Joseph Ruggles Wilson

Joseph Ruggles Wilson
Born	February 28, 1822 Steubenville, Ohio,U.S.
Died	January 21, 1903(1903-01-21)(aged 80) Princeton, New Jersey,U.S.
Education	Jefferson College Princeton Theological Seminary
Spouse	Jessie Janet Woodrow
Children	Woodrow Joseph Jr. Annie Marion
Parent	James Wilson
Religion	Presbyterian
Church	Presbyterian Church in the United States

Joseph Ruggles Wilson Sr.(February 28, 1822 – January 21, 1903)was a prominentPresbyteriantheologian and father of PresidentWoodrow Wilson,Nashville Bannereditor Joseph Ruggles Wilson Jr., and Anne E. Wilson Howe.In 1861, as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia, he organized the General Assembly of the newly formedPresbyterian Church in the United States,known as the Southern Presbyterian Church, and served as its clerk (chief executive officer) for 37 years.

Life and work

Wilson was born inSteubenville, Ohio,the son of Mary Anne (Adams) andJames Wilson,who were Protestant immigrants fromStrabane,County Tyrone,Ireland(today in Northern Ireland). He graduated from Jefferson College (nowWashington & Jefferson College) inCanonsburg, Pennsylvaniain 1844.He taught literature at Washington & Jefferson.

Wilson married Jessie Woodrow and was later employed as a professor atHampden–Sydney College.He left the school just before the birth of his son,Thomas Woodrow Wilson,inStaunton, Virginia.There he became the pastor of Staunton's Presbyterian Church, which he held from 1855 to 1857. In late 1857 he moved his family toAugusta, Georgia,where he continued to practice as a Presbyterian pastor.

Joseph and Jessie Wilson had moved to the South in 1851 and came to fully identify with it, moving from Virginia deeper into the region as Wilson was called to be a minister in Georgia and South Carolina. Joseph Wilson owned slaves, defended slavery, and also set up a Sunday school for his slaves. Wilson and his wife identified with theConfederacyduring the American Civil War; they cared for wounded soldiers at their church, and Wilson briefly served as a chaplain to theConfederate States Army.

In 1861 Wilson was one of the founders of the SouthernPresbyterian Church in the United States(PCUS) after it split from the northern Presbyterians. He served as the first permanent clerk of the PCUS General Assembly, was Stated Clerk for more than three decades from 1865 to 1898, and was Moderator of the PCUS General Assembly in 1879. He served as minister of theFirst Presbyterian ChurchinAugusta, Georgiauntil 1870.

Wilson became a professor atColumbia Theological Seminaryin Columbia, South Carolina, in 1870. He moved to the pastorate at the First Presbyterian Church,Wilmington, North Carolina,in 1874. During his time in Wilmington, he presided over many events, including the payment of the local church's debts, the abolition of pew rents, and the inauguration of subscription and weekly contributions.In 1885 he became a professor of theology atRhodes College,which was then known as Southwestern Presbyterian University, inClarksville, Tennessee.

Children

• Thomas Woodrow Wilson(December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924), professor andPresident of Princeton University(1902–1910),Governor of New Jersey(1911–1913),President of the United States(1913–1921)
• Joseph Ruggles Wilson Jr. (1867–1927), editor of theNashville Banner
• Annie Josephine Wilson Howe (1854–1916)