David Wilson (New York politician)

David Wilson (September 17, 1818 – June 9, 1870) was an American lawyer, writer and politician from New York.

Life

He was born on September 17, 1818, in West Hebron, Washington County, New York.^[1] He graduated from Union College in 1840. Then he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1843, and practiced law in Whitehall. After some time he abandoned the practice of law, and engaged in literary pursuits instead.^[2]

He was a Whig member of the New York State Assembly in 1852.^[3] In 1853, he published Twelve Years a Slave as told to him by Solomon Northup.^[4]

In 1857, he was appointed as Deputy New York State Treasurer, and moved permanently to Albany. He was Clerk of the New York State Assembly from January 26, 1858, to January 4, 1859, officiating in the 81st New York State Legislature. At this time he was a member of the American Party.^[5] He was Deputy Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals from 1860^[6] to 1862.^[7]

He died on June 9, 1870,^[8] in Albany, and was buried at the New Hebron Cemetery in Hebron.

References

1. Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography (1914; pg. 724)
2. Harper's Encyclopœdia of United States History from 458 A.D. to 1905 (1905; pg. 394)
3. The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pg. 244, 317 and 436; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
4. Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup (first edition, 1853, editor's preface on pg. 15f)
5. OFFICERS OF THE ASSEMBLY in Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1858 by William D. Murphy (p. 246)
6. Manual for the Use of the Legislature (1860; pg. 313)
7. Manual for the Use of the Legislature (1862; pg. 319)
8. Appleton's Cyclopedia gives June 9, 1887, as death date, and this was copied by other biographical dictionaries like Herringshaw's and Harper's. The gravestone apparently shows 1870, and his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica also states 1870.

External links

• David Wilson at Find a Grave