Ocean Born Mary

Mary Wilson Wallace (July 26, 1720 – February 13, 1814), better known as Ocean Born Mary, is a folklore figure of New England. Born on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean on July 26, 1720, the daughter of James Wallace and Elizabeth Fulton Wallace, Mary grew up in Londonderry, New Hampshire, where she married James Wallace on December 18, 1742. She had four sons, Robert, William, Thomas, and James Wallace, and one daughter, Elizabeth. Three of the sons married sisters, the daughters of Robert and Mary Moore of Londonderry: Robert to Jeannette Moore, William to Hannah Moore, and James to Anna Moore. Elizabeth married Lieutenant Thomas Patterson of the New Hampshire militia.

Mary's background was Scottish through Ireland. Her father died shortly after the ship landed in Boston, and her mother remarried to James Clarke prior to settlement in Londonderry.

During the voyage to the United States, the ship (reputedly called the Wolf) was overtaken over by pirates who threatened to loot the ship and sink it with all on board. When the pirate captain heard the cry of an infant, he went below to discover Mrs. Wilson holding her newborn daughter. The pirate captain told Mrs. Wilson that if she would do him the honor of naming the baby after his own mother Mary, he would spare the ship and depart peacefully. Mrs. Wilson agreed, and the pirates departed, but not before the pirate captain briefly returned to the Wolf with a bolt of green brocade silk, which he presented to Mrs. Wilson, stating that it was for little Mary's wedding gown. While Mary did in fact wear the brocade on her wedding day, she may not have been the first to do so, as when her mother remarried the cloth may have been used on that occasion as well.

As an adult, Mary wed James Wallace. They were married for 39 years, until October 30, 1781, when James died in Londonderry and was buried in the Hill Burying Ground there. In 1798, Mary moved in with her son William at his home in Henniker. Ocean Born Mary died on February 13, 1814, aged 93. She is buried in the Center Burying Ground in Henniker. Her sons and son-in-law were all prominent men in New Hampshire.

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