WILSON, Alpheus Waters, M. E. bishop, born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1834. His father, Reverend Norval Wilson, was a well-known minister of the Methodist Episcopal church in Maryland and Virginia. The son was educated in Baltimore and Washington, and pursued the study of medicine, but left it for the ministry. When he was about nineteen years old he united with the Baltimore conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and rose rapidly, taking some of the best appointments in Baltimore and other parts of the conference. His labors having impaired his health, he pursued the study of law, but as soon as his physical condition improved resumed the ministry. During the civil war the Baltimore conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, was organized, and he identified himself with it, and has been elected four times to its general conference. In 1878 he became secretary of the Board of missions, and a great change took place under his administration. In 1881 he attended as a delegate the ecumenical conference in London, reading a paper on the "Influence of Methodism on other Denominations," which was published in the transactions of the conference, and gave great satisfaction. He has also written a work on "Missions" (Nashville, 1882). In 1882 he was elected to the episcopacy, being chosen on the first ballot Bishop Wilson is a remarkable preacher, and, except when compelled by sickness to suspend his labors, has been attentive and successful in every work committed to his care. In 1888 he set out on an episcopal tour around the world.