Wilson, Joseph S.

Born: 1808-XX-XX District of Columbia

Died: 1874-06-23 Washington, DC

Flourished: Washington, DC

Joseph S. Wilson was a federal government official. The son of Irish immigrants, Wilson spent his early years in the District of Columbia, where his father worked as a messenger with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Wilson toured Great Britain and France before succeeding his father at the Treasury Department. He advanced quickly from messenger to clerk. Upon the organization of the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1849, Wilson became principal clerk of private land claims for the U.S. General Land Office. Wilson wound remain at the General Land Office for the remainder of his professional life. In 1855, he became chief clerk. In September 1859, Wilson was the acting commissioner, and from February 1860 to March 1861, he served as commissioner. In March 1861, Wilson resumed his position as chief clerk. He was also commissioner of the General Land Office from September 1866 to February 1871.

Wilson married Eliza Uhler Moulder in September 1829. The couple had four children.

The Chicago Daily Tribune 30 June 1874, 2:4; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Washington, DC, Second Ward, 80; Charles Lanman, Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States, During its First Century (Washington: James Anglim, 1876), 471, 510; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1849), 128; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1853 (Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong, 1853), 132; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1855), 76; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1857 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1857), 78; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1859 (Washington, DC: William A. Harris, 1859), 79; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1861 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1862), 74; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1863 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1864), 98; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1865 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1866), 124; Washington, D.C., U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1826-1850, 1 September 1829, Washington, DC (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2000); Thirty-Second Annual Reunion of the Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy, at West Point, New York, June 8th, 1901 (Saginaw, MI: Seemann & Peters, 1901), 208-9; Gravestone, Glenwood Cemetery, Washington, DC.