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Henry Wilson - 18th Vice President
Party: Republican
Term: March 4, 1873 - Nov 22, 1875
Age at Inauguration: 61
Life Span: Feb 16, 1812 - Nov 22, 1875 [63]
President:Ulysses Grant

  • Wilson was born Jeremiah Jones Colbath
  • When his father was unable to feed his large family, he gave his son to a local farmer at age 10, where he served as an indentured servant for eleven years
  • He changed his name shortly thereafter and voluntarily signed as an indentured servant apprentice shoemaker
  • He had taken his new name from a Massachusetts political and entered politics as a congressman
  • Wilson helped form the Free Soil Party and later the Know Nothing Party, but was unable to muster support for his anti-slavery philosophy
  • He returned to the congress and was later chosen to replace Colfax as vice president
  • Shortly after taking office he suffered a stroke which he kept as secret as possible, but he died after suffering a second stroke in 1875 Vice President Death in Office