WILSON, Thomas, jurist, born in County Tyrone, Ireland, 16 May, 1827. He was brought to the United States in 1839, was graduated at Allegheny college in 1852, studied law, was admitted to the bar in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1855, and settled in Winona, Minnesota He was a member of the Constitutional convention of Minnesota in 1857, was elected a district judge, and took his seat on the bench in 1858, on the organization of the state government. In the spring of 1864 he was appointed a judge of the supreme court, and in the autumn of the same year he was elected chief justice for the term of seven years. In 1869 he resigned, and has since followed the practice of his profession. He was elected to the state house of representatives in 1880, and in 1882, after declining a nomination for congress, was elected to the state senate, and served till 1885. In the latter year he was the Democratic candidate for a seat in the United States senate, and in 1886 he was elected to the National house of representatives, taking his seat on 5 December, 1887.