# George P. Wilson *American lawyer and Republican politician (1840–1920); Minnesota Attorney General, 1874–1880* George Potter Wilson (January 19, 1840 – January 20, 1920) was an American lawyer and Republican politician.[^1] In Minnesota he was Winona's [[county attorney]], sat in both the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]] and the [[Minnesota Senate]], and was [[Minnesota Attorney General]] for three terms, from 1874 to 1880.[^1] This article rests on one secondary source, a Wikipedia biography. The record does not include primary documents, court filings or session laws naming Wilson. It does not establish any part he played in a case, an enactment or an official report.[^1] ## Early life The early-life section of the Wikipedia biography gives Wilson's birth as January 14, 1840, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The same article's opening sentence gives January 19, 1840.[^1] He attended Bucknell University and Ohio Wesleyan University and settled in Winona, [[Minnesota]], in 1860.[^1] He prepared for the law in the offices of Lewis & Simpson and of [[William B. Mitchell]], whom the source describes as a former justice of the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]]. He was admitted to the bar at Rochester in October 1862.[^1] ## Political career According to the Wikipedia biography, Wilson was assistant secretary of the Minnesota Senate in 1854–1855 and its secretary in 1856–1857.[^1] Those dates fall before his stated 1860 move to Minnesota and in his early teens. The record has no primary source to resolve the discrepancy.[^1] Between 1865 and 1871 Wilson was county attorney for Winona. In 1871 he was appointed a United States commissioner on the Southern Pacific Railroad.[^1] In 1873 he represented the 8th District in the state House.[^1] Wilson held the attorney general's office for three two-year terms. He took office on January 9, 1874, and left it on January 10, 1880.[^1] The 41st district elected him to the state Senate in 1898 and returned him in 1902.[^1] Wilson was a Republican. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a Freemason.[^1] On September 26, 1866, he married Ade H. Harrington. Her parents, William H. and Miranda Harrington, were among Winona's early settlers.[^1] Wilson had three children: Jessie M., who later married William R. Sweatt of [[Minneapolis]]; Walter H.; and Wilt Wilson.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - George Potter Wilson, a Republican lawyer and officeholder, Winona.[^1] ### Where - Winona, his home from 1860 and the county he served as county attorney. Rochester, where he was admitted to the bar in 1862.[^1] ### When - Admitted to the bar, October 1862.[^1] - County attorney for Winona, 1865–1871.[^1] - Minnesota House of Representatives, 8th District, 1873.[^1] - Minnesota Attorney General, January 9, 1874 – January 10, 1880.[^1] - Minnesota Senate, 41st district, elected 1898 and reelected 1902.[^1] - The source also dates Senate assistant-secretary and secretary service to 1854–1857, before his stated arrival in Minnesota.[^1] ### How many - Three two-year terms as Minnesota Attorney General.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *George P. Wilson* (revision 1378393033, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Wilson's birth dates as given, education, bar admission, offices and dates, party, and family; CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Wilson