Riley Joseph Wilson was a Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 educator, attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, and legislator

Legislator

A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...

 in the first half of the late 19th century and the first decade

Decade

A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....

s of the 20th century. A Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, Wilson served in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from 1915 until 1937. He was defeated for renomination in 1936.

He was born near Goldonna

Goldonna, Louisiana

Goldonna is a village in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 457 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area...

 in Winn Parish

Winn Parish, Louisiana

Winn Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Winnfield. In 2000, its population was 16,894.The parish has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....

, the traditional base of the Long

Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...

 dynasty. In 1894, he graduated from Iuka Normal Institute

Iuka Normal Institute

Iuka Normal Institute was a normal school founded in Iuka, Mississippi in 1882, reportedly the first normal school built south of the Mason-Dixon Line. It operated as a day school and boarding school, offering classes from first to tenth grades. In 1892, graduates of their tenth grade were deemed...

 in Iuka

Iuka, Mississippi

Iuka is a city in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,059 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Tishomingo County. Woodall Mountain, the highest point in Mississippi, is located just south of Iuka.- History :...

 in Tishomingo County

Tishomingo County, Mississippi

As of the census of 2000 there were 19,163 people, 7,917 households, and 5,573 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 9,553 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. He was the principal of Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg

Harrisonburg, Louisiana

Harrisonburg is a village in and the parish seat of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 746 at the 2000 census.- History :...

, the seat of Catahoula Parish, from 1895–1897. Wilson studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 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 district attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

, state judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

, and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives

Louisiana House of Representatives

The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...

 from 1900–1904. He succeeded a Populist

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 state legislator, Henry Breithaupt.

Wilson and Governor Oramel H. Simpson

Oramel H. Simpson

Oramel Hinckley Simpson was an American politician from the US state of Louisiana. He became the 39th Governor of Louisiana in 1926, upon the death of his predecessor, Henry L. Fuqua...

 were the two unsuccessful candidates for governor in the 1928 Democratic primary. They lost to the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.

Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...

, at the time a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission

Louisiana Public Service Commission

Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...

. Long claimed that Wilson carried the support of "a bunch of stuffed shirts calling themselves Square Dealers" whereas Simpson was backed by "a gang of cutthroats and liars from Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is a famous and historic street that spans the length of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. When founded in 1718, the city was originally centered around the French Quarter...

 brothels and those moth-eaten aristorcrats sipping their booze and branch water

Branch water

Branch water may refer to:* Water from a stream * Addition of plain water rather than soda water to a mixed drink...

 on rich plantations."

Long claimed that Wilson and Simpson reminded him of "the old medicine man who used to come to Winnfield

Winnfield, Louisiana

Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...

 when I was a boy. That old faker, with his worthless cure-alls, would skin a widow woman out of her last dollar and make her think his medicine would cure anything from toe itch to whooping cough. [Wilson and Simpson] are just alike and are being supported by the same smelly medicine men."

One of Wilson's congressional aides was State Representative Rupert Peyton

Rupert Peyton

Rupert Rudolph Peyton was an anti-Long member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish, having served at-large for a single four-year term from 1932-1936...

, who served from 1932-1936. Peyton was also a Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

. Wilson spent his later years in Ruston

Ruston, Louisiana

Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...

, the seat of Lincoln Parish, where he died at the age of seventy-four. He is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.