The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, May 20, 1775 and the lives of its signers George Washington Graham MD The Neale Publishing Company, 1905 page 117-120
The Wilson were of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock, and were among the early settlers of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where Zaccheus Wilson was born, probably as early as about 1735 or 1740. When he grew up to man's estate, he was not "little of statue" as Zaccheus of old - for like nearly all of that numerous connection, his person was of full medium size, rather heavily framed, and possessing great power in the vigor of life. He received but a limited education, and while yet quite young settled with his parents in the Poplar Tent region, originally a part of Mecklenburg , now Cabarrus County This was prior to March, 1753. (Cabarrus county was officially formed from Mecklenburg in 1793). He had a younger sister who married Capt. Stephen Alexander, who survived till the age of 90 - the chronicler of her region. (Martha Wilson Alexander applied for a Revolutionary War Widow's pension #S20583 ten days before she died. Martha was born 1753 and died 1843.)
Zaccheus Wilson had three brothers two of whom were Robert and David, and three sisters. (the third brother was possibly named Samuel and the three sisters were possibly named Elizabeth, Mary and Martha.) Reared on the frontier, Zaccheus and his brothers were not the men to have shirked any duty in aiding in the defense of the country.
On the Yakin River, in Rowan County, one Nicholas Ross early settled, marrying Lizzie Conger, daughter of John Conger. There were then many wild horses running in the woods. Having a fine animal of his own, and needing another, Ross went in the spring of the year to the range and selected one that he thought would suit his purpose, and started to run him down and halter him. But in the race, the horse plunged in a hole, turned a complete somersault, and fell back on and crushed his pursuer, who left a widow and two daughters.(Will Bk. F, p 112 Mecklenburg county, 2 Sept 1767. Will of Nickelson Ross; wife Elizabeth and daughters Hannah and Jane and MS Letter of Rev. Nicholson Ross Morgan, a son of the younger of Mrs. Ross's daughters who married Enoch Morgan. The elder daughter married Matthew Harris, a nephew of Col. Robert and Samuel Harris, of Rocky River).
Zaccheus Wilson, in his occupation of a surveyor was sent for to survey and divide the land for the heirs, saw, admired and married the young widow, and took her to his home in the Steele Creek region
About 1767, we find him one of the elders of Steele Creek Church. He had a decided love for mathematical studies, which he pursued with little or no instruction, and became one of the best surveyors of his day.
He was a member of the Mecklenburg Convention in May, 1775, and of the Provincial Congress of November 1776, for making laws and forming a Constitution. The only military service particularly remembered, though much in the army, was as a Captain at King's Mountain, where among plunder taken was an English surveyor's compass and platting instrument, which were assigned to him in the division, and are yet preserved by one of his descendants. He was a member of the North Carolina Convention of 1788 for the consideration of the Federal Constitution, and he was among the large majority that refused to give it their approval, as wanting in a proper protection of the rights of the people.
When the county of Cabarrus was set off from Mecklenburg, in 1792, Captain Wilson was a resident of that region, and was chosen county surveyor.
In 1796, Captain Wilson, having lost his wife, resolved on following his brother, Maj. David Wilson, who had nine years before moved to Sumner County, Tennessee; and just prior to his departure he visited his step-daughter, the mother of the venerable Rev. N. R. Morgan. "The last night he spent with us," says Mr. Morgan, "I slept with him, and about midnight the wolves raised a furious howling around the cow pen. The old gentleman went out and chased them away, and I as a mere lad remember how I trembled lest he should be devoured." In this migration, besides his two sons, a goodly number of Wilsons and Alexanders accompanied him. His removal was much regretted by his old friends and neighbors. His education, mostly self acquired, was quite liberal. He was very popular, a Presbyterian spotless in life, a noble worthy man, without an equal in his profession as a surveyor. He settled one mile northeast of Gallatin, in Sumner County, twenty-six miles above Nashville, where he followed his profession as long as he was able to do so. He died in 1824.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * These are the memories of Rev. Nicholason Ross Morgan that were conveyed in letters written to Lyman Draper in 1875. Rev. Morgan was born in 1789 and died in 1881. His mother was Jane Ross who married Enoch Morgan. The sons of Captain Zaccheus Wilson and wife Lizzie Conger Ross were John Wilson and Jonathan Wilson.
Lyman Draper was collecting information for a book he intended to write concerning the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Rev. Morgan stated he lived near and knew several of the signers before they died, especially Zaccheus Wilson who had married the widow Elizabeth "Lizzie"Ross. He stated that when Zaccheus Wilson moved to Tennessee he left behind his two sisters, Robert Harris` wife (Mary) and Capt. Stephen Alexanders wife (Martha). Rev. Morgan married Mary Wilson Alexander, a granddaughter of Robert Harris and Mary Wilson, and also a granddaughter of Abraham Alexander and Dorcas Wilson.