Jeremiah
Colbath was born in Farmington,
New Hampshire, on 16th February, 1812. An indentured farm labourer
at the age of ten, he changed him name to Henry Wilson after obtaining
his freedom in 1833. Wilson then moved to Natick, Massachusetts, where
he became a shoemaker.
While on a visit to Washington Wilson
observed a slave auction. Shocked by
what he saw, Wilson became an active member of the anti-slavery
movement.
Wilson attended Concord Academy before becoming a school teacher.
In 1848 he acquired and started editing the Boston
Republican. Wilson failed to be elected as governor
of Massachusetts in 1853 but two years later won a seat in the Senate.
He joined the Republican Party and
was re-elected in 1859.
A strong opponent of slavery, Wilson
raised and commanded the 22nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry during the American Civil War.
He also served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (1861-65).
Wilson, like other Radical Republicans,
objected to Johnson's attempts to veto the Civil
Rights Bill and the Reconstruction
Acts and voted for his impeachment in 1868. During this
period he wrote the 3 volume History
of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America
(1872).
In 1872 President Ulysses
S. Grant selected Wilson as his running mate. Henry Wilson served
as vice president until his death in Washington
on 22nd November, 1875.
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