Wilson, James

Born: 1825-04-09 Montgomery County, Indiana

Died: 1867-08-08

Flourished: Montgomery County, Indiana

Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, James Wilson was an attorney, U.S. congressman, military officer, and Republican. He attended Wabash College, graduated in 1842, then commenced the study of law. He gained admission to the bar in 1848 and began practicing law in Crawfordsville. He served in the Mexican War from June 1846 to June 1847. In March 1849, he married Emma Ingersoll, with whom he eventually had at least three children. He won election as a Republican to both the Thirty-Fifth and Thirty-Six U.S. Congresses and served in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1850, he owned $1,000 in real estate. By 1860, he owned $3,000 in real property and another $2,000 in personal property. During the Civil War, he supported the Union. In November 1862, he received appointment as captain of volunteers. He received an honorable discharge with a brevet to the rank of lieutenant colonel in December 1865. He died in Caracas, Venezuela, but was buried in Crawfordsville.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 156, 160, 2071; Indiana, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800-1941, 14 March 1849, Montgomery County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2005); U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Montgomery County, IN, 420; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, IN, 49; Gravestone, Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, IN.