Eugene McLanahan Wilson was a Civil War veteran who served in Congress from 1869 to 1871, two terms as mayor of Minneapolis, 1873 to 1877, and as state senator in 1879-1880. He was a member of the Minneapolis Park Commission, and a prominent Democrat.
He was also a leader of the bar in Minneapolis from the end of the Civil War to his death on April 10, 1890, at the age of fifty-six. The bench and bar mourned his passing for days. His funeral was one of the largest in the city's history. There were memorial proceedings in district court where the judges eulogized him, and where nearly 300 lawyers---most of the county bar---met and passed resolutions in his honor.
This article is comprised of profiles of Wilson before and after his death. It also reproduces his obituary from the St. Paul Globe as well as accounts of meetings of the Hennepin County Bar Association, Park Commission, recollections of judges and other lawyers, and his funeral services.
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