Henry Wilson was a strong supporter of ending slavery. He was the 18th Vice President of the United States under Ulysses S. Grant from 1873 to 1875. Wilson was born in New Hampshire to a poor family. At age 10, he started working on a farm. Later, he learned how to make shoes and liked to read in his spare time. Wilson was doing well as a shoemaker, but when he heard people talking about slavery, he decided to work his whole life to end it. After that, he became a public speaker and ran as a Whig for a seat in the Massachusetts legislature. In 1848, he left the Whig party and became one of the main leaders of the Free Soil party. He later joined the Know-Nothing party and, finally, the Republican Party. Wilson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1855. He was re-elected three times and kept his seat until 1873. During his time as a senator, he was known as a strong opponent of slavery and one of the most effective anti-slavery speakers in the United States. He was also very active in his state’s militia, where he worked his way up through the ranks to become a brigadier-general. When the Civil War started, he was in charge of the Senate’s military committee. After the war, he did a lot to help the country. Wilson was later elected vice president on the Republican ticket. He was sworn in as vice president in March 1873. Two years later, while working at his office, Wilson had a stroke and died before the end of his term.
Early years and childhood
Henry Wilson was born on February 16, 1812, in Farmington, New Hampshire, as Jeremiah Jones Colbath. His parents were Winthrop Colbath Jr., a laborer, and Abigail Witham, his wife. He started working on a farm when he was 10 years old. Later, he changed his name to Henry Wilson.
Wilson moved to Natick, Massachusetts, in 1833, where he learned how to make shoes. He also never graduated from the Strafford, Wolfeboro, and Concord Academy, where he learned very little.
After that, he started making shoes on a small scale and also taught at a school in Natick. Later, when Wilson learned about slavery and saw slave auctions in Washington, D.C., he was shocked and decided to spend the rest of his life working to free slaves.
Henry Wilson’s Career
Later, during the presidential elections of 1840, he got a lot of attention as a public speaker. He was elected as a Whig to the Massachusetts legislature the following year and served there until 1852.
During this time, he also saw the state army get smaller and smaller. In 1843, he joined the militia. After that, he became a Colonel, and in 1846, he was named Brigadier General and put in charge of the 3rd Brigade of the Massachusetts Militia, a job he held until 1852.
He was in charge of the Boston Republic newspaper from 1848 to 1851. During this time, he was upset that the Whig Party wasn’t sure what to do about slavery, so he helped start the Free-Soil Party.
Wilson ran for Congress in 1852, but he didn’t win. The next year, he ran for Governor of Massachusetts, but he didn’t win either. In 1853, he went to the state’s constitutional convention as a delegate.
In 1854, he joined the Know-Nothing Party. The next year, a group of Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, and Democrats voted for him to be in the U.S. Senate. After a few years, Wilson switched to the new Republican Party.
As a Republican, he was re-elected to the Senate in 1859, 1865, and 1871, and he stayed there until 1873. He was also the head of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs from 1861 to 1873.
Wilson joined the radical part of the Republican Party while he was in the Senate. He fought for the rights of freed slaves. In 1861, he formed the 22nd Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and led it for a short time.
In 1872, the Senate investigation into the corruption charges in the Credit Mobilier scandal investigation found that Wilson was not guilty. After that, he was put on the Republican ticket with President Ulysses S. Grant and was elected vice president.
Wilson was sworn in as Vice President of the United States in March 1873. He held this job until his death in 1875.
Works of note
Wilson was a strong supporter of ending slavery, and when he was a U.S. Senator during the American Civil War, he pushed for the slave owners and their political allies to be killed. During the Reconstruction Era, when he was a Radical Republican, he backed federal laws that protected the rights of freed slaves.
Wilson wrote several books about the United States during the war and the Reconstruction Era. “History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America,” which came out in 3 volumes between 1872 and 1877, is one of his most important works.
Personal History and Legacies
In 1840, he married one of his students, Harriet Malvina Howe.
Harriet died in 1870, 30 years after the couple got together.
Wilson had a serious stroke in 1873 that left him partially paralyzed, but he kept doing his job for the next few years.
On November 22, 1875, while working in the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., he had another stroke. He was buried in Natick, Massachusetts, at the Old Dell Park Cemetery.
Estimated Net worth
Henry Wilson is estimated to have a net worth of $5 million, most of which comes from his work as an editor, historian, journalist, military officer, and politician. We don’t know enough about Henry Wilson’s cars or his way of life.