Wilson, Henry (1812-1875)

US vice-president and abolitionist. He devoted his life to abolishing slavery after a trip to Virginia in 1836 exposed him to it, frequently changing political affiliations until he found a party, the new Republican Party, opposed to the practise. Born in Farmington, New Hampshire, a poor farm labourer with little fformal schooling, at the age of 21 he renamed himself and went off to Massachusetts where he soon had a successful shoe factory. He represented Massachusetts in the Senate (1855-73), when he became Ulysses S Grant's second-term vice-president; but he died in office after two strokes.