Edgar Wilson

Edgar Wilson was a United States Representative from Idaho.

Born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Wilson graduated from the University of Michigan, and headed west and became an attorney in Boise, Idaho. He was elected city attorney in 1887 and district attorney in 1888 and was a member of the state's constitutional convention prior to statehood in 1890. Wilson served as a Republican in the House from 1895 to 1897 and as a Silver Republican from 1899 to 1901, representing the state at-large.

After graduating from law school, Edgar Wilson moved to Boise, Idaho Territory, and with Fremont Wood he formed the law firm of Wood & Wilson in 1884.

Wilson became Boise City attorney in 1887, and he was elected Ada County district attorney in 1888. In 1889 he was elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Idaho. By this time, Wilson had become an accomplished orator, and some of his speeches to local organizations were printed in the Idaho Statesman.

In 1892 Wilson served as chairman of Idaho's Republican State Central Committee, and in 1894 the committee promoted William Borah for Congress. When Borah declined the nomination, Wilson replaced him, and that year Wilson was elected as Idaho's only representative in Congress. At the time, Idaho's population count was 84,385 persons.

While in Congress, Wilson supported legislation to fund a federal building in Idaho, and he introduced measures providing for survey and irrigation of the Idaho desert for agricultural purposes. He also promoted funding for a soldiers' home in southern Idaho, and he supported an expanded version of the McKinley Tariff that would benefit Idaho's mining interests. Toward the end of his first term in Congress, Wilson joined the Silver Republican Party, and he unsuccessfully sought election to the Idaho Supreme Court.

Returning to Boise in 1897, Wilson promoted expansion of the railroad to include Boise, and he supported extension of the new Boise sewer lines. He ran for Congress again in 1898 and easily won election on the Fusion Ticket. His committee assignments related to public lands, mines and mining, and irrigation. After his term ended in 1901, he did not seek office again in federal or state elections.

Wilson became a farmer in 1894, setting 50 acres of apple trees and later raising cattle. In 1898, he presented a paper, the Apple Orchard, to the Idaho State Horticultural Society. In 1901 he became vice president of the Southern Idaho Fruit Growers Association, and he negotiated rates for refrigerated rail car freight.

Among his other accomplishments, he organized the Boise Bank of Commerce and worked for other banking interests, and he served as president of the Boise school board. In 1900 he arranged a shipment of Idaho fruit to the Paris Exposition. A frequent voice at city council meetings, Wilson successfully lobbied for macadamized streets in Boise.

In 1905 Wilson attempted to change the name of the Snake River to Shoshonee, partly because "...the name Snake is repulsive, and the name of Shosho-nee is smooth and musical..."

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023