Joseph Ruggles Wilson

Joseph Ruggles Wilson Sr. was born on February 28, 1822, in Steubenville, Ohio. His parents were Mary Anne (Adams) and James Wilson, Scottish-Irish immigrants from Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland. Wilson pursued higher education at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1844. Following his graduation, he taught literature at Washington & Jefferson College.

Wilson married Jessie Woodrow, with whom he had three children: Thomas Woodrow Wilson (born December 28, 1856), Joseph Ruggles Wilson Jr. (born 1867), and Annie Josephine Wilson Howe (born 1854). His son Thomas Woodrow Wilson would later become the President of the United States.

In 1851, Wilson and his wife moved to the southern United States, initially residing in Virginia before relocating to Georgia. Between 1855 and 1857, Wilson served as the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Staunton, Virginia. In late 1857, Wilson moved his family to Augusta, Georgia, where he continued his ministry. During this period, the Wilson family identified with the Confederacy, and Wilson owned slaves, defended slavery, and established a Sunday school for enslaved people. Wilson and his wife actively participated in Confederate wartime efforts, including caring for wounded soldiers at their church. Wilson also served briefly as a chaplain in the Confederate States Army.

In 1861, Wilson played a significant role in founding the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), which had separated from the Northern Presbyterian Church. He served as the first permanent clerk of the PCUS General Assembly and held the position of Stated Clerk from 1865 to 1898, totaling over three decades. In 1879, Wilson served as the Moderator of the PCUS General Assembly.

Wilson remained as a Presbyterian minister in Augusta until 1870, after which he became a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. In 1874, he accepted the pastorate at the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he managed church affairs including debt payments and reforms such as the abolition of pew rents and the introduction of subscription and weekly contributions.

In 1885, Wilson became a professor of theology at Southwestern Presbyterian University (later Rhodes College) located in Clarksville, Tennessee. Later, he held a position at Princeton University. Wilson passed away on January 21, 1903, in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 80.