Joseph Gardner WILSON, Congress, OR (1826-1873)
WILSON, Joseph Gardner, (cousin of James Willis Nesmith), a Representative from Oregon; born in Acworth, Sullivan County, N.H., December 13, 1826; moved with his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1828 and later to a farm near Reading, Hamilton County; attended the district schools until 1840 and Caryâs Academy from 1840 to 1842; was graduated from Marietta (Ohio) College in 1846; professor in Farmerâs College, near Cincinnati, in 1849; was graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1852 and was admitted to the bar; moved to Oregon Territory in 1852 and commenced the practice of law in Salem, Oreg.; clerk of the Territorial legislature in 1853; first secretary of the Willamette Woolen Co. when it was established in 1854; prosecuting attorney of Marion County 1860-1862; associate judge of the State supreme court 1864-1866 and 1868-1870; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1870 to the Forty-second Congress; resumed the practice of his profession; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1873, until his death in Marietta, Ohio, July 2, 1873; interment in Pioneer Cemetery, The Dalles, Oreg.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
