{{Short description|American politician (1825–1867)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James Wilson | image = JamesWilsonIN.jpg | office = United States Minister to Venezuela | term_start = October 10, 1866 | term_end = August 8, 1867 | president = Andrew Johnson | predecessor = Erastus D. Culver | successor = Thomas N. Stilwell | state1 = Indiana | district1 = {{ushr|IN|8|R}} | term_start1 = March 4, 1857 | term_end1 = March 3, 1861 | predecessor1 = Daniel Mace | successor1 = Albert S. White | birth_date = {{birth date|1825|4|9}} | birth_place = Crawfordsville, Indiana | death_date = {{death date and age|1867|8|8|1825|4|9}} | death_place = Caracas, Venezuela | party = Republican Party | spouse = Emma Ingersoll | children = 3, including John and Henry | alma_mater = Wabash College<br>Indiana University | allegiance = {{Flagicon|USA|1847}} United States (Union) | branch = {{army|USA}} | service_years = 1846–1847 (United States)<br>1861–1865 (Union) | rank = 35px Brevet Lieutenant Colonel | battles = Mexican–American War<br />American Civil War }}
'''James Wilson''' (April 9, 1825 – August 8, 1867) was a United States representative from Indiana. He and his wife, Emma (Ingersoll) Wilson (daughter of Stephen Ingersoll and Hannah Elizabeth Bullard, sister to Lurton Dunham Ingersoll, were the parents of John Lockwood Wilson, Howard Wilson and Henry Lane Wilson.
==Biography== James Wilson was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1825. He graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville in 1842 at the age of 17. In 1845, he graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, with a degree in law.
===Mexican-American War=== Wilson served in the United States military during the Mexican–American War from June 17, 1846, to June 16, 1847.
===Political career === After he turned to Crawfordsville in 1847, Wilson worked in the law office of Tilghman Howard (later the namesake of one of his sons), and he was admitted to the bar in 1848. Wilson became actively involved in politics in the mid-1850s, and he was a member of the newly formed Republican Party. In 1856, Wilson decided to run for the seat of 8th District Indiana Representative. During the election, Wilson defeated Daniel Wolsey Voorhees, and Wilson officially became a member of Congress on March 4, 1857. During the congressional election of 1858, Wilson was reelected. Wilson's time in Congress came to an end on March 3, 1861. He had served in the Thirty-Fifth and Thirty-Sixth Congresses of the United States of America.
===Civil War === During the American Civil War, Wilson was appointed captain of Volunteers on November 26, 1862. He was honorably discharged from the military on December 6, 1865, with the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel. At the end of the war, Wilson returned to his law practice in Crawfordsville.
===Later career and death === In 1866, President Andrew Johnson appointed Wilson to the position of Minister Resident to Venezuela. He served in this capacity from 1866 until his death in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 8, 1867. Wilson is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, Indiana.
==References== {{CongBio|W000589}} Retrieved on 2009-04-20
==External links== * [http://www.cdpl.lib.in.us/research/wilson/index.html James Wilson Bio and Speeches]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at Crawfordsville District Public Library
{{S-start}} {{S-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Indiana | district = 8 | before = Daniel Mace | after = Albert S. White | years = 1857–1861 }} {{S-dip}} {{Succession box | title = United States Minister to Venezuela | before = Erastus D. Culver | after = Thomas N. Stilwell | years = 1866–1867 }} {{End}} {{IndianaUSRepresentatives}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, James (Indiana politician)}} Category:1825 births Category:1867 deaths Category:19th-century American diplomats Category:19th-century Indiana politicians Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Venezuela Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Category:Andrew Johnson administration personnel Category:Indiana University alumni Category:Military personnel from Indiana Category:People from Crawfordsville, Indiana Category:People of Indiana in the American Civil War Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Indiana Category:Union army colonels Category:Wabash College alumni Category:19th-century United States representatives