William B. Wilson will be inducted into the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Fame on Nov. 13, 2007, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Here's the biography I wrote for the program:
William Bauchop Wilson
(1862 – 1934)
William Bauchop Wilson was born in Blantyre, Scotland, April 2, 1862, the third child of Adam Black Wilson and Helen Nelson Bauchop Wilson. After several moves to find work in 1870, Adam, a miner, chose to emigrate to Arnot, a small coal mining village in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. The rest of the family followed several months later. Wilson received less than two years of formal schooling before joining his father in the mines, where he worked until he was 16. At 11, Wilson joined the newly formed local of the Miners and Laborers Benevolent Association as a half member, a status reserved for workers under 16. By the time he was 14, he was secretary of the local union. Wilson began to correspond with labor leaders around the country who expanded his knowledge and understanding of the labor movement. Eventually, Wilson was blacklisted in Tioga County for his union activism and traveled the country looking for work. On June 7, 1883, Wilson married Agnes Williamson, an Arnot resident and fellow Good Templar member. They had eleven children.
During this period of labor activism, Wilson traveled extensively assisting striking miners, establishing joint conferences between operators and miners, and organizing union locals. He convinced the executive board of the Knights of Labor to meet with the Progressive Union to fully unite. Wilson became chair of the constitutional and by-law committee and on January 25, 1890, the United Mine Workers of America was formed. He was elected a member of the UMWA National Executive Board in 1891 and again in 1894. The UMWA constitution prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin.
In May 1900, John Mitchell, the legendary president of the UMWA, appointed him to the position of Secretary-Treasurer. Wilson was elected to the position in uncontested races for the next eight years. Soon after, the UMWA organized a strike that included Tioga County. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones came to Arnot to assist the strikers. In her autobiography, she wrote about Wilson's actions during the strike, "He knew every hardship that the rank and file of the organization knew. We do not have such leaders now."
In 1906, Wilson, a Democrat, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, unseating Republican millionaire Elias Deemer of Williamsport by a margin of only 384 votes in the heavily Republican district. He served until March 3, 1913. On March 4, the Department of Labor was created by an act of Congress and Wilson, as chair of the Committee on Labor, was instrumental in its passage. Wilson was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to be Secretary of the new department, beginning March 5. He served until March 5, 1921.
Wilson died aboard a train near Savannah, Georgia, on May 25, 1934. Services were held June 3, 1934, at the family homestead, Ferniegair Farm, in Blossburg. Wilson is buried along side his wife in Blossburg's Arbon Cemetery, surrounded by family.
For a more comprehensive biography of Wilson, please visit www.blossburg.org.
