The family name has been spelled various ways often in the same generation. Wilcoxen, Wilcoxson, Wilcoxon, Willcockson, Wilcocks, Wilcox, etc. have all been used. Wilcoxson has most frequently been used since the middle of the 19th century with some descendents shortening it to Wilcox in the 20th century.

Aaron Wilcoxson was the youngest child of Issac Wilcoxson (1724-1765) and his second wife Edith Philpot. Issac's father was likely George Wilcoxson (1692-before 1739) and Elizabeth Powell (1695-1740). George immigrated from England before 1718. They lived in Chester County, PA.

Aaron was born in Rowan County, NC. The Wilcoxson family was associated with Daniel Boone's family and reportedly moved with them from Pennsylvania to North Carolina by 1750. John Wilcoxson, his father's brother, was married to a sister of Daniel Boone. His father's brother George Wilcoxson was famously the subject of Daniel's childhood pranks. Issac Wilcoxson and his first wife are buried near Squire Boone in Joppa, NC.

Aaron's mother remarried Mathrew Busey c. 1767 and moved to frontier Kentucky after 1790 taking her Wilcoxson children with her. Aaron Wilcoxson was therefore raised in NC and KY.

Aaron's eldest child was born c.1788 in KY with others following. However, he first appears as an adult in 1801 tax records in KY and appears periodically until about 1804. In 1801 he was in Franklin Co. as were his step-father and Busey half-brothers. Kentucky counties were reconfigured several times during this period. He is mentioned in the records of Fayette Co., Mercer Co. which was created from Fayette in 1790, and Franklin Co. Actually he was likely in only one or maybe two places.

It is not known at this time when his mother Edith Busey died, but she is reported to have been buried with her husband on the family farm in Shelby County, KY. Aaron's Busey half-brother Charles lived next door to him in Indiana for a period of time before moving to IL by 1831. Charles was married to Lydia Ward, likely the sister of Aaron's wife Hannah. His brother Samuel Busey was also in Washington County, IN in 1820 but moved to Putnam County by 1826. Other half-brothers moved to Illinois.

Aaron married Hannah Ward (perhaps) about 1787, but no record of the exact date of the marriage has been found, perhaps because of an 1800 court house fire. Wilcoxson researchers have speculated that Hannah was the daughter of KY neighbor John Ward. Aaron and Hannah's first child Eday (perhaps Edith after his mother) was born about 1788. His children were Eday, Anna, David, Isaac, Lillis, Rebecca, Berryman, John, and William. All but William were born in KY. The exact birth order in unclear, particularly for the older children.

It is worth noting that some claim that Aaron Wilcoxson, born in NC in 1801, perhaps in Wilkes County, was his son. He is found in the 1830 Census in Wilkes County as an adult. He died in MO in 1866. This is not so. An examination of the locations of the younger Aaron's life via census and other records shows that they were never in the same place at the same time--Aaron the elder was long gone from NC when Aaron the younger was born. He may have been a nephew. Aaron's older half brothers, William and Daniel, were in Willkes Co NC in 1800 Census although some say William died in 1795. Or perhaps he was a cousin.

Sons Isaac, David, and Berryman all moved to Iowa in the mid-1840s. Lillis Mary and her husband William Daniels also moved to Iowa, but moved on to California by 1845. Anna and her husband Jacob Miller moved to Illinois but then returned to Indiana by 1850. The family was continually on the move.

Aaron first appeared in Indiana in the records of the Jeffersonville Land Office in 1808. His son Berryman was quoted as saying the family went briefly from KY to North Carolina, but then moved to Indiana. There seems to be no evidence for this except for this report in a late 19th century "county history." Berryman said that they left NC because of an objection to slavery. However, the family had three slaves in 1820. The last, Judah "Aunt Judy" Black died in 1843 as an elderly woman and is buried in the family plot.

He is in the 1820 Census in Washington Co., Indiana as Aaron Wilcox next to his brother Charles Busey.

Some researchers have said that he served in the War of 1812. I think that this was another man, probably a relative. It seems very unlikely that a middle-aged Indiana farmer with a large family would be off soldiering.

He, his wife, and some family members are buried here on their family farm. The foundations of his cabin can still be seen near this family cemetery. Graves listed on the marker are Aaron and Hannah; slave Judah Black; Nancy, the first wife of son William H. H. Wilcoxson; and three of their infant children. Isaac and Mary Ann Wilcoxson are listed, but are actually buried elsewhere, Isaac in an unknown location in Lee County, Iowa and Mary Ann at the Standiford Family Cemetery in Harrison County, IN. Other family graves are there but unmarked, and probably include son William H. H. Wilcoxson since he and his second wife Angeline Byrne lived on the property until his death.

Aaron's sons John and William were his executors and purchased their siblings' interest in the farm.

Recognition should be given to the late Elizabeth S. Payne (a descendent of Aaron's son John) who did astonishingly good research into the Wilcoxson family long before the internet. Copies of her 1970 genealogy "Our Wilcoxson Family" can be found at the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne (preliminary version on "flimsy" paper), the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis, the Floyd County Library, and the Newberry Library in Chicago. The version in Indianapolis and the version at the Allen Co. Library are not identical in pagination leading to some confusion if you try to compare the two.