Horace Wilder was born at West Hartland, Connecticut, and graduated from Yale University in 1823.
He moved to Virginia, where he taught school, and was admitted to the bar January, 1826.
In 1863, he was appointed by Governor David Tod to the Ohio Supreme Court to fill the vacancy from the resignation of Justice William Y. Gholson.
The next year he was elected to fill the remainder of Gholson's term, but was not nominated for re-election.
He resumed private practice in Ashtabula, and moved to Red Wing, Minnesota, in May, 1867,[3] where he died December 26, 1889.