John Wilkinson (American colonist)
Encyclopedia
John Wilkinson was born in Rhode Island
, United States
. He was a direct descendant of Lawrence Wilkinson who fled the oppression of Oliver Cromwell
in 1652 and settled in America and the son of Roger Wilkinson, an early colonist, who settled in Rhode Island
where Roger Williams (theologian)
offered a startling new concept, freedom of religion.
John Wilkinson was a pioneer and settled in Troy, New York
and seventeen years later moved his family to Skaneateles, New York.
Son, John Wilkinson
Jr. was the first Postmaster
of Syracuse, New York
and gave the city its name. Great-grandson, John Wilkinson
invented the air-cooled engine and helped found the Franklin Automobile Company
.
and fought in the American Revolutionary War
. He was captured by British forces and subjected to "nine brutal months on a prison ship in New York Harbor." The experience nearly killed him. After he was freed in a prisoner exchange, he returned home to recuperate.
where they had four children:
in the dead of winter leading a cow. His wife, children and household goods were aboard a sledge (wagon) drawn by a yoke of oxen. The entourage hiked west 180 miles along the corridor that today roughly corresponds to Route 20. Wife, Elizabeth, was nursing five-month old, John Wilkinson
Jr. The family settled about a mile from Skaneateles Lake in the Finger Lakes
region of Upstate New York
and built a farm not long after.
was the religion of choice for generations of the Wilkinson's. His son, John Wilkinson Jr.
was on the committee that welcomed Reverend Samuel Joseph May
, the famous minister and abolitionist to Syracuse
in 1843. The pastor's daughter, Charlotte May, later married John Wilkinson Jr.'s son, Alfred Wilkinson.
Years later, about 1900, family members sold the farm. They moved the remains of 15 kin from the little burying ground to Lake View Cemetery in the village of Skaneateles. A headstone was erected with all the family names, including John and Elizabeth Wilkinson.
In 1971, a contractor began to excavate the old Wilkinson place for a new office building. Two partial skeletons, of a white man and woman, "were bulldozed out of a swatch of gravely soil."
Unfortunately, at the time, no one could figure out whose bones they were. John and Mary Doe were place in a box at the morgue. An amateur historian who worked for the village of Skaneateles believed that the skeletons were the Wilkinson's. The county medical examiner agreed and the bones were returned to the family in 1991 after spending 20 years in a cardboard box on a shelf at the Onondaga County medical examiner's office in Syracuse.
The family had heard about the bones but believed they were servants. It wasn't until the historian's record search of veteran's located in the Skaneateles Lakeview Cemetery in 1991, that long lost relatives were finally identified.
Both husband and wife were moved to Skaneateles Lakeview Cemetery in 1991 and a funeral with military escort and rifle salute to the old veteran was held on Memorial Day.
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was a direct descendant of Lawrence Wilkinson who fled the oppression of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
in 1652 and settled in America and the son of Roger Wilkinson, an early colonist, who settled in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
where Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
offered a startling new concept, freedom of religion.
John Wilkinson was a pioneer and settled in Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
and seventeen years later moved his family to Skaneateles, New York.
Son, John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson (Syracuse pioneer)
John Wilkinson was a lawyer and first Postmaster of community known as Bogardus Corners, Cossit's Corners and Salina in Central New York. As a young man, Wilkinson took inspiration from a poem about an ancient city and named the new village, Syracuse just in time for the opening of the Erie Canal...
Jr. was the first Postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
of Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
and gave the city its name. Great-grandson, John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson (Franklin automobile)
John Wilkinson was born in Syracuse, New York. He invented the air-cooled motor which was used in the Franklin produced by H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company where he was chief engineer and designer from 1902 to 1924.He was a native of Syracuse and a member of an established, respected, wealthy...
invented the air-cooled engine and helped found the Franklin Automobile Company
Franklin (automobile)
The Franklin Automobile Company was a manufacturer of automobiles in the United States between 1902 and 1934 in Syracuse, New York. Herbert H. Franklin, the founder, began his career in the metal die casting business before establishing his automobile enterprise.Franklin founded the H. H. Franklin...
.
Biography
He was one of eight children. In 1776, at age 17, John Wilkinson enlisted in the Continental ArmyContinental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
and fought in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. He was captured by British forces and subjected to "nine brutal months on a prison ship in New York Harbor." The experience nearly killed him. After he was freed in a prisoner exchange, he returned home to recuperate.
