James Grant Wilson

Bryant and his Friends (1886) By James Grant Wilson

James Grant Wilson (April 28, 1832 - February 1, 1914) was an American editor, author, bookseller and publisher, who founded the Chicago Record in 1857, the first literary paper in that region. During the American Civil War, he was commissioned as a major of the 15th Illinois Cavalry and became a brevet brigadier general in 1865. He settled in New York, where he edited biographies and histories, was a public speaker, and served as president of the Society of American Authors and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Wilson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of the poet William Wilson and his second wife, Miss Sibbald of Hawick. In infancy, he moved with his family to the United States, where they settled at Poughkeepsie, New York. He had two younger brothers. Wilson was educated in Poughkeepsie at College Hill, and continued his studies in the languages, music, and drawing, under private teachers. Eventually, he joined his father in business as a bookseller/publisher, later becoming his partner In 1855, Wilson started on an extended journey, his tour of Europe and its capitals. Upon his return in 1857, he settled in the growing city of Chicago, Illinois, where he founded the Chicago Record, a journal of art and literature. It was the first literary paper published in that region. He also became known as a speaker.