Guide to the Wilson Family Papers
Open for research.
James Patriot Wilson was born in Lewes, Delaware, in 1769. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1788. In 1804, after working for some years as a surveyor and a lawyer, he succeeded his father as pastor of the Lewes Church. In 1806 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. He retired from the First Church pulpit in 1830, and died in December of that year.
His son, James Patriot Jr, was born in Philadelphia on Christmas Day of 1809. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1826 and began to study theology with his father. In 1839 he became pastor of the Neshaminy-Warwick Presbyterian Church, which he left in 1850 to accept a call to the Central North Liberties Church of Philadelphia. From 1853-89 he was pastor of the South Park Church of Newark, NJ.
From 1847-50 Wilson was president of Delaware College. He left Delaware in 1851 to become Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary. In 1856 he became Director of the Seminary, a post he held until his death in 1889.
The Wilson Papers consist of correspondence, notebooks and sermon abstracts of Wilson Sr, and a notebook and two photographs of the younger Wilson.
The book of sermon abstracts in Folder 5 is undated and it is not certain which Wilson it pertains to. It was included in papers of Wilson Sr. which were transferred from the PHS library to form this collection, and thus it has been filed in Series 1.
SERIES 1: JAMES PATRIOT WILSON, 1810-1826
SERIES 2: JAMES PATRIOT WILSON, JR., CIRCA 1827
The Society owns three portraits of Wilson Sr, and several of his published works are available in the library.
Related collections include RG 35, Records of the First Church of Philadelphia.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: September 1992
Stephanie Muntone, Processing Archivist
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 310 | |
| SERIES 1: JAMES PATRIOT WILSON, 1810-1826 | |||
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence--To Wm. Woodward, 1810-1811 | |
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence--To Dr. Ewing, 1818 | |
| 1 | 3 | Notebook, 1818-1821 | |
| 1 | 4 | "Questions and Answers on Paul's Epistle to the Romans," 1826 | |
| 1 | 5 | Sermon Abstracts, undated | |
| SERIES 2: JAMES PATRIOT WILSON, JR., CIRCA 1827 | |||
| 1 | 6 | Notebook--Theological Essays, circa 1827 | |
| 1 | 7 | Photographs, undated |