Wilson Reilly was a Democratic

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...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Biography

Wilson Reilly was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, located northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, 67 miles southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The population within the borough limits was 9,614 at the 2000 census. When combined with the surrounding...

. He attended the common schools, and was engaged as a hatter

Hatter

A hatter is a person engaged in hatmaking.Hatter also may refer to:*The Hatter, a fictional character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland* Luton Town F.C., team a.k.a. "The Hatters"* Stockport County F.C., team a.k.a. "The Hatters"...

 in Waynesboro and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...

. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Chambersburg. He served as prosecuting attorney of Franklin County, Pennsylvania

Franklin County, Pennsylvania

As of the census of 2000, there were 129,313 people, 50,633 households, and 36,405 families residing in the county. The population density was 168 people per square mile . There were 53,803 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...

, from 1842 to 1845. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1854

United States House election, 1854

The U.S. House election, 1854 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1854.The 1854 election was the beginning of the end for both the Democratic and Whig Parties. Party lines were very blurred and a minority government was formed...

.

Reilly was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth

35th United States Congress

The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859, during the first two years of James...

 Congress. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War during the Thirty-fifth Congress. He was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858

United States House election, 1858

Following the U.S. House election of 1858, the Republicans gained control of the House for the first time, benefiting from the continued breakdown in the anti-immigration and anti-Catholic American Party of the Know Nothing Movement, and from strife within the Democratic Party.The Republicans were...

. He became captain of the McClure Rifles and joined the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...

. He resumed the practice of law. In 1885, he and died in Chambersburg and was buried in Falling Spring Cemetery.