Personal
In 1782, he married Elizabeth "Betsey" Tower, age 18, born about 1764. Together, the couple settled in Troy, New YorkTroy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
where they had four children:
- Son - John WilkinsonJohn Wilkinson (Syracuse pioneer)John Wilkinson was a lawyer and first Postmaster of community known as Bogardus Corners, Cossit's Corners and Salina in Central New York. As a young man, Wilkinson took inspiration from a poem about an ancient city and named the new village, Syracuse just in time for the opening of the Erie Canal...
Jr. (1798–1862) - Postmaster of community known as Bogardus Corners, Cossit's Corners and Salina. "As a young person, he took inspiration from a poem about an ancient city, and proposed that the new village community take the name of that place. He named it Syracuse."
- Great-grandson, John WilkinsonJohn Wilkinson (Franklin automobile)John Wilkinson was born in Syracuse, New York. He invented the air-cooled motor which was used in the Franklin produced by H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company where he was chief engineer and designer from 1902 to 1924.He was a native of Syracuse and a member of an established, respected, wealthy...
(1868-1851) - Graduate of Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1889 and chief engineer at H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company where he invented the air-cooled engine used in the Franklin (automobile)Franklin (automobile)The Franklin Automobile Company was a manufacturer of automobiles in the United States between 1902 and 1934 in Syracuse, New York. Herbert H. Franklin, the founder, began his career in the metal die casting business before establishing his automobile enterprise.Franklin founded the H. H. Franklin...
.
Skaneateles
By 1799, seventeen years after they married, Wilkinson left Troy, New YorkTroy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
in the dead of winter leading a cow. His wife, children and household goods were aboard a sledge (wagon) drawn by a yoke of oxen. The entourage hiked west 180 miles along the corridor that today roughly corresponds to Route 20. Wife, Elizabeth, was nursing five-month old, John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson (Syracuse pioneer)
John Wilkinson was a lawyer and first Postmaster of community known as Bogardus Corners, Cossit's Corners and Salina in Central New York. As a young man, Wilkinson took inspiration from a poem about an ancient city and named the new village, Syracuse just in time for the opening of the Erie Canal...
Jr. The family settled about a mile from Skaneateles Lake in the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
region of Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
and built a farm not long after.
Unitarianism
UnitarianismUnitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
was the religion of choice for generations of the Wilkinson's. His son, John Wilkinson Jr.
John Wilkinson (Syracuse pioneer)
John Wilkinson was a lawyer and first Postmaster of community known as Bogardus Corners, Cossit's Corners and Salina in Central New York. As a young man, Wilkinson took inspiration from a poem about an ancient city and named the new village, Syracuse just in time for the opening of the Erie Canal...
was on the committee that welcomed Reverend Samuel Joseph May
Samuel Joseph May
Samuel Joseph May a radical American reformer during the nineteenth century, championed multiple reform movements including education, women’s rights, and abolitionism. He was born on September 12, 1797 in an upper class Boston area...
, the famous minister and abolitionist to Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
in 1843. The pastor's daughter, Charlotte May, later married John Wilkinson Jr.'s son, Alfred Wilkinson.
Early death
A few years after the family arrived in Skaneateles, New York, about 1802, Wilkinson fell from the roof of a barn and died at age 43. Widow, Elizabeth Wilkinson stayed at the farm and ran the place with the help of her sons.Burial
The couple was buried in a small family cemetery, along what later became Route 20. He was buried there in 1802 and wife, Elizabeth, who lived into her 60's, was buried there in the late 1820s or early 1830s.Years later, about 1900, family members sold the farm. They moved the remains of 15 kin from the little burying ground to Lake View Cemetery in the village of Skaneateles. A headstone was erected with all the family names, including John and Elizabeth Wilkinson.
In 1971, a contractor began to excavate the old Wilkinson place for a new office building. Two partial skeletons, of a white man and woman, "were bulldozed out of a swatch of gravely soil."
Unfortunately, at the time, no one could figure out whose bones they were. John and Mary Doe were place in a box at the morgue. An amateur historian who worked for the village of Skaneateles believed that the skeletons were the Wilkinson's. The county medical examiner agreed and the bones were returned to the family in 1991 after spending 20 years in a cardboard box on a shelf at the Onondaga County medical examiner's office in Syracuse.
The family had heard about the bones but believed they were servants. It wasn't until the historian's record search of veteran's located in the Skaneateles Lakeview Cemetery in 1991, that long lost relatives were finally identified.
Both husband and wife were moved to Skaneateles Lakeview Cemetery in 1991 and a funeral with military escort and rifle salute to the old veteran was held on Memorial Day.