The National Society, Sons of the American Colonists honors men who can demonstrate lineal descent from colonists living in what became the United States during the colonial period. The Society was organized in 1956, reorganized in 1986, and remains focused on promoting awareness of the people who shaped the early American colonies.
Members support the preservation of colonial records and historic sites, encourage research into the colonial period, and help sustain libraries and archives devoted to early American history. The Society maintains a lineage record of qualifying ancestors and their descendants, ensuring that the stories of early settlers continue to be documented and shared.
Robert Willson of West Jersey
My qualifying ancestor for the National Society, Sons of the American Colonists is Robert Willson of Chesterfield Township, who was born about 1650 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. He married Ann Stainridge, widow of Robert Witham, under the care of the Society of Friends in Scarborough in 1672. The Yorkshire Quaker registers preserve the record of the marriage, and his early life in England is treated in The Willson Family, 1672–1979.
Quaker records report that Robert was dismissed from the Scarborough Meeting in 1682 to the care of Friends in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Family tradition maintains that Robert and Ann, with their children, sailed for America in 1682 on the ship Welcome, arriving at Philadelphia and settling shortly afterward along Crosswicks Creek in what became Burlington County.
The first surviving legal reference to Robert in New Jersey appears in a 1684 survey of land on the south side of Crosswicks Creek, which describes the tract as adjoining property already held by him. Over the following years, he expanded his holdings in and near Burlington, including a share of a West Jersey propriety and a later purchase of 260 acres from Richard and Susanna Stockton. These activities appear throughout the early land records preserved in the West Jersey Records and related archival materials.
The family also brought with them a notable heirloom, a “Breeches Bible” printed in 1606 and 1618 and inscribed “John Willson his book.” Several family signatures appear in the volume, providing a rare personal link between their English and American lives.
Robert was active in the newly formed Chesterfield Monthly Meeting beginning in 1684. He was appointed to help settle disputes among Friends, served as a trustee of the burial ground at Crosswicks, and represented the meeting at Quarterly Meeting. His name appears frequently in the Chesterfield minutes, which chart his participation in the life of the Quaker community for more than two decades.
In civil affairs, Robert held several local offices. He was chosen constable of Chesterfield Township in 1688 and served on the grand jury at Burlington that same year. He later sat in the General Assembly of West Jersey during the legislative sessions of 1696 and 1697, appearing among the Quaker members of the House of Representatives. These roles place him firmly within the civic structure of early West Jersey and form the basis of his qualification for this Society.
Robert made a nuncupative will in March 1708/9, naming his wife Ann, his son Samuel, his daughter Rebecca, and several grandchildren. An inventory taken later in 1709 included the estates of both Robert and Ann, suggesting that she died not long after him. My descent continues through their son, Samuel Willson I, whose family carried forward the Willson presence along Crosswicks Creek.
Additional memberships will be added as they are approved.
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