Camden People - George E. Wilson Sr.

GEORGE EDWARD WILSON SR. was born in Woonsocket, RI. on February 10, 1835, He spend his boyhood in Providence, attending public schools there. He later went to a Friends’ school in Philadelphia. He started his business career as a clerk for the Washington Manufacturing Company in Gloucester, N.J., moving on to the ice business in the same city.

When the Civil War started, Mr. Wilson joined Captain John P. Van Leer’s company on April 21, 1861 as 1st lieutenant of Company H of the Fourth New Jersey Militia. This regiment was the first fully equipped brigade to arrive in Washington, D.C., and was present, although not actively engaged in the battle of Bull Run.

At the expiration of the term of service, Mr. Wilson immediately reenlisted with Captain Van Leer, in Company D of the Sixth New Jersey Regiment and was mustered in as captain of the company, upon the promotion of Van Leer to Major. The Sixth Regiment formed a part of the Second New Jersey Brigade, and in 1862, under General McClellan, took part in the Peninsular Campaign. Captain Wilson commanded his company at the siege of Yorktown, and Williamsburg, where on May 5, 1862, he was severely wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy for a short period of time.

After his wounds had healed, in August, 1862, he rejoined his regiment and again took charge of his company. In 1863, Captain Wilson took part in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In July of that year he was detached from his regiment to take charge of the camp of drafted men at Trenton, and remained in that position until the expiration of his term of three years’ service, in 1864.

After the war, Captain Wilson returned to the coal and ice trade. He was the president of the Wilson Coal & Ice Co., successfully maintaining four locations, one at Second and Chestnut Streets and one at Tenth and Spruce Streets, and two in Atlantic City, N.J.

George E. Wilson was a member of the Thomas K. Lee Post, G.A.R.; 32nd degree Mason with Lodge #94, Siloam Chapter, #19, Cyrene Commandery of Camden; and was Grand Commander of Knights Templar of West Jersey for 1880 and 1881.

On October 12, 1865, in a ceremony performed by Rev. C. Wood, George E. Wilson Wilson married Matilda M. Mulford, daughter of William C. Mulford of Gloucester. She died on August 26, 1869 leaving two children, Emilie D. Wilson and George Edward Wilson Jr.

George E. Wilson Sr. married for a second time on November 19, 1872, taking Maria W. Jackson as his wife.

Upon coming of age George E. Wilson Jr. became involved in the coal and Ice business.

The 1910 Census shows George E. Wilson Sr. living at 420 Collings avenue in Collingswood with his wife and his sister Anna. Also residing at that address was Harry C. Kramer, active in law and government for many years.

George E. Wilson Jr. died suddenly on October 21, 1914. Captain George Edward Wilson Sr. passed away in December of 1914 and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey. Maria Jackson Wilson died in 1926 and was also buried there.

George E. Wilson's older brother Henry Braid Wilson Sr. was a prominent figure in Camden politics and business circles for many years. He sat in City Council prior to 1871, representing Camden's South Ward, served as postmaster from 1877 to 1881, and was a member of the Board of Education and the Commission of Public Instruction. He was one of the founders, and one-time vice-president of the Camden National Bank; president and director of the Camden Fire Insurance Association; had an active interest in church work and was a senior warden of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church for nearly a half century. He died in 1898. The H.B. Wilson Elementary School, at South 9th and Florence Streets, was named in his honor, and when a new school was built adjacent to the old one in the 2000s, the name H.B. Wilson Elementary School was retained.

George Wilson's nephew, Admiral Henry B. Wilson Jr., went on to fame as a naval officer. The Admiral Wilson Boulevard, leading from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to the Airport Circle in Pennsauken, is named in his honor, for his service as the commander of the American fleet in French waters by the First World War. Another nephew, Philip Wilson became president of the Central Trust Bank.

History of Camden County New Jersey
by George Reeser Prowell - 1886

Captain George E. Wilson was born at Woonsocket, R.I., February 10, 1835. His grandfather, the Rev. James Wilson, a descendant of one of the early settlers of New England, in 1800 became one of the first public-school teachers in the city of Providence, where the free-school system in America then originated. As a minister of the gospel he served during the long period of fifty years as pastor of the Beneficent Congregational Church of Providence, and died highly honored and respected at the advanced age of eighty years.

James Wilson, his son, and the father of Henry B., James P. and George E. Wilson, was treasurer of the New England Screw Company, at Providence, for a time. He moved to Camden County in 1849, and for many years was treasurer of the Washington Manufacturing Company, of Gloucester City, until age compelled him to resign, and he spent the remainder of his life in Camden. He was a man of sterling integrity, deeply interested in the material and moral welfare of the communities in which he lived, and a prominent member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He died in 1882, at the age of eighty years.

Captain Wilson, subject of this biography, spent his boyhood days in Providence, and there attended the public schools and subsequently was a pupil in a Friends' school in Philadelphia. He entered business as a clerk for the Washington Manufacturing Company, at Gloucester, and afterwards engaged in the ice business in the same city. When the Civil War opened he joined Captain John P. Van Leer's company in the three months' service, and upon arriving at Trenton was mustered in, April 21, 1861, as first lieutenant of Company H of the Fourth New Jersey Militia. This regiment was taken down the Delaware to Annapolis in transports, and was the first fully-equipped brigade at the outbreak of the war to arrive at the city of Washington. The same regiment built Fort Runyon, at the south end of the Long Bridge over the Potomac near Washington, and was present at the first battle of Bull Run, though not actively engaged. At the expiration of the term of service he came home with the regiment, and immediately after being discharged re-enlisted with Captain Van Leer, in Company D of the Sixth New Jersey Regiment, and was mustered in as captain of the company, Captain Van Leer being promoted to major. The Sixth Regiment formed a part of the Second New Jersey Brigade, and in 1862, under General McClellan, took part in the Peninsular campaign. Captain Wilson commanded his company at the siege of Yorktown, and in the succeeding engagement of this campaign at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, he was severely wounded in the hand and hip, as the army was on die retreat and he fell into the hands of the enemy, but the following day was recovered. After his wounds had healed, in August, 1862, he rejoined his regiment and again took charge of his company. In 1863 he participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In July of the same year he was detached from his regiment to take charge of the camp of drafted men at Trenton, and remained in that position until the expiration of his term of three years' service, in 1864.

Since the close of the war Captain Wilson, has been actively engaged in the ice and coal business in the city of Camden, has built up an extensive trade and has been very successful. He obtains his ice in immense quantities from the Eastern States and from Lakeside Park, and furnishes it to consumers in the city of Camden and elsewhere. He also has a coal-yard at Second and Chestnut Streets and one at Tenth and Spruce Streets. He is a member of the Thomas K. Lee Post, G.A.R., and has taken an active interest in the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Lodge 94, Siloam Chapter, No. 19, Cyrene Commandery of Camden; has taken the thirty-second degree in Masonry, and was Grand Commander of Knights Templar of West Jersey for 1880 and 1881.

On October 12, 1865, Captain Wilson was married to Matilda M., daughter of Dr. William C. Mulford, of Gloucester. She died in 1869, leaving two children,—Emilie D. and George Edward. He was married, on the 19th of November, 1872, to Maria W. Jackson, daughter of Ephraim S. Jackson, a prominent citizen of Providence, R.I., and for twelve years postmaster of that city. They have two children, Benjamin J. and Rachael Graham Wilson.