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Bluford Wilson | |
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Solicitor of the United States Treasury | |
In office 1874–1876 | |
Preceded by | E. C. Banfield |
Succeeded by | George F. Talbot |
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois | |
In office 1869–1874 | |
Preceded by | John E. Rosette |
Succeeded by | John P. Van Dorston |
Personal details | |
Born | Shawneetown,Illinois,US | November 30,1841
Died | July 15,1924 82) Springfield,Illinois,US | (aged
Resting place | Oak Ridge Cemetery,Springfield,Illinois |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Alice Warren Mather (m. 1865) |
Relations | James H. Wilson (Brother) |
Children | 5 (Including Arthur H. Wilson) |
Education | McKendree College University of Michigan Law School |
Profession | Attorney |
Signature | ![]() |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States Union |
Branch/service | Union Army Illinois Militia |
Years of service | 1862-1865 (Army) 1898 (Militia) |
Rank | Major (Army) Colonel (Militia) |
Unit | 120th Illinois Volunteer Infantry (Army) |
Commands | Wilson's Provisional Regiment (Militia) |
Battles/wars | American Civil War Spanish–American War |
Bluford Wilson (November 30,1841 –July 15,1924) was a Union Army officer in the Civil War and a government official who served as Solicitor of the United States Treasury.
Bluford Wilson was born near Shawneetown,Illinois on November 30,1841. [1] He studied at McKendree College and the University of Michigan Law School before enlisting for the American Civil War. [2]
Wilson joined the 120th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He soon received an officer's commission and appointment as regimental adjutant. He later served on several other staffs,including that of the XIII Corps,taking part in numerous battles and campaigns,including Champion Hill,Black River and the Siege of Vicksburg,and the Red River Campaign. He was discharged with the rank of major at the end of the war. [3]
For the rest of his life Wilson was active in the Grand Army of the Republic and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. [4] [5]
Wilson resumed studying law at the University of Michigan Law School,graduated in 1866,and was admitted to the bar in 1867. [6] [7]
A Republican,Wilson was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois in 1869. [8] [9]
In 1874 Wilson received appointment as Solicitor of the Treasury,which he held until 1876. [10]
Wilson's rise through the ranks of federal appointed office were based in part on his family's relationship with President Ulysses S. Grant. Bluford Wilson's brother Major General James H. Wilson served on Grant's staff and as one of Grant's subordinate commanders during the Civil War. [11] [12]
As Solicitor Wilson played a key role in exposing the Whiskey Ring. He conducted an investigation into the frauds,reported his findings to his superiors,and attempted through his brother James to warn President Grant. When Grant moved to protect members of his administration and prevent prosecutions,Wilson resigned. [13] [14] [15]
After leaving government service Wilson settled in Springfield,Illinois,where he practiced law and became involved in the construction and management of several railroads. [16] [17]
During the Spanish–American War Wilson offered his services;the governor authorized him to raise a regiment and he was commissioned a Colonel in the Illinois militia,but the war ended before his regiment could see active service. [18]
Wilson died in Springfield on July 15,1924. [19] He was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.
In 1865 Wilson married Alice Warren Mather of Louisville,Kentucky,and they were the parents of five children. Harry died in infancy. Jessie was the wife of Phillip Barton Warren. Lucy was the wife of Ralph Vance Dickerman. Bluford died during his senior year at Yale University. Arthur graduated from West Point in 1904,attained the rank of Colonel during a career that spanned the years 1904 to 1942,and received the Medal of Honor during the Philippine Insurrection. [20]
Springfield is the capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois and the seat of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census,which makes it the state's seventh-most populous city,the second-most populous outside of the Chicago metropolitan area,and the most populous in Central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield metropolitan area,which consists of all of Sangamon and Menard counties. Springfield lies in a plain near the Sangamon River north of Lake Springfield. The city is on historic Route 66.
Horace C. Porter was an American soldier and diplomat who served as a lieutenant colonel,ordnance officer and staff officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War,personal secretary to General and President Ulysses S. Grant. He also was secretary to General William T. Sherman,vice president of the Pullman Palace Car Company and U.S. Ambassador to France from 1897 to 1905.
