Nellie Abigail Wilson née Brown, (1859-1916)

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: 19 March 1859, poss. Oxford County, Maine

Death: 3 November 1916, Crosby, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Sydney J. Wilson

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: Caleb Park (Massachusetts) DAR# A087037;  

Benjamin Hall; Jacob Brown (Massachusetts) DAR# A015480;  Seth Sturtevant (Massachusetts) DAR# A129048; William Sturtevant (Massachusetts) DAR# A216042

Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standards

Nellie Abigail Wilson née Brown was born on March 19, 1859, in Maine—likely in Oxford County—to Andrew Jackson Brown and Milleytiah Hall, both Maine natives. Her father worked as a farmer.

In 1877, Nellie married Walter J. Washburn. The couple settled in Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine, where they had two daughters: Bertha Millietiah (born 1879) and Jessie Evelyn “Eva” (born 1882). Nellie and Walter divorced in 1889.

In 1892, Nellie married William Johnson and became stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. They established a farm in Little Falls, Morrison County, Minnesota. According to the 1900 census, Nellie and William were living there with her younger daughter, Eva, and William’s three children. Meanwhile, Bertha, Nellie’s eldest daughter, was living in Boston, Massachusetts, where she worked as a servant.

Sometime between 1900 and 1904, Nellie left William. Although no records have been found to document the move, it is believed that she relocated to Oregon with Eva, who had married John Zetterberg in 1902. The newlyweds left Minnesota and settled in Silver Falls, Marion County, Oregon. At some point, Nellie met Sydney J. Wilson, and the two married in 1904. They made their home at Shadow Grove Farm in Crosby, Washington.

In the 1910 census, Nellie was listed as a dressmaker. Her grandson, Victor Zetterberg, was recorded as living in the household with Nellie and Sydney, likely as a visitor, since he also appeared in the 1910 census at his parents’ home in Oregon.

Nellie died of stomach cancer on November 3, 1916, in Crosby. She was buried in Seabeck Cemetery beneath a large granite headstone.

Nellie is also a descendant of the Mayflower passenger Samuel Fuller.