James
Falconer Wilson was
born in Newark, Ohio, on 19th October, 1828. After a brief schooling
he was apprenticed as a harnessmaker. In his spare time he studied
law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He worked as a lawyer in
Newark, Ohio (1851-53) and Fairfield, Iowa (1853-61).
A member of the Republican Party,
Wilson was elected to Congress in October, 1861. As chairman of the
Committee on the Judiciary, he was an important figure in the impeachment
of President Andrew Johnson. Wilson,
like other Radical Republicans, objected
to Johnson's attempts to veto the Civil
Rights Bill and the Reconstruction
Acts and voted for the impeachment of Johnson in 1868.
President Ulysses S. Grant offered Wilson
the post of Secretary of State in 1869. He declined the offer but
did agree to become government director of the United Pacific Railroad.
Wilson remained in Congress and served as chairman of the Committee
of Mines and Mining. James Falconer Wilson died in Fairfield, Iowa,
on 22nd April, 1895.
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