James J. Wilson
# James J. Wilson

James Jefferson Wilson (1775 – July 28, 1824) was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1815 to 1821.

## Biography

Wilson was born in Essex County, New Jersey, where he attended the common schools. He was editor and publisher of the True American of Trenton, New Jersey 1801–1824; clerk in the New Jersey General Assembly in 1804; judge advocate and captain, Hunterdon Brigade, New Jersey Militia, in 1806; surrogate of Hunterdon County, New Jersey in 1808; member of the General Assembly 1809–1811; brigadier general and Adjutant General of New Jersey from 1810–1812, and reappointed in 1814; captain in the Third Regiment, Hunterdon Brigade 1814; captain in the New Jersey Militia 1814; brigadier general and Quartermaster General of New Jersey from 1821 to 1824.

Wilson was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1815, to January 8, 1821, when he resigned; was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection; chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses), Committee on Claims (Sixteenth Congress); appointed Postmaster of Trenton, New Jersey, in 1821 and served until his death in that city; interment in the First Baptist Church Cemetery, Trenton.

