William Warfield Wilson (March 2, 1868 – July 22, 1942) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Biography

Born in

Ohio, Illinois Ohio is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 465 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Ohio was first incorporated as a village on January 22, 1877. A post office ca ...

, Wilson attended public schools, and the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He graduated from the

Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

in 1893. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the same year and commenced practice in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Wilson was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Fifty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913). He was not successful as candidate for election in 1912 to the Sixty-third Congress. Wilson was elected to the Sixty-fourth, Sixty-fifth, and Sixty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1921). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1920 He was appointed general counsel of the

Office of Alien Property Custodian The Office of Alien Property Custodian was an office within the government of the United States during World War I and again during World War II, serving as a custodian to property that belonged to US enemies. The office was created in 1917 by E ...

of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

in 1922, serving until 1927. In a memorandum written in 1924, Wilson condemned "acts of spoliation" that occurred in 1919-1920, first, under the watch of

A. Mitchell Palmer Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936), was an American attorney and politician who served as the 50th United States attorney general from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the Palmer Raids during the Red Scare ...

, and then — his successor,

Francis Patrick Garvan Francis Patrick Garvan (June 13, 1875 – November 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, government official, and long-time president of the Chemical Foundation, Inc. The Chemical Foundation was established to administer in the public interest 4,500 G ...

, After retiring from the Office of Alien Property Custodian, Wilsone resumed the practice of law. He died in Chicago, and was interred in Union Cemetery in Ohio, Illinois.

Family

Wilson married Sarah M. Moore in 1892 and they had one son, Stephen Askew Wilson (1896-1987).''Blue Book of the State of Illinois''
Springfield, Ill.: State Printers, 1919, p. 152.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, William Warfield 1868 births 1942 deaths Politicians from Chicago University of Michigan alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois