Styer Stories Episode 13: The Crossley Connection Part 3:

The Friendly Wilson’s: Reuben and Martha (Wilson) Crossley

In our last episode we explored the lives of Joseph and Catherine (Heimbach) Crossley, which covered the Crossley family’s move from Lizard Creek to what was then Columbia but is now Valley Township, Montour County. Joseph and Catherine had several children, one of whom, Reuben, married Martha Wilson, descendent of an English Quaker family who also lived in Valley Township at the time.

The story of the Wilson clan begins in England. According to the Crossley Geneology compiled by Harold Crossley and given to Mary (Wife of Leonard) Styer, the first Wilson ancestor was named John Wilson. He was first married to Sarah Smith who died in England after giving birth to a daughter, Mary. John married again, this time to Phoebe Dawson, with whom he came to America. This marriage produced seven more children:

1. Mary (b. 1756); married Reuben Moore in 1785. Unclear if they came to Pennsylvania.
2. Ann (1759-1760) buried in England, born to John’s first wife, Sarah Smith.
3. Hannah (1763-1856) married Phillip Opp (1759-1838) of Muncy in 1787. It is through this family we are related to Civil War veteran, Milton Opp who was killed during the Battle of the Wilderness. They are probably buried at the Muncy Cemetery. Hannah was born in England before the family came to the Pennsylvania. Our grandmother, Martha S.  Wilson (Wife of Reuben Crossley) remembered stories that Hannah would run sacks of grain from the Frosty Valley farm clear to Northumberland to the gristmill on horseback until her younger brother was old enough. One time, when they ran out of grain, the miller provided bread for the family so they didn’t starve.
4. Rachel (b. 1765 in Pottstown) married Thomas Eves (1755-1845). They are buried at Millville Friends’ Cemetery. Note on Quaker burial record says “a minister” which is not impossible, because Quakers allowed women to be preachers long before other Christian denominations. According to a newspaper clipping, Thomas and Rachel travelled all the way to the Maiden Creek Meeting in Berks County to get married.
5. John (1767-1768) died in infancy near Philadelphia.
6. Sarah (1769-1794) married Daniel Frazier in 1793, but died young.
7. Thomas (1771-1846) married Susanna Russell (1781-1857)
8. John (1774-1849) married Mary Thomas. Buried in Montour county.
9. Phoebe (1780-1869) married Judge Thomas Taggart (1777-1864) of Lycoming County in 1801. Buried in Muncy Cemetery.  Taggart was an associate judge in Lycoming County and served in the Pennsylvania Assembly.

If you look over the notes I wrote about each child, you can see that the Wilson’s must have come to Pennsylvania between 1763 and 1765. They probably spent some time in “The Quaker City” (Philadelphia) before the moved to Pottstown long enough to have Rachel, and eventually ended up in Montour County, after the Revolutionary War, according to an 1892 newspaper clipping. This clipping states that John Wilson was a “Fine Latin scholar and taught school (Yet another schoolteacher in our heritage).”

Once settled in Valley Township, Montour County, the Wilson’s built a home and began farming 283 acres of land (then all forest), in the Frosty Valley. The family attended “meeting” (church) every “First Day” (Sunday) at the Millville Friends’ Meeting.

Where were John and Phoebe buried? Good question. Their graves are lost, but we can make a pretty good guess. Some families, far from their church congregations, created small graveyards on their property. The Wilson family did just that. Its graveyard lies along Kaseville Road between Kaseville itself and the Straub Lutheran Church, in a hedgerow. Once upon a time it was overgrown and hard to access, but now, you can basically see it from the road and it is maintained very nicely by the present landlord. Some graves there are legible, some are not. The 1892 newspaper clipping said that John and Phoebe are buried there among their descendants.

Our direct ancestor from the union of John and Phoebe is Thomas and Susannah (Russel) Wilson. According to the Harold Crossley genealogy book, Susannah was left as an infant on the doorstep of a “Hames” family, where she grew up. However,I was unable to find any Hames’ on Findagrave before 1822 and noticed that she and Thomas named one of their sons “Reuben Haines” Wilson.  The Reuben Haines family was a well-connected “Blue Blood” Philadelphia family. One of their homes, “Wyck,” built around 1690, is now a museum on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia. I can’t come to any firm conclusion, but it seems that the Haines family must have had some connection with Susannah, perhaps even raising her in their home. This connection is tenuous at best until further research is done.

Susannah and Thomas were married at the Millville Friends’ Meeting in 1802 and had the following children:

1. William P. Wilson
2. John Wilson (1804-1865) married Francis Maus and had 11 children
3. Reuben Haines Wilson (1806-1892) married Sarah Eves. They had 7 Children. In his obituary it was noted that Reuben was known as the last member at Millville Friends to wear plain-style clothing and broad hat (long before the Amish, the Quakers were famous for their plain clothing).
4. Elizabeth D. (1807-1871) married John Hugh Willits
5. Priscilla (1810-1869) Married Benjamin Eves.
6. Thomas Wilson Jr. (1812-1843); unmarried
7. Mary M. (1816-1876) married Isaac Green Pursel. After the death of Mary, Isaac married her sister (and our grandmother) Martha, recently widowed by our grandfather, Reuben Crossley.
8. Rachel S. (1820-1885) married Frances Eves.
9. Martha S. (1826-1903) married Reuben Crossley (1823-1876). As noted above, she remarried her widowed brother-in-law after Reuben C. died.

Susannah and Thomas rebuilt the original Wilson home in 1822, which still stands today near where Columbia Hill Road crosses Route 80 (on the southwest corner of this intersection). The barn looks much newer than the home. The 1892 newspaper clipping told of a 200 person Wilson family reunion at this home, then owned by the Maus family. Susannah and Thomas are likely buried in the Wilson Family Plot.

Reuben was a farmer in Valley Township. Martha and Reuban Crossley are buried at Straub’s Lutheran Church. They had the following children:

1. Emily Jane (1845-1898) married Samuel Pursel (Brother of James and nephew of Isaac G.)
2. Matilda (1852-1903) married James Pursel (Brother of Sam and nephew of Isaac G.)
3. Robert Crossley (1854-1905) married Sarah Catherine Benfield
4. Wellington Crossley (1857-1926) married Mary Elizabeth Weaver
5. John Franklin Crossley (1861-1928) married Mary Catherine Carr (1864-1936)

Next time on Styer Stories we will investigate J. Frank and Mary Catherine Crossley, parents of Emily (Crossley) Styer who married Charles Styer and created the family to which we belong!