Jeremiah Jones (Colbath) Wilson (1812 - 1875)

Born 16 Feb 1812 in Farmington, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Harriet Malvina (Howe) Wilson — married 28 Oct 1840 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Died 22 Nov 1875 at age 63 in Washington, D.C.

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Henry (Colbath) Wilson is a US Vice President Join: US Presidents Project Discuss: Presidents

Preceded by 17th Vice President Schuyler Colfax Preceded by Julius Rockwell

Henry Wilson 18th Vice President of the United States[1] 1873—1875 US Senator (Class 2) from Massachusetts 1855—1873

Succeeded by 19th Vice President William A. Wheeler Succeeded by George S. Boutwell

18th Vice President of the United States

"He was not learned, he was not eloquent, he was not logical in a high sense, he was not always consistent in his political actions, and yet he gained the confidence of the people, and he retained it to the end of his life. His success may have been due in part to the circumstance that he was not far removed from the mass of the people in the particulars named, and that he acted in a period when fidelity to the cause of freedom and activity in its promotion satisfied the public demand." - George Boutwell

Biography

Henry (Colbath) Wilson is Notable.

Jeremiah Jones Colbath was born on 16 February 1812 to Winthrop Colbath, Jr. and Abigail Witham in Farmington, New Hampshire.^[2] It was told that his father named him after a wealthy bachelor neighbor in the hope that he would leave money to his namesake. He always hated his name and legally had it changed to Henry Wilson as soon as he came of age.^[3]

Indentured at 10

Henry was indentured at the age of 10 to a farmer until he reached the age of 21 years old. He was supposed to have time off to attend school, but he was rarely allowed to go. Instead, he taught himself by reading any book he could find, often borrowing books from the neighbors.

"The Natick Cobbler"

After reaching the age of 21 in 1833, he walked the 100 miles to Boston and settled in the town of Natick where he apprenticed himself to a cobbler. During the 1830's, he established a prosperous shoe factory but ruined his health in the process.

A New Cause is Born

Henry traveled to Washington, D. C. and it changed his life. Watching the slaves laboring in the fields of Maryland and Virginia and seeing the slave pens and auctions, he vowed "to give all that I had to the cause of emancipation in America."

School and Marriage

Upon his return to Boston, Henry enrolled in several academies and taught school for a year. He married 16 yr. old Harriet Malvina Howe in 1840, who was one of his students.

As a shoe factory owner, Henry Wilson was able to build a grand house for his family and had time to turn his attention towards civic duties. His working class background and image as "The Natick Cobbler" appealed to the Whig party.

Massachusetts Legislature

He was elected as a Whig to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving in 1841 and 1842. This was followed by two terms as a state senator; 1844 – 1846 and 1850 – 1852, serving as President of the Massachusetts Senate in 1850 and 1851. During this time, he also joined the Natick militia and rose to Brigadier General.

A strong abolitionist, he left the Whigs in 1848 and helped found the Free Soil Party. During this time, he also edited the Boston Republican from 1848 to 1851.

U. S. Senator from Massachusetts

Elected to the U. S. Senate to fill the vacancy created by Edward Everett's resignation, Wilson served from 1855 to 1873 where he supported the Republicans.

During the Civil War, Henry Wilson was the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs and strongly encouraged President Lincoln to declare emancipation and accept freedmen into the ranks of the Union Army. He also wrote bills to free slaves in the border states.

Wilson supported aid for the working class, equal rights for women and freedmen, federal aid for education and federal regulation of business.

Vice President of the United States

Henry Wilson was selected to replace Schuyler Colfax as U. S. Grant's running mate in 1872, but shortly after their victory in the election, Wilson suffered a stroke in 1873. His bad health prevented him from assuming many duties of his office.

Two years later, while visiting the Senate bathing rooms and barber shop in the Capitol basement, Wilson suffered another stroke. He was taken upstairs to the Vice President's Room just off the Senate floor where he died a few days later on 22 November 1875.^[4] He is buried at the Dell Park Cemetery in Natick, Massachusetts.^[5]

Henry Wilson is Remembered

To his memory, in 1885, the Senate placed a marble bust of Henry Wilson in the room where he died along with a plaque that reads,

In this room HENRY WILSON Vice President of the United States and a Senator for Eighteen Years, Died November 22, 1875

The son of a farm laborer, never at school more than twelve months, in youth a journeyman shoemaker, he raised himself to the high places of fame, honor and power, and by unwearied study made himself an authority in the history of his country and of liberty and an eloquent public speaker to whom Senate and people eagerly listened. He dealt with and controlled vast public expenditure during a great civil war, yet lived and died poor, and left to his grateful countrymen the memory of an honorable public service, and a good name far better than riches.

Sources

1. ↑ Died in office, Vice-Presidency vacant November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877 until inauguration of successor.
2. ↑ *NEHGR; The New England Historical and Genealogical Register,: Volume 32; 1878; page 261.
3. ↑ The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 276, Ed. 1 Sunday, November 28, 1875, Newspaper, November 28, 1875; digital images, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium, Abilene, Texas; "It is not generally known that the original name of the late Vice President was Jeremiah Colbath. By act of the Massachusetts Legislature the name was changed to Henry Wilson. The reason assigned for the change was that the senior Colbath had brought the name into disrepute."
4. ↑ Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915, index and images, FamilySearch; Henry Wilson, 22 Nov 1875; citing Washington, District of Columbia, v 275 p 165, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960207.
5. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 2900

See also:

• United States Census, 1850, database with images, FamilySearch; Henry Wilson, Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing family 681, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• United States Census, 1860, database with images, FamilySearch; Heny Wilson, 1860.

• United States Census, 1870, database with images, FamilySearch; Henry Wilson, Massachusetts, United States; citing p. 8, family 59, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,129.

• Mr. Lincoln's White House; Henry Wilson

• United States Senate; Henry Wilson

• Wikipedia; Henry Wilson

• Biography.Com; Henry Wilson

• Nason, Elias. The Howe Family Gathering at Harmony Grove, South Framingham, Thursday, August 1, 1871 (Elias Howe, Boston, 1871) Page 7