H. CLAY WILSON. Among the prominent attorneys of Springfield an enviable position is held by the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch and whose portrait is presented on the opposite page. He is now only in the prime of life and has before him the prospect of an extended and useful career in his chosen profession. The senior member of the firm of Wilson & Crowder, he is well known throughout Sangamon County as a member of the legal fraternity upon whose knowledge thorough reliance may be placed.

Coming of substantial ancestry, the gentleman of whom we write was born in Daviess County, Ky., July 2, 1856, and is one of four children born to John J. and Mary A. (Meeks) Wilson, the former a native of Grayson County, Ky., and the latter of Spencer County, Ind. John J. Wilson has followed various pursuits, having engaged in milling, farming and boating. From the age of eighteen years until fifty-eight years old he followed the river, and while a young man was engaged as a pilot on steamboats. He was serving in that capacity on a Government boat at the time of the famous opening of the Red River raft above Shreveport, La. He also became interested in the shipment of produce by flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and made eighty-one trips to New Orleans with his own goods.

By devoting himself carefully and untiringly to the various vocations in which he engaged, John J. Wilson acquired a competence, which unfortunately, he lost during great floods on the Ohio River and was compelled to surrender the earnings of a lifetime in order to pay his obligations. He now resides in Rice County, Kan., on a farm, whither he removed in 1879 and where he will probably spend his remaining days. In the olden time he was a stanch supporter of Whig principles and was a warm personal friend of Henry Clay, for whom our subject was named. The death of Mrs. Wilson occurred about 1861 before the removal of the family from Indiana. The record of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson is as follows: Benjamin Franklin, a resident farmer of Gentry County, Mo.; H. Clay, of this sketch; Minnie E., wife of B. E. Lawrence, of Gentry County, Mo.; and David M., who is a resident of Schuyler County, this State.

H. Clay Wilson, whose name heads this sketch, was reared to manhood in Enterprise, Ind., working on a farm where he remained until twenty-one years of age. He received liberal educational advantages, his primary course being supplemented by an attendance at the Central Normal College of Danville, Ind., from which institution he was graduated in 1881. Immediately thereafter he came to Springfield, Ill., and taught school in Sangamon County for seven years. In the meantime he entered the law office of Clinton L. Conkling, under whose direction he fitted himself for the practice of the legal profession. He was admitted to the bar in November, 1887, and the following May he opened an office in this city. Previous to this time he had engaged in teaching school, but on his admission to the bar, he brought his whole energies to bear upon his new work and as the result of his unceasing activity, skill and ability he has already won an honored place among his professional brethren. He is associated in business with J. J. Crowder and the firm of Wilson & Crowder is accounted one of the leading law firms of the Capital City.

Mr. Wilson was married on the 7th of August, 1888, at Carlinville, Ill., to Miss Theresa Tyson. Their union has been blessed with a little son, Henry Clay Jr., who is the light of the home and the joy of his parents. The friends of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are many, for in social life as well as in business circles, our subject is held in high regard and his wife shares in the esteem given him. Politically he is a Republican and a most faithful and earnest supporter of that party, doing all in his power to advance its interests and insure its success. He is a member of the County Central Committee and in 1890 his name was placed upon the Republican ticket as a candidate for the office of County Judge. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the F.M.C. and the Modern Woodmen of America.