Joseph Lapsley Wilson

Who was Joseph Lapsley Wilson?

Joseph Lapsley Wilson was an American railroad executive, author and horticulturalist. A Civil War veteran, he wrote two histories of Philadelphia's First City Troop.

Son of William Wilson, a merchant, he was educated at West Chester Academy in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1862 he enlisted in the Union Army, becoming a member of C Company Grays Reserves. He saw fire in July 1863 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. At discharge, he held the rank of sergeant.

Following the war, he became secretary of the Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad and Coal Company, a division of the Reading Railroad, which transported anthracite from Northeastern Pennsylvania's coal region. He worked for the company for 38 years.

In 1867, he was elected to the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, the oldest continually-active military unit in the United States. Part of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, he served as the troop's captain, 1889-1894, and wrote its centennial history in 1875. Forty years later, he revised and updated the history: Book of the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, 1774-1914.