James Grant Wilson
James Grant Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 28, 1832 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | February 1, 1914 (aged 81) New York City, New York |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York |
| Spouses | Jane Emily Searle Cogswell
(m. 1869; died 1904)Mary H. Nicholson (m. 1907) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | William Wilson Jane Sibbald |
| Education | Bartlett's College Hill School |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States Union |
| Branch/service | Union Army |
| Rank |  Colonel Bvt. Brigadier General |
| Unit | 15th Illinois Cavalry Regiment |
| Commands | 4th U.S.C.T. Cavalry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
James Grant Wilson (April 28, 1832 – February 1, 1914) was an American editor, author, bookseller and publisher, who founded the Chicago Record in 1857, the first literary paper in that region. During the American Civil War, he served as a colonel in the Union Army. In recognition of his service, in 1867, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865. He settled in New York, where he edited biographies and histories, was a public speaker, and served as president of the Society of American Authors and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.[1]
Early life
James Grant Wilson was born on April 28, 1832 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of the poet William Wilson and his second wife, Miss Jane Sibbald of Hawick. In infancy, he moved with his family to the United States, where they settled at Poughkeepsie, New York. He had two younger brothers. Wilson was educated in Poughkeepsie at College Hill, and continued his studies in the languages, music, and drawing, under private teachers.[2]
Career
Eventually, he joined his father in business as a bookseller/publisher, later becoming his partner.[2][3] In 1855, Wilson started on an extended journey, his tour of Europe and its capitals. Upon his return in 1857, he settled in the growing city of Chicago, Illinois, where he founded the Chicago Record, a journal of art and literature. It was the first literary paper published in that region.[2][3] He also became known as a speaker.
U.S. Civil War
During the Civil War, Wilson sold his journal and entered the Union Army late in 1862. He was commissioned as a major of the 15th Illinois Cavalry, commanded the 4th U.S.C. Cavalry as colonel. He resigned from the Army on June 16, 1865.[3] On February 27, 1867, President Andrew Johnson nominated Wilson for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 2, 1867.[4] His middle brother was killed at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and his youngest brother also served.[2][3]
Later career
After the war, Wilson settled in New York City. He became known as a speaker, a frequent contributor to periodicals, president of the Society of American Authors, and, after 1885, of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. He edited Fitz-Greene Halleck's Poems (1868) and wrote his biography, published in 1869; and in 1876 his anthology Poets & Poetry of Scotland in four volumes . He edited A Memorial History of the City of New York (four volumes, 1892–93); Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (six volumes, 1887–89, with John Fiske; volume vii, 1900); The Great Commanders Series (eighteen volumes, completed 1913); and 
The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914 (four volumes, 1914), the work of many distinguished writers..
Personal life
On November 3, 1869, he married Jane Emily Searle Cogswell (d. 1904), the sister of Andrew Kirkpatrick Cogswell (1839-1900) and the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Cogswell (1781–1864) and Jane Eudora Kirkpatrick (1799–1864). Jane's grandfather was Andrew Kirkpatrick (1756–1831) and her great-grandfather was John Bayard (1738–1807).[5] Before her death in 1904, they had one daughter together:[1]
- Jane Wilson, who married Frank Sylvester Henry (who died before 1914)[6]
After his first wife's death in 1904, he married Mary H. Nicholson, the widow of his friend Admiral James William Augustus Nicholson, in 1907.[1] He resided at 143 West 79th Street in New York City.[7]
Wilson died in New York City and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.[3]
Selected works
- Biographical Sketches of Illinois Officers (1862–63)
- Life of Fitz-Greene Halleck (1869)
- Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers (1874)
- Poets and Poetry of Scotland (1876) (in four volumes) Blackie & Son, Edinburgh 1876
- Centennial History of the Diocese of New York, 1775-1885 (1886)
- Bryant and his Friends (1886)
- Commodore Isaac Hull and the Frigate Constitution (1889)
- Wilson, James Grant (1893). The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892. New York History Co.
- Love in Letters (1896)
- Life of General Grant (1897)
- Thackeray in the United States (two volumes, 1904)
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c Nineteenth Annual Report, 1914 of the American Scenic Historic Preservation Society | To The Legislature of the State of New York. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, Printers. 1914. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1889). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ a b c d e Eicher & Eicher 2001, pp. 573–574.
- ^ Eicher & Eicher 2001, p. 761.
- ^ Bulloch, Joseph Gaston Baillie (1919). A History and Genealogy of the Families of Bayard, Houstoun of Georgia: And the Descent of the Bolton Family from Assheton, Byron and Hulton of Hulton Park, by Joseph Gaston Baillie Bulloch ... J. H. Dony, Printer. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- ^ Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1914). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- ^ Mohr, William F. (1914). Who's who in New York City and State. L.R. Hamersly Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- Sources
- Eicher, John H.; Eicher, David J. (2001), Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
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External links
- . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
- . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
- Union Army colonels
- Writers from New York City
- People of Illinois in the American Civil War
- 19th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American novelists
- 19th-century American historians
- American male novelists
- American military writers
- 1832 births
- 1914 deaths
- Writers from Chicago
- Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
- Lecturers
- 20th-century American biographers
- 19th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American male writers
- Novelists from New York (state)
- Novelists from Illinois
- Historians from New York (state)
- Historians from Illinois
- Historians of New York City
- American male biographers