He read law in the offices of Lewis & Simpson and William Mitchell, a former justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, before being admitted to the bar at Rochester in October 1862.
In 1871 Wilson was appointed a United States commissioner on the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Wilson served as the member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 8th District in 1873.
In 1898 Wilson was elected to the Minnesota Senate from the 41st district.
A Republican, Wilson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a Freemason.