Riley J. Wilson

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Riley Joseph Wilson (November 12, 1871 - February 23, 1946) was a Louisiana educator, attorney, and legislator in the first half of the late 19th century and the first decades of the 20th Century. A Democrat, Wilson served in the United States House of Representatives from 1915 until 1937. He was defeated for renomination in 1936.

He was born near Goldonna in Winn Parish, the traditional In 1894, he graduated from Iuka Normal Institute in Iuka (Tishomingo County), Mississippi. He was the principal of Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, the seat of Catahoula Parish, from 1895-1897. Wilson studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1898. He opened his practice in Harrisonburg.

Prior to his service in the U.S. Congress, Wiley was a a district attorney, state judge, and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1900-1904. He succeeded a Populist state legislator, Henry Breithaupt.

Wilson and Governor Oramel H. Simpson were the two unsuccessful candidates for governor in the 1928 Democratic primary. They lost to the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr., at the time a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Wilson spent his later years in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, where he died at the age of seventy-four. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.

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Preceded by James Walter Elder

U.S. Representative from 5th District of Louisiana Riley Joseph Wilson 1915–1937

Succeeded by Newt V. Mills

Preceded by Henry Breithaupt

State Representative from Catahoula Parish Riley Joseph Wilson 1900–1904

Succeeded by E.B. Cottingham