Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Wilson in Niagara County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Reuben Wilson

 
 
Reuben Wilson Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, November 13, 2013
1. Reuben Wilson Marker
Inscription.
Reuben Wilson, founder of the Town of Wilson landed near this site, June, 1810.
 
Erected 1978 by Wilson Historical Society.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical month for this entry is June 1810.
 
Location. 43° 19.398′ N, 78° 47.851′ W. Marker is in Wilson, New York, in Niagara County. Marker is on East Lake Road (New York State Route 18) 0.1 miles east of Maple Road, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4455 East Lake Road, Wilson NY 14172, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Billy Sherman (approx. 1.2 miles away); a different marker also named Billy Sherman (approx. 1.2 miles away); First School House (approx. 1.7 miles away); Lake Street and Young Street (approx. 1.7 miles away); Schooner Fleetwing (approx. 1.7 miles away); Pettit Street and Chestnut Street (approx. 1.8 miles away); Wilson Collegiate Institute 1845 (approx. 1.8 miles away); Port of Entry Marker and Wilson Boat House (approx. 1.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wilson.
 
Regarding Reuben Wilson. Reuben Wilson was born on 19 April 1777 at Spencer, MA. Before settling here, he had resided
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
with his wife Esther P. Oliver at Broadalbin, NY, Richfield, NY, and Halderman, near York (Toronto), in Upper Canada where land was cheaper. He arrived here from Canada with his wife and five children in two bateaus (flat bottomed boats) with boatman Gilbert Purdy and the John Eastman family, poling the boats along the shore of Lake Ontario. They put the boats ashore, turned them over, raised them on steaks, and enclosed them with bark. Reuben Wilson had no money, spending his last at Newark, Canada (now Niagara on the Lake, Ontario). He bought 170 acres from the Holland Land Company with nothing down. The next year a rough road was cut from Fort Niagara to Somerset and the first of the rest of his fourteen children was born. Unlike the other cabins of nearby settlers, his was spared the torch of British soldiers in December 1813, perhaps because it could not be seen from the road. In 1816, he purchased a sawmill from Daniel Sheldon on the east bank of the east branch of Twelve Mile Creek, and purchased the surrounding land from the Holland Land Company. (The mouth of Twelve Mile Creek is twelve miles east from the mouth of the Niagara River.) Two years later, he moved his family to a cabin he built closer to his saw mill. There is a historical marker on Young Street for that residence.

References: "The Wilson Story Part 1" in Wilson Historical Society Newsletter, March
Reuben Wilson Marker setting image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, November 13, 2013
2. Reuben Wilson Marker setting
2010. Croop, Donald W. Wilson Sketchbook, Wilson Historical Society, 1994. Wilson Historical Society website; see link.
 
Also see . . .  Wilson Historical Society. Society website homepage (Submitted on November 22, 2013, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.) 
 
View from NY18 westbound approaching Maple Road. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, November 13, 2013
3. View from NY18 westbound approaching Maple Road.
In this picture, the marker is above the mailboxes, arising from behind the evergreen bush.
Reuben Wilson Grave image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, January 14, 2014
4. Reuben Wilson Grave
Headstone of Reuben Wilson in Greenwood Cemetery in Wilson. This headstone is a recent replacement.
Reuben Wilson Portait image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 26, 2014
5. Reuben Wilson Portait
Hanging in the Wilson Depot of the Wilson Historical Society Museum grounds. (See Hojack Park marker.)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on January 2, 2022. It was originally submitted on November 22, 2013, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York. This page has been viewed 711 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on November 22, 2013, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.   4. submitted on January 16, 2014, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.   5. submitted on June 4, 2014, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=70356

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 19, 2024