Wilson - James - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Source: 1874 People's Guide Madison Twp J. Farmer 1 1/2 Mi. SW Linden b. Scotland came to MC 1834 b. Scotland 1807 Presbyterian.
1880 Madison Twp #55 Wilson, James 73 Farmer Scotland Scot Scot Lydia 64 Md Md Md.

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Source: A W Bowen History of Montgomery County, Indiana.. Indianapolis   1913: pp 592

   

Hon. James WILSON, a distinguished lawyer and brilliant orator   of the state of Indiana, was born at Crawfordsville, Indiana, on   April 9, 1825. He was the first white male child born in   Montgomery County. At his birth all that vast territory north of   Montgomery County, reaching to Lake Michigan, was called the   Wabash country. James Wilson was the oldest son of John and   Margaret Wilson, early pioneers of Crawfordsville. He graduated   from Wabash college in 1842, at the age of seventeen years. He   read law in the office of Gen. Tilgman H. HOWARD, of Rockville,   Indiana, but was compelled to wait until he was twenty-one years   of age to be admitted to the bar. About the time of his admission   to the bar, the Mexican war began. He at once enlisted as private   soldier and at the close of the war returned home an officer.   Immediately on his return he began to practice law at   Crawfordsville. The bar at that time in western Indiana was   particularly strong, being composed of such men as Gen. Tilgman   H. Howard, of Rockville, Edward A. HENNEGAN, of Covington, and   Henry S. LANE, of Crawfordsville. James Wilson, young as he was,   gifted to a high degree with vast talents and great powers of   eloquence, did not wait long for a standing, but at once jumped,   meteor-like, to the head of his chosen profession. He became a   leader, and his superiority to all was conceded. He swayed juries   at his will and held vast audiences entranced by the powers of   his eloquence.

   

In politics Mr. Wilson was a Republican and an Abolitionist.   In 1856 James Wilson was nominated for Congress in the ninth   congressional district of Indiana, his competitor being Daniel W.   VORHEES . The campaign was a joint one and attracted attention   throughout the state. Such were Mr. Wilson's powers of eloquence   and vast information of all the questions of the day, that he far   outdistanced his competitor and was triumphantly elected.   Entering Congress he at once engaged in debate with such men as   Alexander H. STEVENS of Georgia and other southern leaders and   they found in him a foeman worthy of their steel, equal and ready   at all times to defend the rights of the North.

   

In 1858 Mr. Wilson was unanimously renominated and elected.   During his second term in Congress, he engaged in the great   debates of that day with many men who afterwards became famous.   Near the close of his second term in Congress he delivered a   speech "On the State of the Nation," which was considered a   masterpiece of eloquence and statesmanship. At the close of his   second term in Congress the Civil war began. Mr. Wilson was   tendered a third nomination, but refused it and, casting aside   his congressional career, he made a great speech at   Crawfordsville and in his closing remarks said: "I will ask no   man to go where I will not go myself."

   

Mr. Wilson signed his name as a private soldier, but a man of   such superior ability was not destined long to remain in the   ranks. Mr. Wilson was immediately appointed an officer by   President Lincoln and made post quartermaster of the state of   Indiana. He was afterwards commissioned major-lieutenant colonel-   and at the close of the Civil war was honorably mustered out,   holding the rank of colonel, A.D.C. He cast aside his uniform and   returned to his home in Crawfordsville, to begin anew the   practice of his profession, but was not destined to remain there   long. He was requested by the President of the United States to   become minister to Venezuela, South America; to draw a treaty   between that government and the government of the United States,   in regards to the adjustment of complicated claims then existing.   Mr. Wilson, being a fine international lawyer, accepted the   appointment, went to Venezuela and drew the treaty, which was   ratified by the Venezuelan government and the government of the   United States. Mr. Wilson then desired to return home and again   enter Congress. All of the his family had returned home, but he   remained at Caracas to meet General Talmage of New York, who was   to be his successor in office. Suddenly he was taken sick and   died alone in a foreign land in 1867, at the age of forth-two   years.

   

Thus a great man perished and a brilliant leader ceased to be.   A prince of Israel hath departed and may his memory ever   remain.

   

Hon. James Wilson married Emma INGERSOLL of Crawfordsville,   and to them four children were born. One daughter died in   infancy, John L. Wilson of Seattle, Washington, ex-Senator from   that state, and Tilghman Howard Wilson of Spokane Falls,   Washington, are now deceased. One son is surviving, Henry Lane   Wilson of Spokane Falls, Washington, at the present time   Ambassador to Mexico.

   

Submitted by Harry Bounell February 2002

   

James Wilson (1825-1867) Son of John Wilson; father of John   Lockwood Wilson. Born in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Ind.,   April 9, 1825. Republican. Served in the U.S. Army during the   Mexican War; U.S. Representative from Indiana 8th District,   1857-61; colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War; U.S.   Minister to Venezuela, 1866-67, died in office 1867. Died in   Caracas, Venezuela, August 8, 1867. Interment at Oak Hill   Cemetery. See also: congressional biography. (The Political   Graveyard)

   

WILSON, James, 1825-1867

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Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

   

WILSON, James, (father of John Lockwood Wilson), a   Representative from Indiana; born in Crawfordsville, Montgomery   County, Ind., April 9, 1825; was graduated from Wabash College,   Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1842; studied law; was admitted to the   bar in 1848 and commenced practice in Crawfordsville, Ind.;   served in the Mexican War from June 17, 1846, to June 16, 1847;   during the Civil War was appointed captain of Volunteers November   26, 1862, and honorably discharged December 6, 1865, as brevet   lieutenant colonel; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth   and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1861);   Minister to Venezuela from 1866 until his death in Caracas,   Venezuela, August 8, 1867; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery,   Crawfordsville, Ind.