Born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Wilson graduated from the University of Michigan, and headed west and became an attorney in Boise, Idaho.

[2] Edgar's father, Matthew Wilson, joined the Union Army in 1862, and one account suggests he was wounded and captured at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, in 1863.

[3][4] Another account is that Matthew Wilson was captured in the Battle of Turner's Gap in 1862, was taken to Libby Prison then moved to Charleston where he died of insufficient rations, inadequate clothing, and the deprivations of confinement 10 months after capture.

[9][10] By this time, Wilson had become an accomplished orator, and some of his speeches to local organizations were printed in the Idaho Statesman.

[16] Toward the end of his first term in Congress, Wilson joined the Silver Republican Party, and he unsuccessfully sought election to the Idaho Supreme Court.

[25] In 1901 he became vice president of the Southern Idaho Fruit Growers Association, and he negotiated rates for refrigerated rail car freight.

[27] A frequent voice at city council meetings, Wilson successfully lobbied for macadamized streets in Boise.

Evidence of her husband's longtime struggle with alcohol and drugs was presented along with allegations of marital infidelity,[34] and family and friends testified that Edgar Wilson had become irrational, erratic, and mentally unsound.