William C. Wilson (July 2, 1812 – April 16, 1882) was a Vermont lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

from 1865 to 1869.

Biography

William Campbell Wilson was born in

Cambridge, Vermont Cambridge is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,839 at the 2020 United States Census. Cambridge includes the villages of Jeffersonville and Cambridge. History Granted on November 7, 1780, Cambridge was chart ...

on July 2, 1812, the son of Jennett (Campbell) Wilson (1784-1846) and farmer John Wilson (1779-1830). William Wilson was educated in the local schools of Cambridge and

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

, and worked on the family farm until he was eighteen, after which he began teaching school and studying law. He studied under Levi Joslyn in Cambridge, followed by study with Homer E. Hubbell of

Fairfax Fairfax may refer to: Places United States * Fairfax, California * Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California * Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue * Fairfax, Georgia * Fairfax, Indiana * Fa ...

, and then

Bates Turner Bates Turner (October 1760 – April 30, 1847) was a Vermont lawyer, judge and politician. In addition to serving as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, he was a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court for two years. Biography Turner w ...

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ro ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, and practiced in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, where he also operated a school for prospective attorneys, which trained between 80 and 100 students during the years it was in existence. Wilson was also a town leader, and played a key role in the creation of Bakersfield's hotel and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church, as well as the Bakersfield North Academy school. Originally a Whig, and a Republican after the party's founding in the mid-1850s, Wilson was a delegate to the 1843 state constitutional convention, and served as Franklin County's

State's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

from 1844 to 1845. He served in the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

from 1848 to 1849, and was an assistant judge of the Franklin County Court from 1849 to 1851. In 1850, he was again a delegate to the state constitutional convention. Wilson received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 1853. In 1855, Wilson served on the Council of Censors, the body which met every seven years to review actions of the state government and ensure their constitutionality. In 1860, Wilson was an alternate delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

. From 1863 to 1865, Wilson represented Bakersfield in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

. In 1865, Wilson was appointed as an associate justice of the

, and he served until 1869. His first wife died in 1869, and after resigning from the court, Wilson moved to

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

to live near his daughters. While living in Minnesota, Wilson remarried and began authoring a book on legal topics, but failing health caused him to discontinue the effort. In his later years, breathing problems in cold weather caused him to spend winters in Florida.

Death and burial

Wilson died in Rochester, Minnesota on April 16, 1882. He was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Bakersfield.

Family

In 1835, Wilson was married to Clarissa Ann Partridge Pratt (1817-1869) of Bakersfield. They were the parents of a son and two daughters: William DeForest Wilson (1836-1900), an attorney in St. Albans, Vermont; Elizabeth (1837-1926), the wife of attorney and judge Milton R. Tyler (1835-1907); and Clara (1843-1924), the wife of Judge Charles Monroe Start (1839-1919). In 1872, Wilson married Mary Ann Brown of Rochester, Minnesota. They remained married until her death in 1875.

References

Sources

Books

* * * * * *

Newspapers

* * * *

Internet

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, William C. 1812 births 1882 deaths People from Cambridge, Vermont People from Bakersfield, Vermont Politicians from Rochester, Minnesota U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Vermont lawyers Vermont Whigs Vermont Republicans State's attorneys in Vermont Members of the Vermont House of Representatives Vermont state senators Vermont state court judges Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court Burials in Vermont 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers