DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about James Charles Wilson — the man a whole Texas county is named for, and a life that packs more into a few decades than most folks could manage in two. Now, Wilson County was created in 1860 by the Eighth Texas Legislature, and they named it for a Texas patriot called James Charles Wilson. Born in England in 1818, Wilson left his homeland in 1836 — and that right there tells you something about the man.
He didn't just drift; he moved with purpose. By 1839 he had settled in Brazoria County, Texas, and set about building himself a life in a place that was still very much figuring out what it wanted to be. He studied law there, and look at who he studied under — Judge John W.
Harris and a future governor, Elisha M. Pease. He boarded with Henry Smith, a former Provisional Governor.
Wilson had a talent for finding himself in the company of consequential people. Or maybe they had a talent for finding him. But here's where the story takes a dark turn.
In 1842, Wilson rode with the Mier Expedition. The marker calls it ill-fated, and that is putting it gently. He was taken and held in a Mexican prison.
Now, some men in that situation wait. James Charles Wilson escaped — in 1843 — and made his way back to Brazoria County. What does a man do after something like that?
Wilson got back to work. He became editor of the Brazos Planter. He served as a district clerk.
He obtained his law license in 1844 and built what the marker calls a successful law practice. He was elected to the Texas Senate. He became Commissioner of Claims, tasked with settling the thorny problems arising from land grants given under the colonization laws of Spain and Mexico.
That is not a small job. In the last years of his life, Wilson moved his family to a homestead near Gonzales, where he kept practicing law and was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church. A lawyer and a preacher.
The man contained multitudes right up to the end. He died in 1861 — the same year the county bearing his name was barely a year old. He was buried in the family cemetery near Gonzales, but was later reinterred in the State Cemetery in Austin, which is where Texas keeps her honored dead.
A county named. A prison escaped. A practice built.
A life that crossed an ocean and never stopped moving. That's James Charles Wilson.
What the marker says
When this county was created in 1860 by the Eighth Texas Legislature, it was named for Texas patriot James Charles Wilson. A native of England, Wilson (1818-1861) left his homeland in 1836 and by 1839 had settled in Brazoria County, Texas. He studied law there under Judge John W. Harris and future Governor Elisha M. Pease, and boarded with former Provisional Governor Henry Smith. Wilson had a multifaceted career while a resident of the state. As part of the ill-fated Mier Expedition in 1842, he was held in a Mexican prison until escaping in 1843. He returned to Brazoria County, where he served as editor of the "Brazos Planter" and a district clerk. After obtaining his law license in 1844, Wilson had a successful law practice, was elected to the Texas Senate, and became Commissioner of Claims to settle problems arising from land grants given under the colonization laws of Spain and Mexico. During the last years of his life, James C. Wilson moved his family to a homestead near Gonzales, where he continued to practice law and was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Upon his death in 1861, Wilson was buried in the family cemetery near Gonzales but was later reinterred in the State Cemetery in Austin. (1985)