Edgar Wilson (February 25, 1861 – January 3, 1915) was 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

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Born in

Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Armstrong County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,558. The county seat is Kittanning. The county was organized on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Lycom ...

, Wilson graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and headed west and became an attorney in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

. He was elected city attorney in 1887 and district attorney in 1888 and was a member of the state's constitutional convention prior to statehood in 1890. Wilson served as a Republican in the House from 1895 to 1897 and as a

Silver Republican The Silver Republican Party, later known as the Lincoln Republican Party, was a United States political party from 1896 to 1901. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party by supporting free silver (effectively, expansionary monet ...

from 1899 to 1901, representing the state at-large.

Early life and family

Edgar Wilson was born February 25, 1861, to parents Ellen and Matthew Wilson. His family included two sisters and a brother. Edgar's father, Matthew Wilson, joined the Union Army in 1862, and one account suggests he was wounded and captured at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, in 1863. He was promoted to captain while in prison, and he died a prisoner at

Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate States of America, Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army, taking in numbers from the nearby Seven Days battl ...

in 1864. Another account is that Matthew Wilson was captured in the Battle of Turner's Gap in 1862, was taken to Libby Prison then moved to Charleston where he died of insufficient rations, inadequate clothing, and the deprivations of confinement 10 months after capture. Edgar Wilson would have been either two or three years old when his father died. Wilson attended the

and graduated with an LL.B. degree in law in 1884. In 1890 he married Laura Da Shiell, and the couple raised two children in Boise, Laura and Maurice Edgar.

Career

After graduating from law school, Edgar Wilson moved to Boise,

Idaho Territory The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory ...

, and with Fremont Wood he formed the law firm of Wood & Wilson in 1884. Wilson became Boise City attorney in 1887, and he was elected

Ada County Ada County is located in the southwestern part of Idaho, United States. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 494,967, which by 2024 was estimated to have risen to 535,799. Ada County is by far the state's most populous county; ...

district attorney in 1888. In 1889 he was elected as a delegate to the

Idaho Constitutional Convention The Idaho Constitution Convention drafted the Idaho Constitution in 1889 in preparation for the Idaho Territory to become a U.S. state. History Background On April 2, 1889, outgoing Territorial Governor Edward A. Stevenson, who had successfully p ...

. By this time, Wilson had become an accomplished orator, and some of his speeches to local organizations were printed in the ''Idaho Statesman''. In 1892 Wilson served as chairman of Idaho's Republican State Central Committee, and in 1894 the committee promoted

William Borah William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in Idaho's history. A progressive who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, Borah voted for A ...

for Congress. When Borah declined the nomination, Wilson replaced him, and that year Wilson was elected as Idaho's only representative in Congress. At the time, Idaho's population count was 84,385 persons. While in Congress, Wilson supported legislation to fund a federal building in Idaho, and he introduced measures providing for survey and irrigation of the Idaho desert for agricultural purposes. He also promoted funding for a soldiers' home in southern Idaho, and he supported an expanded version of the

McKinley Tariff The Tariff Act of 1890, commonly called the McKinley Tariff, was an act of the United States Congress framed by then-Representative William McKinley, that became law on October 1, 1890. The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost 50% ...

that would benefit Idaho's mining interests. Toward the end of his first term in Congress, Wilson joined the

Silver Republican Party The Silver Republican Party, later known as the Lincoln Republican Party, was a United States political party from 1896 to 1901. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party by supporting free silver (effectively, expansionary monet ...

, and he unsuccessfully sought election to the Idaho Supreme Court. Returning to Boise in 1897, Wilson promoted expansion of the railroad to include Boise, and he supported extension of the new Boise sewer lines. He ran for Congress again in 1898 and easily won election on the Fusion Ticket. His committee assignments related to public lands, mines and mining, and irrigation. After his term ended in 1901, he did not seek office again in federal or state elections. Wilson became a farmer in 1894, setting 50 acres of apple trees and later raising cattle. In 1898, he presented a paper, the Apple Orchard, to the Idaho State Horticultural Society. In 1901 he became vice president of the Southern Idaho Fruit Growers Association, and he negotiated rates for refrigerated rail car freight. Among his other accomplishments, he organized the Boise Bank of Commerce and worked for other banking interests, and he served as president of the Boise school board. In 1900 he arranged a shipment of Idaho fruit to the Paris Exposition. A frequent voice at city council meetings, Wilson successfully lobbied for

macadam Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam , in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the original mat ...

ized streets in Boise. In 1905 Wilson attempted to change the name of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

to Shoshonee, partly because "...the name Snake is repulsive, and the name of Shosho-nee is smooth and musical..."

Alcoholism and death

In 1913 Wilson shot and wounded a deputy sheriff who discovered Wilson had a gun while in custody awaiting a hearing and judgement of his mental condition. After the hearing, Wilson was committed to the state asylum for two years, although he was released early in 1914. He then moved to Salt Lake City. In August, 1914, Laura Wilson filed for divorce in Boise, and Edgar Wilson returned to Boise later that year to contest. While staying at the Owyhee Hotel, he developed a cold followed by pneumonia. He died January 3, 1915, in his hotel room. After the death of her husband, Laura Wilson successfully contested his will, which left nothing to her nor to her son, Maurice Edgar Wilson. Evidence of her husband's longtime struggle with alcohol and drugs was presented along with allegations of marital infidelity, and family and friends testified that Edgar Wilson had become irrational, erratic, and mentally unsound. In 1915 Laura Wilson donated her husband's library of 850 books to the

College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891 by Rev. William Judson Boone as a Presbyterian college, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over ...

. In 1977 the Edgar Wilson House (1904), 103 E Warm Springs Ave, became a contributing resource of Boise's West Warm Springs Historic District. The house was later demolished.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Edgar 1861 births 1915 deaths People from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho Silver Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho University of Michigan Law School alumni Members of the Idaho Constitutional Convention 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early life and family

Career

Alcoholism and death

References

Further reading

External links