James Grant Wilson

James Grant Wilson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of poet William Wilson. Soon after his birth, his family relocated to Poughkeepsie, New York. He was educated at College Hill, and then privately tutored. He joined his father in business, later becoming his partner. In 1855, he began a two-year trip to Europe. In 1857, he returned to the U.S. and founded the Chicago Record, a journal of art and literature. In 1862, during the Civil War, he sold …