Obit for Riley J. Wilson, Winn Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies 120 Ted Price Lane Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** >From the Winnfield News-American, undated RILEY J. WILSON, 75, OPPONENT OF LONG, DIES SUN., RUSTON Funeral services were held in Ruston Tuesday for former Congressman Riley Joe Wilson, 75, who opposed the late Huey P. Long when the latter was elected governor. Wilson, who served as representative from the fifth Louisiana district for many years, was stricken Saturday night with a heart attack and died in a Ruston hospital Sunday afternoon. Funeral services were held at Wilson's home in Ruston with the Revs. J. J. Rasmussen and R. W. Vaughn officiating. Burial was in the Greenwood cemetery at Ruston. During his tenure in Congress, which ended in 1936 when he was defeated by Rep. Newt V. Mills, Wilson was an advocate of flood control and drainage measures. Prior to that time he was a teacher, lawyer, district attorney, and district judge. In a three cornered gubernatorial race in 1928 with Long and O. H. Simpson, Wilson finished second to Long in the first primary. He withdrew from the run-off however, and Long went into office without a contest. After his defeat by Mills, Wilson retired from public life and resided in Washington until about a year ago when he returned to Ruston. A native of Jackson Parish (note: I believe Wilson was an orphan, possibly born in Winn Parish or at least lived a good part of his youth in Winn; it was well publicized during the governor's race between Huey Long and Wilson that both were from Winn Parish), Wilson taught school at Harrisonburg in Catahoula Parish, and became principal of the high school in 1898. He read law in the office of David W. Thompson of Harrisonburg and was admitted to the bar. In 1898 he was a member to the state constitutional convention. Survivors include the widow, two sons, John Wilson of New Orleans, Joe Wilson, Ruston, and a daughter, Mrs. David Auld, of Washington. (Submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies, Winnfield, Winn Parish, LA.)