The Whiskey Ring took place from 1871 to 1876 centering in St. Louis during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The ring was an American scandal,broken in May 1875,involving the diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agents,politicians,whiskey distillers,and distributors. Whiskey distillers bribed officials from the U. S. Department of the Treasury to increase profits and evade taxes. Grant's Justice Department prosecuted members of Grant's own Republican Party who were part of the Ring. The kingpin of the Whiskey Ring was the notorious General John McDonald,whom Grant had appointed Revenue Collector of Missouri District in 1869. Under the leadership of Grant's Secretary of Treasury,Benjamin Bristow,a reformer,the Ring was uncovered and broken up.
Benjamin Helm Bristow was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 30th U.S. Treasury Secretary and the first Solicitor General.
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John Alexander McClernand was an American lawyer,politician,and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He was a prominent Democratic politician in Illinois and a member of the United States House of Representatives before the war. McClernand was firmly dedicated to the principles of Jacksonian democracy and supported the Compromise of 1850.
James D. Henry was a militia officer from the U.S. state of Illinois who rose to the rank of general during the Black Hawk War. Henry was born in Pennsylvania in 1797,and moved to Edwardsville,Illinois in 1822. In 1825,while living in Edwardsville,he was indicted with two other men for the murder of an acquaintance,though he never went to trial. One defendant was tried but found not guilty,and following the trial Henry moved to Springfield,Illinois,where he was elected sheriff. When the Winnebago War broke out in 1827 Henry acted as adjutant for four companies of volunteers.
Arthur Harrison Wilson (1881–1953) was an officer in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the Philippine Insurrection. Originally a member of the West Point class of 1903,he was held back a year and graduated in 1904. He was the captain of the world champion West Point Polo Team,and served a long career in the Cavalry. He was a full colonel and commander of Fort Brown,Texas,when he retired in 1942 after almost 40 years service. He lived the remaining 11 years of his life in retirement at Brownsville,Texas. He died of cardiac failure while duck hunting,one of his favorite sports.
Leonard Fulton Ross was an American lawyer,probate judge,and stock raiser who served as a first lieutenant in the Mexican-American War and as a brigadier general during the American Civil War.
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John Whitfield Bunn was an American corporate leader,financier,industrialist,and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln,whose work and leadership involved a broad range of institutions ranging from Midwestern railroads,international finance,and Republican Party politics,to corporate consultation,globally significant manufacturing,and the various American stock exchanges. He was of great historical importance in the commercial,civic,political,and industrial development and growth of the state of Illinois and the American Midwest,during both the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. John Whitfield Bunn was born June 21,1831,in Hunterdon County,New Jersey. Although every one of the business institutions co-founded or built by the Bunn Brothers has ceased to exist,and fallen purely into the realm of history,each of these businesses left an important legacy of honorable industrial,commercial,and civic vision for Illinois,the Midwest,and the United States.
Ulysses S. Grant and his administration,including his cabinet,suffered many scandals,leading to a continuous reshuffling of officials. Grant,ever trusting of his chosen associates,had strong bonds of loyalty to those he considered friends. Grant was influenced by political forces of both reform and corruption. The standards in many of his appointments were low,and charges of corruption were widespread. At times,however,Grant appointed various cabinet members who helped clean up the executive corruption. Starting with the Black Friday (1869) gold speculation ring,corruption would be discovered in seven federal departments. The Liberal Republicans,a political reform faction that bolted from the Republican Party in 1871,attempted to defeat Grant for a second term in office,but the effort failed. Taking over the House in 1875,the Democratic Party had more success in investigating,rooting out,and exposing corruption in the Grant Administration. Nepotism,although legally unrestricted at the time,was prevalent,with over 40 family members benefiting from government appointments and employment. In 1872,Senator Charles Sumner,labeled corruption in the Grant administration "Grantism."
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Jesse Kilgore Dubois was an American politician from Illinois. The son of a prominent early Illinois citizen,Dubois was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives while he was attending Indiana College. Nicknamed Uncle Jesse,he served four two-year terms there. An early Republican,Dubois was named the party's first candidate for Auditor of Public Accounts. He was elected in 1856 and served two four-year terms. He was the father of Senator Fred Dubois.