Benjamin Wilson (April 30, 1825 – April 26, 1901) was an American lawyer and Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Retrieved September 10, 2007. who served as a

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

) (1875–1883) and as an assistant attorney general during the administration of President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

(1885 to 1893).

Early and family life

Born in Wilsonburg in Harrison County, Virginia (now West Virginia) to Mary Martin (1804-1831) and her husband, Josiah D. Wilson (1796–1868), Benjamin was named for his paternal grandfather, the patriot Col. Benjamin Wilson Sr. (1747-1827), a lieutenant in Lord Dunmore's Army. After fighting Native Americans, in 1774 Col. Wilson moved across the Allegheny Mountains, settled in the Tygart valley and founded "Wilson's Fort" (which he defended during the American Revolutionary War) and later represented what was then Monongelia County in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

and became first clerk of the Harrison County court. This Benjamin Wilson's maternal grandfather, William Martin (1763–1851), had been a patriot as well, serving as commissary for New Jersey troops before settling in Harrison County. Although Benjamin Wilson did not own slaves, his father Josiah Wilson owned seven or eight slaves in 1850, and ten slaves in 1860. This Benjamin Wilson attended the Northwestern Virginia Academy in

Clarksburg, Virginia Clarksburg is a city in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 16,039 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in West Virginia. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg mic ...

(now

). He then traveled to

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

, to attend the law school which Judge

Briscoe Baldwin Briscoe Gerard Baldwin (January 18, 1789 – May 18, 1852) was a Virginia attorney, politician, and jurist, who served four terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, at the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830, and a decade in the ...

had begun in 1831. Wilson married Susan Marsh in 1848, and they had a son, Stonewall Jackson Wilson (1862–1887), who survived to adulthood, as did three daughters: Buena Wilson Brown (1849–1930), Mary Drusilla Feeny (1851–1876), and Virginia Lee Wozencraft (1865–1893).

Career

Admitted to the Virginia

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in 1848, Wilson began his legal practice in Clarksburg. He was elected as commonwealth attorney for Harrison County following adoption of a new Virginia state constitution in 1851, and served from 1852 to 1860.

Prelude and American Civil War

Voters elected Wilson along with Unionist

John S. Carlile John Snyder Carlile (December 16, 1817October 24, 1878) was an American merchant, lawyer, slaveowner and politician, including a United States senator. A strong supporter of the Union cause during the American Civil War, he represented the loy ...

as their delegates to the

Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 The Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 was called in the state capital of Richmond to determine whether Virginia would secede from the United States, govern the state during a state of emergency, and write a new Constitution for Virginia, whi ...

. Unlike Carlile, who voted against secession during both votes, Wilson abstained from the second vote, though he did sign the ordinance of secession. Later, he and Judge Gideon D. Camden (who owned slaves in both censuses) moved southward into Virginia after Union forces captured much of Harrison County.

Postwar politician

Wilson was a member of West Virginia's State constitutional convention in 1871. After the adoption of West Virginia's second Constitution in 1872 (which re-enfranchised Confederates, among other changes), Wilson was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

that year. Also in 1872 he lost a bid for election to the 43rd Congress from the 1st Congressional District. In 1874, however, Wilson won the seat. Re-elected three times, he served in the 44th and the next three Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883). During the first

administration and the administration of

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

, Wilson was Assistant Attorney General of the United States (from 1885 to 1893).

Death and legacy

Benjamin Wilson died on April 26, 1901, in Clarksburg and was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Benjamin 1825 births 1901 deaths People from Harrison County, West Virginia Virginia lawyers Virginia Secession Delegates of 1861 West Virginia lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War 19th-century West Virginia politicians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives