James Jefferson Wilson, (1775-1824) served New Jersey as a U.S. Senator from 1815 to 1821. Wilson was born in Essex County, N.J., in 1775; attended the common schools; editor and publisher of the True American of Trenton 1801-1824; clerk in the State general assembly in 1804; judge advocate and captain, Hunterdon Brigade, New Jersey Militia, in 1806; surrogate of Hunterdon County in 1808; member, State general assembly 1809-1811; brigadier general and adjutant general of New Jersey 1810-1812; reappointed brigadier general and adjutant general of New Jersey 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 1821-1824; elected as a 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, Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses), Committee on Claims (Sixteenth Congress); appointed postmaster of Trenton, N.J., in 1821 and served until his death in that city July 28, 1824; interment in the First Baptist Church Cemetery.

Bibliography:

Wilson, James Jefferson, comp. A National Song-Book, Being a Collection of Patriotic, Martial, and Naval Songs and Odes. Trenton, N.J.: James J. Wilson, 1813.

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.