Benjamin Wilson (congressman)
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Benjamin Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883 | |
| Preceded by | John James Davis |
| Succeeded by | Nathan Goff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 30, 1825 Wilsonburg, Virginia, US |
| Died | April 26, 1901 (aged 75) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Profession | lawyer, politician |
Benjamin Wilson (April 30, 1825 – April 26, 1901) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician[1] who served as a United States representative from West Virginia (1875–1883) and as an assistant attorney general during the administration of President Grover Cleveland (1885 to 1893).[2]
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)[3] and later represented what was then Monongelia County in the Virginia General Assembly and became first clerk of the Harrison County court.[4] 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.[5]
Although Benjamin Wilson did not own slaves, his father Josiah Wilson owned seven or eight slaves in 1850,[6] and ten slaves in 1860.[7] This Benjamin Wilson attended the Northwestern Virginia Academy in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). He then traveled to Staunton, Virginia, to attend the law school which Judge Briscoe Baldwin 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).
