The first settlers in McNamee included John Wilson who applied for a grant of land on the Southwest Branch of the Miramichi River on February 19, 1803 and settled on Lot #69 in 1804. He located his homestead on the interval in the river but relocated to higher ground the following year near the current Priceville footbridge after the spring freshet surrounded the home with water and ice. After improving 40 of the 300 acres he had been granted John Wilson petitioned the Governor for more land on the north side of the river in response to a dispute with his neighbour James Lyons which ultimately deprived him of 120 of his original 300 acre grant. His petition was approved and he was granted Lot #69 on the north side of the river in what is now Priceville. In addition to farming, lumbering and fishing were the primary pursuits in the area and the Wilson family in particular played a central role in the region since it was first settled. The wealth and stature of the family grew especially from the 1920s through the 1940s under the leadership of Willard Wilson who became the de facto mayor by way of developing the Wilson Homestead into the local lumber mill, post office, grocery store, cattle and dairy farm, and fly fishing lodge. Upon Willard's death in 1949 his son Murray focused the family business in particular on developing the homestead into a fly fishing lodge in response to the growing interest in Atlantic salmon from anglers based in particular in the northeast United States.
Notable people
John Wilson died in McNamee between 1834 and 1851. His date of arrival in Canada is unknown but was likely through the port of St. John and he settled temporarily in Maurgerville, New Brunswick where his first son, James, was born in 1802. John applied for a grant of land on the Southwest Branch of the Miramichi River on February 19, 1803 in the area now known as McNamee and gained title in Grant #487 dated June 20, 1809 to "Ephraim Betts, Esq., and sixty others... 14,640 acres on the Southwest Branch of the Miramichi River in the County of Northumberland. Initially settling on the north side of the river on Lot #69 in 1804 he later acquired Lot#64. James Wilson was the first Wilson of the Upper Miramichi to be born in Canada. Agnes Ann Wilson, B. 1804 or 1805. Married James Redman July 3, 1827 B. 1800 in Cape Rosier Maine and died January 16, 1854 and the couple are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Biddeford Maine. Thomas WIlson, B. 1815 married his stepsister Barbara MacNabb February 8, 1841. Their issue: Catherine Isabel Wilson, b. April 12, 1841 John Turnbull Wilson, b. November 9, 1843 d.December 23, 1886 Elizabeth Ann Wilson, b. 1846 Thomas Wilson-2, b. 1849 d. January 1894 Peter Nathaniel Wilson, b. 1852 Amelia Ann MacKay Wilson, b. 1857 John Turnbull Wilson married Lydia L. Avery in Fredericton on October 24, 1877. Lydia was born April 18, 1849 and died October 3, 1931 and she and John are buried in the United Church Cemetery in Boisetown. The couple built a home just north of the original Wilson homestead in McNamee. Their issue: Willard Weston Wilson, b. January 3, 1879 - 1949. Grace Saunders Wilson, b. November 19, 1880. Charles Thomas Wilson, b. March 30, 1885, d. September 21, 1890. Willard Wilson was a farmer, woodsman, self-taught veterinarian, grocer, postmaster and entrepreneur. He married Sarah Carroll of Carrolls Crossing, N.B. on July 15, 1903 and their issue included 9 children: Marie Grace Wilson, Frances Gertrude Wilson, Thomas Wilson, Louise Elizabeth Wilson, Murray Wilson, Willard Woodrow Wilson, Laurence Russel Wilson and James Reginald Wilson. There was also a child born in 1911-12 who died in infancy. Laurence married Esma Rebecca Grady of Blackville. Their issue was Laurence Kendall Wilson, Ferol Elizabeth Wilson, Karin Rebecca Wilson, Larry Russell Wilson and James Kevin Wilson.
