few of those lived in the right section of Burke, but ignoring that for the moment we have: Jesse, Joseph, Stogdale, Robert, James, William Esquire, Denson, Thomas, John Junr and Andrew Wilson. We can remove Jesse and John Junr because they both had two girls home in 1820 and those same two girls seem to still be with them in 1830, thus not mine, as mine was married by 1830. Andrew, Thomas and Denson moved away by 1830, so probably not the ones, though of course it’s still possible. I didn’t find Joseph in 1830, so he may have moved away also or died.
Stockdale Wilson had three girls of the right age in 1820, only two of whom were still with him in 1830, so that works. Robert Wilson had four girls that age in 1820, and only three at home in 1830, so that works too. However, he made his Will in the 1850s and did not mention Mrs. David Carpenter though he did mention other deceased daughters, thus Robert might not be the one.
James and William Esq are possibilities too, though neither lived in the right area as far as I can tell. William Wilson, Esquire is not the same William who was married to Ann Mackey.
For the sake of thoroughness, and leaving no stone unturned, I’m researching all the other Wilsons in the area (pre 1860 only) in case one of them could turn out to be my ancestor, or otherwise related. Many are already in-laws having married into my various other families in the area. I’ve also included Watauga Co., NC in my search since David Carpenter lived there in the 1830s through 1850s and there were Wilsons there as well.
My tentative ancestry:
My 4 times great grandmother was a Miss Wilson, given name unknown, born ca 1810/1815 in either Burke Co., NC or Mecklenburg Co., NC. She married David Carpenter (c1806-1870s) ca 1829/1830 in Burke Co., NC, Linville area, and lived just across the line in Yancey Co., NC until sometime in 1830 when they moved to Watauga Co., NC which was then still part of Ashe County. Sometime between 1837 and 1839 they returned to Yancey Co., NC where she died in 1839, possibly in childbirth.
Her parents might be William Wilson (1777-1847) and Ann Mackey Wilson (c1770- 1842), or possibly their siblings Robert Wilson (1781-1856) and Mary Mackey Wilson (1784-1850s). All four of them were born in Pennsylvania, counties unknown.
William and Robert were probably raised in Mecklenburg Co., NC, and came to Burke Co., NC while young men. William married in Burke in 1799, Robert shortly after that. Their wives were daughters of Samuel McKey/Mackey (1730/1740-1831). William Wilson remained in Burke until his death in 1847. Robert and Mary left the area in the late 1830s for Gasconade Co., MO. They both died in Polk Co., MO in the 1850s.
William and Robert were sons of Robert Wilson (died 1820s Mecklenburg Co., NC) and Isabella (—) Wilson (c1735-aft 1840) of Mecklenburg and Burke. Isabella lived to be 105 as proven in court records as well as the 1830 and 1840 census.
I have not attempted to trace beyond Robert Wilson yet, partly because I just haven’t had time, but also because I’m not yet 100% certain these are actually my ancestors.
Revised: June 13, 2025
Copyright © 1996-2025 Marvin A. Grant, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
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